Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority: Platonists, Priests, and Gnostics in the Third Century C.E.

Heidi Marx-Wolf

Published by University of Pennsylvania Press 2016

Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority

Platonists, Priests, and Gnostics in the Third Century C.E.

Heidi Marx-Wolf

In the series Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion

https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812292442

Overview
Contents

About this book

Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority recounts how philosophers of the late third century C.E. organized the spirit world into hierarchies, positioning themselves as high priests in the process. By establishing themselves as experts on sacred matters, they fortified their authority, prestige, and reputation.

Author / Editor information

Heidi Marx-Wolf is Associate Professor of Religion at the University of Manitoba.

Reviews

"Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority is an original and thoughtful work, and one that will be of considerable interest to a range of scholars. Tracing the interactions among figures who have traditionally been perceived as operating within separate spheres—pagan Neoplatonists, Christian Platonists, Egyptian ritual experts, and gnostics—Heidi Marx-Wolf makes a persuasive and stimulating argument for how these thinkers used their expertise to establish their social authority."—James Rives, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1. How to Feed a Daemon: Third-Century Philosophers on Blood Sacrifice Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
Chapter 2. Everything in Its Right Place: Spiritual Taxonomy in Third-Century Platonism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	38
Chapter 3. The Missing Link: Third-Century Platonists and “Gnostics” on Daemons and Other Spirits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
Chapter 4. High Priests of the Highest God: Third-Century Platonists as Ritual Experts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	100
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199

Language: English
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 216
Keywords: Religion; Religious Studies

eBook

Published: December 17, 2015
ISBN: 9780812292442