Book contents
- Belief in Greek and Roman Religion
- Belief in Greek and Roman Religion
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Part I Terms and Concepts of Belief in the Study of Ancient Religion
- Part II Terms and Concepts of Belief in Antiquity
- Chapter 5 Belief and Practice in Xenophanes’ Criticism of Traditional Religion
- Chapter 6 The Alliance between Faith, the Mysteries, and Philosophy in Plutarch’s Moralia
- Chapter 7 A Fragile Synthesis
- Part III Belief and Experience in Antiquity
- Index
- References
Chapter 7 - A Fragile Synthesis
Philosophy and Traditional Religion in the Post-Hellenistic Period
from Part II - Terms and Concepts of Belief in Antiquity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 May 2026
Book contents
- Belief in Greek and Roman Religion
- Belief in Greek and Roman Religion
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Part I Terms and Concepts of Belief in the Study of Ancient Religion
- Part II Terms and Concepts of Belief in Antiquity
- Chapter 5 Belief and Practice in Xenophanes’ Criticism of Traditional Religion
- Chapter 6 The Alliance between Faith, the Mysteries, and Philosophy in Plutarch’s Moralia
- Chapter 7 A Fragile Synthesis
- Part III Belief and Experience in Antiquity
- Index
- References
Summary
The notion of belief is often seen as central to Christianity, whilst ancient religions have been seen as ritualistic in nature. This chapter casts doubt on that dichotomy, by analysing how Roman writing on religion, as well as early Christian texts (exemplified in Augustine) rely on a shared set of assumptions about what religion was. This went back to philosophical expectations about the coherence between religious practice and theology, which Christianity, at least as argued by Augustine, achieved better than Greco-Roman religions. In their own perception, Christians and pagans parted ways not on matters of the conceptualisation of the divine but on that of which deity one had to worship.
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- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Belief in Greek and Roman Religion , pp. 190 - 208Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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