Paper The Deities Are Many

A Polytheistic Theology
1. Auflage 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7914-8362-6
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 169 Seiten

Reihe: SUNY series in Religious Studies

Provides a theology of polytheism—the belief in many deities—using examples from a wide range of world religions.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Paper, Jordan

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Theologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

Why a Polytheistic Theology?

Whose Theology?

The Varieties of Polytheism: The Structure of This Book

A Few Caveats

2. The Cosmic Couple: Mother Earth and Father Sky

Sky and Earth

Circumpolar Rebirth Rituals

Chinese Imperial Sacrifices to Sky and Earth

Sun and Moon

The Four Directions

Morning Star / Evening Star

Sun and Earth

Stars and Planets

Mountains and Streams

Personal Relationships with Cosmic Powers

3. Numinous Nature: Animal, Plant, and Mineral Spirits

Introduction

Natural Plants

Animals in the Wild

Rocks and Minerals

Domesticated Plants

Domesticated Animals

Modes of Interaction

4. The Family Deified: Ancestral Spirits

Ancestral Spirits

China

Modes of Communication

5. Divine Ghosts: Functional Deities The Anthropomorphizing of the Divine

Modes of Interaction

6. The Seminuminous: Culture Heroes and Tricksters

Numinous Beings Unconnected to Rituals

Trickster and Humorous Divinities

Culture Hero Quasi Deities

Re-creation of the World versus Creation

Implications

7. One or Many: Monotheists' Misperceptions of Polytheism
Polytheism Is Defined by Monotheism

Ur-monotheism

The Native American "Great Spirit"
The "Master of Heaven"
Theological Effects of Western Colonialism on Non-Western Traditions

The "Creator"
Taiping Religion and the Unification Church

Contemporary Versions of Monotheistic Assumptions

8. Diversity and Accommodation: Human Life in a Polytheistic Milieu

The One in the Many, The Many in the One

A Polytheistic View of Monotheism

Living Polytheism

Conclusions

Further Readings

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Jordan Paper is Professor Emeritus of Humanities (Religious Studies, East Asian Studies) at York University. He is also an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society and Adjunct Professor in the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria. He is the author of several books, including The Mystic Experience: A Descriptive and Comparative Analysis and The Spirits Are Drunk: Comparative Approaches to Chinese Religion, both published by SUNY Press, as well as Through the Earth Darkly: Female Spirituality in Comparative Perspective and Offering Smoke: The Sacred Pipe and Native American Religion.