‘Salvation’ (Soteria) and Ancient Mystery Cults
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was often held that ancient mystery cults were ‘religions of salvation’ (Erlösungsreligionen). Such interpretations have been criticised by Walter Burkert in Ancient Mystery Cults (1987), who argued against the other-worldly character of Greek mysteries....
| Authors: | ; |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2017
|
| In: |
Archiv für Religionsgeschichte
Year: 2017, Volume: 18/19, Issue: 1, Pages: 255-282 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Greece (Antiquity)
/ Religion
/ Eschatology
/ Greek language
/ sōtēria
/ Redemptive religions
/ Mysteries
|
| RelBib Classification: | AA Study of religion AG Religious life; material religion BC Ancient Orient; religion BE Greco-Roman religions |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was often held that ancient mystery cults were ‘religions of salvation’ (Erlösungsreligionen). Such interpretations have been criticised by Walter Burkert in Ancient Mystery Cults (1987), who argued against the other-worldly character of Greek mysteries. Burkert’s work remains one of the most important studies of mystery cults today; nevertheless it does not examine the actual use of the Greek word soteria (‘salvation’, ‘deliverance’, ‘safety’), which is central for determining whether Greek mystery cults were indeed ‘Erlösungsreligionen’. This article investigates the extent to which Greek mystery cults could offer soteria (‘salvation’) in the eschatological sense. By examining the language of soteria in the best-known mystery cults in ancient Greece, it will ask whether Greek eschatological hopes were ever expressed in the language of soteria or in other terms. It will be demonstrated that, even when used in relation to mysteries, soteria did not mean anything other than protection in the here-and-now, so that what was offered was predominantly a this-worldly ‘salvation’. If early Christianity indeed derived its most important concept (soteria) from Greek religion, it was a derivation with a significant adaptation and change in meaning. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1868-8888 |
| Contains: | In: Archiv für Religionsgeschichte
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1515/arege-2016-0014 |