The Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire

by T.R. Glover

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: History

595 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 18, 1909

About the author

Terrot Reaveley Glover (1869–1943) was a Cambridge University lecturer of classical literature.

See Wikipedia

Reviews

[Drikus · Rating 5 out of 5]

T.R.Glover is an excellent writer and his history and classical literature knowledge is vast. His description of the early church is well represented against the backdrop of paganism. He manages to depict Christianity without the superfluous spiritisms that add an allure of magic to a religion, but instead he portrays a factual representation of this new religion. His views are very sober, avoiding mysticism and other fanciful imaginations that so often root themselves in a religion. He does the Christian religion justice by giving it a temperate evaluation.

[Jill McNish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was apparently adapted from a series of lectures given by Glover in Oxford in the spring of 1907. This may explain the awkwardness of some of the phraseology and organization, which account for why I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5. The book does assume substantial knowledge of the religious movements and philosophies in Rome of the early Christian era and was tough going in many places. However I found it well worth the effort. I have studied ancient Christianity at a Masters Degree level and I learned A LOT from this book. I confess I was stunned to learn that ancient philosophers, notably the stoics, subscribed to many of the same teachings as those of Jesus. I had believed that Jesus had more or less introduced a new paradigm of sacrificial love. I also benefitted greatly from the discussion of the conflict between Judaism and early followers of Jesus. I just may reread this book in hopes of unravelling some of the difficult, arcane, and obscure knots the author created.