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Unearthly Powers: Religious and Political Change in World History
Why was religion so important for rulers in the pre-modern world? And how did the world come to be dominated by just a handful of religious traditions, especially Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism? Drawing on sociology and anthropology, as well as a huge range of historical literature from all regions and periods of world history, Alan Strathern sets out a new way of thinking about transformations in the fundamental nature of religion and its interaction with political authority. His analysis distinguishes between two quite different forms of religiosity - immanentism, which focused on worldly assistance, and transcendentalism, which centred on salvation from the human condition - and shows how their interaction shaped the course of history. Taking examples drawn from Ancient Rome to the Incas or nineteenth-century Tahiti, a host of phenomena, including sacred kingship, millenarianism, state-church struggles, reformations, iconoclasm, and, above all, conversion are revealed in a new light.
404 pages, Paperback
First published March 13, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 12, 2025
Strathern investigates the consequences of the axial age, although most examples he refers to relate to a much later period. Before the axial age religions were characterized by immanentism, i.e. the belief that supernatural agents are present in the world and able to to act in favor or against human beings. Humans can influence the agents ("metapersons"). While truth of concepts is not relevant, the efficacy of practices is. Single practices can therefore be easily abandoned or ex/imported.
The emerging transcendentalists religions preached as opposed to this that the human condition has to be overcome. For this purpose humans have to comply to the commands put down in a canon. Practices are inherently related to the belief system, with the consequence that single elements make – in principle – not much sense without reference to the whole. Hence only the whole “package” can – in principle – be adopted. Metapersons have either been downgraded (Buddhism) or been reduced to one.
in practice, however, elements of immanetism have been adopted into transcendentalism, with the consequence that only high performers completely live up to the demands of normative demands of the religious system.
These ideas are as the author acknowledges by Assmann’s differentiation between primary and secondary religions, and the absorption of elements of the former into the latter. Stratherns main interest I however, the question how this transformation affects political rule as kings often played decisive rules in immanentist practices as guarantors of the well-being of their subject through interaction with metapersons. As opposed to this “divine kingship” was difficult to justify, but sacral kingship could persist in the form of “righteous kingship” where the ruler acts as guarantor of the divine order or dharma.
Strathern argues that transcendentalism had an advantage in this respect, as its propagandists claimed that the interaction with the transcendent could bring about thiswordly benefits even more efficiently, while its claims were not undermined by failure, as these could be ascribed to the non-compliance with the normative order, a lack of righteousness.
I was quite impressed of the argument and the first part of the book, but in the latter parts it gets quite confusing because Strathern jumps from various examples from Late Antiquity and the Age of Migrations, to Asian Buddhist examples and occasional references to Islam to conversion movements to Christianity in the age of European expansion. To some of them recurrently when int comes to particular aspects, and it would have been a great help for the reader, if the author had at least these examples presented in a coherent fashion. For this reason I did not give five stars.
One critical point regarding content is that Strathern does not discuss the - accorded - minority of societies without kings.
This book has just been complemented by Converting Rulers where Strathern promises to deal in detail with three cases from the age of European expansion. I am looking forward to read it.
The emerging transcendentalists religions preached as opposed to this that the human condition has to be overcome. For this purpose humans have to comply to the commands put down in a canon. Practices are inherently related to the belief system, with the consequence that single elements make – in principle – not much sense without reference to the whole. Hence only the whole “package” can – in principle – be adopted. Metapersons have either been downgraded (Buddhism) or been reduced to one.
in practice, however, elements of immanetism have been adopted into transcendentalism, with the consequence that only high performers completely live up to the demands of normative demands of the religious system.
These ideas are as the author acknowledges by Assmann’s differentiation between primary and secondary religions, and the absorption of elements of the former into the latter. Stratherns main interest I however, the question how this transformation affects political rule as kings often played decisive rules in immanentist practices as guarantors of the well-being of their subject through interaction with metapersons. As opposed to this “divine kingship” was difficult to justify, but sacral kingship could persist in the form of “righteous kingship” where the ruler acts as guarantor of the divine order or dharma.
Strathern argues that transcendentalism had an advantage in this respect, as its propagandists claimed that the interaction with the transcendent could bring about thiswordly benefits even more efficiently, while its claims were not undermined by failure, as these could be ascribed to the non-compliance with the normative order, a lack of righteousness.
I was quite impressed of the argument and the first part of the book, but in the latter parts it gets quite confusing because Strathern jumps from various examples from Late Antiquity and the Age of Migrations, to Asian Buddhist examples and occasional references to Islam to conversion movements to Christianity in the age of European expansion. To some of them recurrently when int comes to particular aspects, and it would have been a great help for the reader, if the author had at least these examples presented in a coherent fashion. For this reason I did not give five stars.
One critical point regarding content is that Strathern does not discuss the - accorded - minority of societies without kings.
This book has just been complemented by Converting Rulers where Strathern promises to deal in detail with three cases from the age of European expansion. I am looking forward to read it.
March 5, 2020
A major breakthrough in the "Axial Age" literature by bringing histories of politics and religion in 16-17c. African and Latin American polities as well as in Polynesian islands. Highlights on Buddhism as a world religion also introduced good comparative considerations on Christianity in histories. A lot of interesting observations and it makes me become interested in the issue of king conversion (it seems to be the author's main personal research interest). Curiously, in this world-historical comparative treatise, China seems to be fitting nowhere nicely.
April 28, 2021
A brilliant study on the historical intersection of religion and politics. However, Strathern’s work is not for someone looking for a quick dive into the subject. It reads more like an academic thesis which may not be not ideal from a reader standpoint but it is incredibly well researched. Strathern brilliantly connects the pieces of history as religion transformed from immanent to transcendental, and in the process transformed political society.
September 8, 2022
No... just... no.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews