1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910813856403321

Autore

Lincoln Bruce

Titolo

Religion, empire, and torture [[electronic resource] ] : the case of Achaemenian Persia, with a postscript on Abu Ghraib / / Bruce Lincoln

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Chicago, : University of Chicago Press, 2007

ISBN

1-282-53790-3

9786612537905

0-226-48191-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (195 p.)

Disciplina

935/.05

Soggetti

Religion and politics

Religion and politics - Iran

Iran History To 640

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-167) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Center and periphery -- God's chosen -- Creation -- Microcosms, wonders, paradise -- The dark side of paradise -- Postscript: on Abu Ghraib and some related contemporary matters.

Sommario/riassunto

How does religion stimulate and feed imperial ambitions and violence? Recently this question has acquired new urgency, and in Religion, Empire, and Torture, Bruce Lincoln approaches the problem via a classic but little-studied case: Achaemenian Persia.Lincoln identifies three core components of an imperial theology that have transhistorical and contemporary relevance: dualistic ethics, a theory of divine election, and a sense of salvific mission. Beyond this, he asks, how did the Achaemenians understand their place in the cosmos and their moral status in relation