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
- Chapter 2 Belief and Praxis in Ancient and Modern Religion
- Chapter 3 Religion, the Religions, and Propositional Beliefs
- Chapter 4 Towards a Psychology of Greek Religious Belief
- Part II Terms and Concepts of Belief in Antiquity
- Part III Belief and Experience in Antiquity
- Index
- References
Chapter 3 - Religion, the Religions, and Propositional Beliefs
from Part I - Terms and Concepts of Belief in the Study of Ancient Religion
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
- Chapter 2 Belief and Praxis in Ancient and Modern Religion
- Chapter 3 Religion, the Religions, and Propositional Beliefs
- Chapter 4 Towards a Psychology of Greek Religious Belief
- Part II Terms and Concepts of Belief in Antiquity
- Part III Belief and Experience in Antiquity
- Index
- References
Summary
Over the past two decades, historians of ideas have posed searching questions about the relevance of some of the standard categories used in the investigation of past systems of thought and practice. The categories ‘science’, ‘philosophy’, and ‘religion’, in particular, have been subjected to intense scrutiny, and it is now often claimed that in antiquity and the Middle Ages there were no enterprises that can easily be mapped onto these modern categories. This chapter traces the origins of the modern conception of religion – understood as a generic entity characterised by sets of beliefs and practices – with some reference to the parallel emergence of modern notions of philosophy and science. It also offers some preliminary suggestions about how this might be relevant to the study of religion in antiquity.
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- Belief in Greek and Roman Religion , pp. 62 - 83Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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