Methods of Divination at Delphi: the Pythia, Necromancy and Cleromancy
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Cleansing the Cosmos
CLEANSING THE COSMOS: A BIBLICAL MODEL FOR CONCEPTUALIZING AND COUNTERACTING EVIL By E. Janet Warren A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham November 14, 2011 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSRACT Understanding evil spiritual forces is essential for Christian theology. Evil has typically been studied either from a philosophical perspective or through the lens of ‘spiritual warfare’. The first seldom considers demonology; the second is flawed by poor methodology. Furthermore, warfare language is problematic, being very dualistic, associated with violence and poorly applicable to ministry. This study addresses these issues by developing a new model for conceptualizing and counteracting evil using ‘non-warfare’ biblical metaphors, and relying on contemporary metaphor theory, which claims that metaphors are cognitive and can depict reality. In developing this model, I examine four biblical themes with respect to alternate metaphors for evil: Creation, Cult, Christ and Church. Insights from anthropology (binary oppositions), theology (dualism, nothingness) and science (chaos-complexity theory) contribute to the construction of the model, and the concepts of profane space, sacred space and sacred actions (divine initiative and human responsibility) guide the investigation. -
Questioning the Muse: Authority and Inspiration in the Age of the Museum
UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Poetry as window and mirror : Hellenistic poets on predecessors, contemporaries and themselves Klooster, J.J.H. Publication date 2009 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Klooster, J. J. H. (2009). Poetry as window and mirror : Hellenistic poets on predecessors, contemporaries and themselves. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:29 Sep 2021 CHAPTER 8: QUESTIONING THE MUSE: AUTHORITY AND INSPIRATION IN THE AGE OF THE MUSEUM 8.1 Introduction In an age that differed greatly from the times when Homer sang of the Trojan War and Pindar praised the victors of athletic games, -
Between Arcadia and Crete: Callisto in Callimachus' Hymn to Zeus The
Between Arcadia and Crete: Callisto in Callimachus’ Hymn to Zeus The speaker of Callimachus’ Hymn to Zeus famously asks Zeus himself whether he should celebrate the god as “Dictaean,” i.e. born on Mt. Dicte in Crete, or “Lycaean,” born on Arcadian Mt. Lycaeus (4-7). When the response comes, “Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται” (“Cretans are always liars,” 8), the hymnist agrees, and for support recalls that the Cretans built a tomb for Zeus, who is immortal (8-9). In so dismissing Cretan claims to truth, the hymnist justifies an Arcadian setting for his ensuing birth narrative (10-41). Curiously, however, after recounting Zeus’s birth and bath, the hymnist suddenly locates the remainder of the god’s early life in Crete after all (42-54). The transition is surprising, not only because it runs counter to the previous rejection of Cretan claims, but also because the Arcadians themselves held that Zeus was both born and raised in Arcadia (Paus. 8.38.2). While scholars have focused on how the ambiguity of two place names (κευθμὸν... Κρηταῖον, 34; Θενάς/Θεναί, 42, 43) misleads the audience and/or prepares them for the abrupt move from Arcadia to Crete (Griffiths 1970 32-33; Arnott 1976 13-18; McLennan 1977 66, 74- 75; Tandy 1979 105, 115-118; Hopkinson 1988 126-127), this paper proposes that the final word of the birth narrative, ἄρκτοιο (“bear,” 41), plays an important role in the transition as well. This reference to Callisto a) allusively justifies the departure from Arcadia, by suggesting that the Arcadians are liars not unlike the Cretans; b) prepares for the hymnist’s rejection of the Cretan account of Helice; and c) initiates a series of heavenly ascents that binds the Arcadian and Cretan portions of the hymn and culminates climactically with Zeus’s own accession to the sky. -
The Higher Aspects of Greek Religion. Lectures Delivered at Oxford and In
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIET OF Henirg m. Sage 1891 .A^^^ffM3. islm^lix.. 5931 CornelJ University Library BL 25.H621911 The higher aspects of Greek religion.Lec 3 1924 007 845 450 The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924007845450 THE HIBBERT LECTURES SECOND SERIES 1911 THE HIBBERT LECTURES SECOND SERIES THE HIGHER ASPECTS OF GREEK RELIGION LECTURES DELIVERED AT OXFORD AND IN LONDON IN APRIL AND MAY igii BY L. R. FARNELL, D.Litt. WILDE LECTURER IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD LONDON WILLIAMS AND NORGATE GARDEN, W.C. 14 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT 1912 CONTENTS Lecture I GENERAL FEATURES AND ORIGINS OF GREEK RELIGION Greek religion mainly a social-political system, 1. In its earliest " period a " theistic creed, that is^ a worship of personal individual deities, ethical personalities rather than mere nature forces, 2. Anthrqgomorphism its predominant bias, 2-3. Yet preserving many primitive features of " animism " or " animatism," 3-5. Its progress gradual without violent break with its distant past, 5-6. The ele- ment of magic fused with the religion but not predominant, 6-7. Hellenism and Hellenic religion a blend of two ethnic strains, one North-Aryan, the other Mediterranean, mainly Minoan-Mycenaean, 7-9. Criteria by which we can distinguish the various influences of these two, 9-1 6. The value of Homeric evidence, 18-20. Sum- mary of results, 21-24. Lecture II THE RELIGIOUS BOND AND MORALITY OF THE FAMILY The earliest type of family in Hellenic society patrilinear, 25-27. -
DIVINATION SYSTEMS Written by Nicole Yalsovac Additional Sections Contributed by Sean Michael Smith and Christine Breese, D.D
DIVINATION SYSTEMS Written by Nicole Yalsovac Additional sections contributed by Sean Michael Smith and Christine Breese, D.D. Ph.D. Introduction Nichole Yalsovac Prophetic revelation, or Divination, dates back to the earliest known times of human existence. The oldest of all Chinese texts, the I Ching, is a divination system older than recorded history. James Legge says in his translation of I Ching: Book Of Changes (1996), “The desire to seek answers and to predict the future is as old as civilization itself.” Mankind has always had a desire to know what the future holds. Evidence shows that methods of divination, also known as fortune telling, were used by the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Babylonians and the Sumerians (who resided in what is now Iraq) as early as six‐thousand years ago. Divination was originally a device of royalty and has often been an essential part of religion and medicine. Significant leaders and royalty often employed priests, doctors, soothsayers and astrologers as advisers and consultants on what the future held. Every civilization has held a belief in at least some type of divination. The point of divination in the ancient world was to ascertain the will of the gods. In fact, divination is so called because it is assumed to be a gift of the divine, a gift from the gods. This gift of obtaining knowledge of the unknown uses a wide range of tools and an enormous variety of techniques, as we will see in this course. No matter which method is used, the most imperative aspect is the interpretation and presentation of what is seen. -
Family Oi 15 Is Homeless? Fill' Settle %R Four Rooms Town Bows to Demand/ on Sewers
Coverage S4WNSHIR Complete News> Pictures A Newspapesv Devoted Presented Fairly, Clearly To the Community Interest And Impartially Each VOL. XIII—NO, 33 FORDS, N. J., THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1951 PRICE FIVE CENTS New Bolls Arrive Family oi 15 Is Homeless?Town Bows fill' Settle %r Four Rooms To Demand/ "—This tune-The .Inde- in Perth Amboy. pendent-Leader' lias Undertaken "We do not want to separate a , difficult task—but perhaps our family," Mrs." Jordan said, On Sewers some pJace in this, Township "because no good will come of it. A family should stay together if By CHARLES E. GREGORY May be Reintroduced there is someone who can help 4PS Snd a home for a family of 15. the members are to be happy. $2,500,000 Installation Later Including Quota " * S 2 : Maybe somebody can provide us Seen Unavoidable; May Just as soon as I wash out Of Licenses Permitted Yesterday, the family of Mr. with a home, even if it is only a few things today, I am go and Mrs. Alfred' Jordan, Frame four rooms. Even though we are Include Incinerator > ing to light out to see what I RARITAN TOWNSHIP — The, 1 Street, wa| dispossessed. The a big family, we take care of limited distribution liquor; li- JondSord has been trying- to gret things and are not destructive." WOODBRIDGE—Immediate ac- • can find out about building csnss ordinance which was due for the apartment for his own use :!: S :;: tion will be taken by the Town schools. pablic hearing last night was with- for over a year," and finally the Both local and county welfare Committee to create a Sewer Au- * * * di awn by Commissioner Julius courts decided that he had been boards have attempted to find thority as a result of a directive Engel, who introduced it originally, patient, indeed. -
Ancient Greek Divination by Sarah Iles Johnston Blackwell Ancient Religions
Ancient Greek Divination by Sarah Iles Johnston Blackwell Ancient Religions. Malden, MA/Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2008. Pp. xiv + 193. ISBN 978--1--4051--1573--5.Paper $27.95 Reviewed by Joshua J. Reynolds Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington, DC [email protected] This book provides an overview of Greek divination as a religious phenomenon. In particular, the author seeks to describe and explain both the details of Greek divinatory practices and how the ancients conceptualized those practices. As the title suggests, the discussion is restricted to divination as practiced in the Greek world, although the author does make abundant use of evidence from a much wider vari- ety of sources and time periods, including Roman and Christian writ- ers. The straightforward writing, logical organization, and absence of footnotes make the book accessible to a general audience; while the erudition, critical approach to prior scholarship, and thorough bibli- ography accommodate both classicists in general and specialists. The book contains five chapters: an introduction, two chapters devoted to institutional oracles, and two chapters covering indepen- dent diviners (including magicians). In chapter 1, the author sets out to justify her study in terms of the pervasiveness of divination, not only in ancient times but in modern cultural contexts as well. She points to the desire for divina- tory knowledge as a ‘basic human need’ [4]. The difference, however, between moderns and ancients is the degree of theoretical reflection among the latter. The ancients, Johnston argues, were theoretically inclined towards divination because the practice allowed mortals the possibility of conversing with the gods, as opposed to other religious practices, such as prayer or sacrifice, which did not return immediate answers. -
Collins Magic in the Ancient Greek World.Pdf
9781405132381_1_pre.qxd 30/10/2007 12:09 Page i Magic in the Ancient Greek World 9781405132381_1_pre.qxd 30/10/2007 12:09 Page ii Blackwell Ancient Religions Ancient religious practice and belief are at once fascinating and alien for twenty-first-century readers. There was no Bible, no creed, no fixed set of beliefs. Rather, ancient religion was characterized by extraordinary diversity in belief and ritual. This distance means that modern readers need a guide to ancient religious experience. Written by experts, the books in this series provide accessible introductions to this central aspect of the ancient world. Published Magic in the Ancient Greek World Derek Collins Religion in the Roman Empire James B. Rives Ancient Greek Religion Jon D. Mikalson Forthcoming Religion of the Roman Republic Christopher McDonough and Lora Holland Death, Burial and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt Steven Snape Ancient Greek Divination Sarah Iles Johnston 9781405132381_1_pre.qxd 30/10/2007 12:09 Page iii Magic in the Ancient Greek World Derek Collins 9781405132381_1_pre.qxd 30/10/2007 12:09 Page iv © 2008 by Derek Collins blackwell publishing 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Derek Collins to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. -
The Cultural Evolution of Epistemic Practices: the Case of Divination Author: Ze Hong A1, Joseph Henricha
Title: The cultural evolution of epistemic practices: the case of divination Author: Ze Hong a1, Joseph Henricha Author Affiliations: a Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, 02138, Cambridge, MA, United States Keywords: cultural Evolution; divination; information transmission; Bayesian reasoning 1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected] 1 ABSTRACT While a substantial literature in anthropology and comparative religion explores divination across diverse societies and back into history, little research has integrated the older ethnographic and historical work with recent insights on human learning, cultural transmission and cognitive science. Here we present evidence showing that divination practices are often best viewed as an epistemic technology, and formally model the scenarios under which individuals may over-estimate the efficacy of divination that contribute to its cultural omnipresence and historical persistence. We found that strong prior belief, under-reporting of negative evidence, and mis-inferring belief from behavior can all contribute to biased and inaccurate beliefs about the effectiveness of epistemic technologies. We finally suggest how scientific epistemology, as it emerged in the Western societies over the last few centuries, has influenced the importance and cultural centrality of divination practices. 2 1. INTRODUCTION The ethnographic and historical record suggests that most, and potentially all, human societies have developed techniques, processes or technologies that reveal otherwise hidden or obscure information, often about unknown causes or future events. In historical and contemporary small-scale societies around the globe, divination—"the foretelling of future events or discovery of what is hidden or obscure by supernatural or magical means” –has been extremely common, possibly even universal (Flad 2008; Boyer 2020). -
Either a Daimon, Or a Hero, Or Perhaps a God:” Mythical Residents of Subterranean Chambers
Kernos Revue internationale et pluridisciplinaire de religion grecque antique 15 | 2002 Varia “Either a Daimon, or a Hero, or Perhaps a God:” Mythical Residents of Subterranean Chambers Yulia Ustinova Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/1385 DOI: 10.4000/kernos.1385 ISSN: 2034-7871 Publisher Centre international d'étude de la religion grecque antique Printed version Date of publication: 1 January 2002 ISSN: 0776-3824 Electronic reference Yulia Ustinova, « “Either a Daimon, or a Hero, or Perhaps a God:” Mythical Residents of Subterranean Chambers », Kernos [Online], 15 | 2002, Online since 21 April 2011, connection on 01 May 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/1385 ; DOI : 10.4000/kernos.1385 Kernos Kemos 15 (2002), p. 267-288. "Either a Daimon, or a Hero, or Perhaps a God:" Mythical Residents of Subterranean Chambers In his list of seers who uttered gods' orders and messages to mortals not only when alive, but also after their death, Strabo1 mentions "...Amphiaraos, Trophonios, Orpheus, Musaios, and the god of the Getae, formerly Zalmoxis, a Pythagorean, who is in our time Dekaineos, the diviner of Byrebistas... ,,2 Aristides groups together Trophonios, Amphiaraos, Amphilochos and the Asclepiads.3 Celsus includes Zalmoxis, Mopsos, Amphilochos, Amphiaraos, and Trophonios in his register of mortals who died and were nevertheless worshiped, whieh makes Origen wonder, "whether one of these is either a daimon, or a hero, or perhaps a god, more active than mortals" (ft ècr'tt nç èv 'toîç 'tOtQU'tOlÇ Eï'tE 8atllcov Eï'tE llPcoÇ Eï'tE Kat 8E6ç, èVEPYéOv 't!Va lldÇova ft Ka'teX av8pco1tov;).4 The bewilderment of Origen 'is reasonable, given the elusiveness of these figures. -
The Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 44 EDITORIAL BOARD Mark S
The Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 44 EDITORIAL BOARD Mark S. Smith, Chairperson Lawrence E. Boadt, C.S.P. Richard J. Clifford, S.J. John J. Collins Frederick W. Danker Robert A. Di Vito Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. Ralph W. Klein Léo Laberge, O.M.I. Bruce J. Malina Pheme Perkins Eugene C. Ulrich Ronald D. Witherup, S.S. Studies in the Greek Bible Essays in Honor of Francis T. Gignac, S.J. EDITED BY Jeremy Corley and Vincent Skemp The Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 44 © 2008 The Catholic Biblical Association of America, Washington, DC 20064 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Catholic Biblical Association of America. Produced in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Studies in the Greek Bible : essays in honor of Francis T. Gignac, S.J. / edited by Jeremy Corley and Vincent Skemp. p. cm. — (The Catholic biblical quarterly monograph series ; 44) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 0-915170-43-4 (alk. paper) 1. Bible. Greek—Versions—Septuagint. 2. Bible—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Gignac, Francis T. II. Corley, Jeremy. III. Skemp, Vincent T. M. BS38.S78 2008 220.6—dc22 2008026572 Contents FOREWORD Alexander A. Di Lella, O.F.M. ix INTRODUCTION Jeremy Corley and Vincent Skemp, editors xiii PART ONE GENESIS CREATION TRADITIONS 1 CREATION UNDER CONTROL: POWER LANGUAGE IN GENESIS :–: Jennifer M. Dines 3 GUARDING HEAD AND HEEL: OBSERVATIONS ON SEPTUAGINT GENESIS : C. T. Robert Hayward 17 “WHAT IS epifere?” GENESIS :B IN THE SAHIDIC VERSION OF THE LXX AND THE APOCRYPHON OF JOHN Janet Timbie 35 v vi · Contents PART TWO LATER SEPTUAGINTAL BOOKS 47 A TEXTUAL AND LITERARY ANALYSIS OF THE SONG OF THE THREE JEWS IN GREEK DANIEL :- Alexander A. -
God's Faithfulness to Promise
Abilene Christian University Digital Commons @ ACU ACU Brown Library Monograph Series Volume 1 2019 God’s Faithfulness to Promise: The orH tatory Use of Commissive Language in Hebrews David Ripley Worley Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/acu_library_books Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Worley, David Ripley, "God’s Faithfulness to Promise: The orH tatory Use of Commissive Language in Hebrews" (2019). ACU Brown Library Monograph Series. Vol.1. https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/acu_library_books/1 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ ACU. It has been accepted for inclusion in ACU Brown Library Monograph Series by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ ACU. God’s Faithfulness to Promise The Hortatory Use of Commissive Language in Hebrews David Worley With a Bibliographical Addendum by Lee Zachary Maxey GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO PROMISE The Hortatory Use of Commissive Language in Hebrews Yale University Ph.D. 1981 GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO PROMISE The Hortatory Use of Commissive Language in Hebrews A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale University in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By David Ripley Worley, Jr., May 1981 With a Bibliographical Addendum by Lee Zachary Maxey Copyright © 2019 Abilene Christian University All rights reserved. ISBN 978-0-359-30502-5 The open access (OA) ebook edition of this book is licensed under the following Creative Commons license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode ACU Brown Library Monograph Series titles are published by the Scholars Lab at the Abilene Christian University Library Open Access ebook editions of titles in this series are available for free at https://digitalcommons.acu.