RT Article
T1 How Do We Explain the Quiet Demise of Graeco-Roman Religion? An Essay
JF Numen
VO 68
IS 2/3
SP 230
OP 271
A1 Bremmer, Jan N. 1944-
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2021
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1751678334
AB Abstract Until now, the relatively quiet transition from traditional Graeco-Roman religion to Christianity has gone unexplained. In dialogue with James Rives and Jörg Rüpke, I argue that Christianity made better use than its religious competition of long-term trends in the Roman Empire, such as expanding literacy, the rejection of sacrifice, the movement toward monotheism, and the closing of the distance between gods and their faithful. The growing skepticism within the city elites regarding the credibility of its traditional religion, the decrease in investments in its material side, and the strength of the Christian organizations were additional factors together with contingent events, such as Constantine’s victory and his long rule.
K1 “superlativism”
K1 importance of gods
K1 Urban Religion
K1 Sacrifice
K1 Literacy
K1 regional differentiation
K1 Christianization
K1 Graeco-Roman religion
K1 demise of religions
DO 10.1163/15685276-12341622