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James J. O'Donnell

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Pagans: The End of Traditional Religion and the Rise of Christianity Kindle Edition

by James J. O'Donnell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.9 449 ratings

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“Trenchantly interprets how an oddball religious cult became the official faith of Rome. . . . It makes for a thoughtful tour of Rome.” —New York Times Book Review

Pagans explores the rise of Christianity from a surprising and unique viewpoint: that of the people who witnessed their ways of life destroyed by what seemed then a powerful religious cult. These “pagans” were actually pious Greeks, Romans, Syrians, and Gauls who observed the traditions of their ancestors.

Religious scholar James J. O’Donnell takes us on a lively tour of the Ancient Roman world through the fourth century CE, when Romans of every nationality, social class, and religious preference found their world suddenly constrained by rulers who preferred a strange new god. Some joined this new cult, while others denied its power, erroneously believing it was little more than a passing fad.

In Pagans, O’Donnell brings to life Roman religion and life, offers fresh portraits of iconic historical figures, including Constantine, Julian, and Augustine, and explores important themes—Rome versus the east, civilization versus barbarism, plurality versus unity, rich versus poor, and tradition versus innovation—in this startling account.

“Mr. O’Donnell tells the familiar story of Christianity’s heroic age of expansion, from Constantine to Theodosius, with verve and wit.” —Wall Street Journal

“Multilayered, erudite and dense.” —Cleveland Plain-Dealer

“An engaging view of antiquity few of us have seen. —Booklist

“O'Donnell offers an iconoclastic history of religion that tells an exciting new story that is deeply relevant to the way we think about religion in our own time.” —Washington Book Review

Print length

293 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Ecco
Publication date

March 17, 2015
File size

4784 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Trenchantly interprets how an oddball religious cult became the official faith of Rome. . . . It makes for a thoughtful tour of Rome.” -- New York Times Book Review

“Mr. O’Donnell tells the familiar story of Christianity’s heroic age of expansion, from Constantine to Theodosius, with verve and wit.” -- Wall Street Journal

“James J. O’Donnell’s fine new book . . . is short but multilayered, erudite and dense.” -- Cleveland Plain-Dealer

“[A] fascinating and insightful study of the pluralistic pagan gods. This book is a must read for everyone who is interested in either general history or the history of Christianity in particular.” -- Washington Book Review

“Although [Pagans] is serious scholarship, it does not take itself too seriously. The result is an engaging view of antiquity few of us have seen. -- Booklist --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Back Cover

“Mr. O’Donnell tells the familiar story of Christianity’s heroic age of expansion, from Constantine to Theodosius, with verve and wit.”—Wall Street Journal

For hundreds of years, religious and spiritual pluralism thrived in the Roman Empire. In the fourth century, however, as Christianity became the state religion, Christians developed the concept of the “pagan” to stigmatize and ostracize those who refused to devote themselves to the Christian god. These pagans were Greeks, Romans, Gauls, and Syrians who chose to piously observe the traditions of their ancestors.

Pagans uncovers how the ancient and deeply rooted religious traditions of these polytheistic Romans were undermined and suppressed by the rise of Christianity in little more than a hundred years. James J. O’Donnell explores the foundational features of Roman religion and culture, paints fresh portraits of iconic historical figures—including Constantine, Julian, and Augustine—and breathes new life into the defining tensions of the era: Rome versus the East, civilization versus barbarism, plurality versus unity, rich versus poor, and tradition versus innovation.

In this nuanced account of religious repression, O’Donnell offers an iconoclastic history of religion that tells an exciting new story that is deeply relevant to the way we think about religion in our own time.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

James J. O'donnell is a classicist who served for ten years as Provost of Georgetown University and is now University Librarian at Arizona State University. He is the author of several books including Augustine, The Ruin of the Roman Empire, and Avatars of the Word. He is the former president of the American Philological Association, a Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, and the chair of the Board of Directors of the American Council of Learned Societies. He is seen here at an ancient monastery on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire, in Syria.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

"Mr. O'Donnell tells the familiar story of Christianity's heroic age of expansion, from Constantine to Theodosius, with verve and wit."--Wall Street Journal

For hundreds of years, religious and spiritual pluralism thrived in the Roman Empire. In the fourth century, however, as Christianity became the state religion, Christians developed the concept of the "pagan" to stigmatize and ostracize those who refused to devote themselves to the Christian god. These pagans were Greeks, Romans, Gauls, and Syrians who chose to piously observe the traditions of their ancestors.

Pagans uncovers how the ancient and deeply rooted religious traditions of these polytheistic Romans were undermined and suppressed by the rise of Christianity in little more than a hundred years. James J. O'Donnell explores the foundational features of Roman religion and culture, paints fresh portraits of iconic historical figures--including Constantine, Julian, and Augustine--and breathes new life into the defining tensions of the era: Rome versus the East, civilization versus barbarism, plurality versus unity, rich versus poor, and tradition versus innovation.

In this nuanced account of religious repression, O'Donnell offers an iconoclastic history of religion that tells an exciting new story that is deeply relevant to the way we think about religion in our own time.

--Washington Book Review --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00L7X6ZU8
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ecco; Reprint edition (March 17, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 17, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4784 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 293 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #277,351 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #143 in Christian Church History (Kindle Store)
- #158 in Religious Studies - History
- #214 in Ancient Roman History (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
3.9 449 ratings

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3.9 out of 5

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Dee Arr

An Alternate Peek Through the Lens into the Past

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2019

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“Pagans” is an amazing book, presenting history and culture while at the same time opening the reader’s senses to a world that can’t be examined through the today’s lenses. Jumping back in time 1500-2000 years can be confusing if not viewed through the mindset of those alive at that time. While the author states this can be enjoyable, he cautions that “…we should remind ourselves at the beginning and end of such stories is how easily we assume that the people in them are really just like us.” Thankfully, author James J. O’Donnell does his best to keep us continually grounded.

The book does a superb job analyzing the subject of how religions may lose favor with the populace with one becoming more accepted than another. What makes this book different is that the perspective mentioned in the last paragraph takes center stage, and religious citizens from centuries ago are confronted with what they may have considered to be a cult. Mr. O’Donnell’s presentation is well-researched, offering thoughts based on written documentation rather than opinion.

“Pagans” could have been a stodgy bundle of historical facts, presented in a studious and boring clump. Fortunately, the author kept his explanations interesting – almost funny at times – yet still manages to maintain an appropriate level of respect for the subject matter. I found the descriptions of religious rites fascinating, and the book thought-provoking. Five stars.

2 people found this helpful

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funkendub

Great book on the decline of traditional religion

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2021

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I almost put this down after the first chapter or two, which are extremely detailed accounts of pre-Christian events. The author is attempting to set the stage but I found the stage so buried in detail that I had a hard time getting the story, the point O'Donnell wanted to make. Which was simply that everyone had a relationship with the gods, usually on a personal and familial level. When big celebrations came around, everyone turned out because Party time! But once you get past that opening sequence, you get to the meat of this book, and it is wonderful. It is so refreshing, after a lifetime of people telling me how awful the "pagans" were, how they murdered early Christians, etc etc, to see historians shedding their personal biases and uncovering (or rereading) documents that point to exactly the opposite. Like modern fundamental monotheists who strap explosives to their chests, blow up innocents, and are hailed as martyrs, so too the early Christians, who were a zealous, jealous and violent lot who stirred up trouble, insulted people, and started fights--which, yes, they frequently lost and thus earned the martyr title from their fellow Christians. Who, of course, overran traditional religion and thus got to write the history (mostly!). Here we learn the real reasons traditional religion faded from view as monotheisms began to destroy the world in earnest: for profit and empire. However you feel about monotheism, this book is worth reading, as it contributes to our understanding of why the counter-intuitive Father-god "won" the race.

4 people found this helpful

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James Kalomiris, The Peripatetic Reader

Laborious Reading

Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2015

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I don’t give low ratings lightly, but reading this book was like the Thirteenth Labor of Hercules. Although this book has its brilliant moments, it rather plods along at an incredibly slow and overly deliberate pace. While significant historical insights might be found, getting there will be a chore and a reader with less patience will give up rather than finding them.

I get what O’Donnell is attempting to do. He is trying to convey the big historical picture. He is attempting to depict the convergence and collision of two very large historical movements — the pagan world and the Christian world. He admits he has been selective in choosing his subjects and readily acknowledges that a full treatment would require many volumes. However, I suspect he has been too selective and is painting too large a picture. O’Donnell does succeed in giving a feeling of the the wide, vast, passage of time. But as we all know, time can either drag along slowly or move quickly, and in this case, time moves like molasses.

I also get that he is attempting to reach the largest audience possible, without cluttering the subject with unnecessary detail or historical minutia. The result of this approach is that the subject is unintentionally dumbed down to where the historical value is minimal and truly significant events or personages are ignored. For example, O’Donnell barely mentions the name of Marcus Aurelius, clearly one of the most exceptional Roman emperors of the period between paganism and Christianity and arguably an important link between the two.

The pace picks up around half-way when O’Donnell discusses Constantine the Great. The high point is where O’Donnell discusses the Arian controversy leading up to the Nicea Council. O’Donnell succinctly pinpoints the nature of the controversy, the political motivations of Constantine, and the resolution reached by the council. O’Donnell thereby avoids what other authors have devoted to entire volumes in the space in a few pages. O’Donnell soon lapses to his methodical, deliberate, and snail-paced narrative. It is most frustrating because nuggets of information and insight may be found in that narrative. Finding those nuggets is the problem.

46 people found this helpful

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Rylan P.

Fun Religious History Time With The Family

Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2023

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Once I took this to church. The pastor was talking about how “terrible pagan religions were”
and I was reading this book

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Lemon Curd

I really enjoyed reading this

Reviewed in Canada on July 30, 2018

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I really enjoyed reading this, and I did learn a lot about the early rise of the Catholic Church. But just because an author warns you at the beginning that the book will be in no particular chronological order of history and snippets will bounce back and forth through time, does not mean the book should've been edited that way.

One person found this helpful

Jean-Paul Azam

La fin des grands banquets romains

Reviewed in France on June 21, 2015

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Un livre délicieux qui montre comment l'irruption du christianisme a perturbé une société romaine ou le sang versé fait souvent partie de la fête. L'auteur nous convie d'abord à un immense banquet convié par l'empereur Auguste, étalé sur plusieurs jours et nuits. Même les Vestales sont conviées à partager toute cette nourriture distribuée à des milliers de convives. O'Donnell nous montre que les sacrifices de sang si communs dans la vie romaine sont surtout une bonne occasion de faire un bon gueuleton riche en viande. Les entrailles et les bas morceaux sont brulés sur l'autel, après examens par des spécialistes, et les bons morceaux sont partagés entre les participants. Les lieux touristiques sont particulièrement innovateurs pour offrir des mises en scène originales pour attirer les chalants, et la surrenchère mène souvent à des excès. Les sacrifices tournent souvent au spectacle gore ou pornographique. Hélas, trois fois hélas, le christianisme fait irruption, et promeut une vision différente de la vie sociale, où le sang versé doit rester caché. Saint Augustin entre autres développe une doctrine qui suppose que la fin des spectacles sanglants rendrait la population plus vertueuse. Quel pisse-vinaigre...

One person found this helpful

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Kevin A. Fulsom

Based on Personal Opinions Rather than Facts

Reviewed in Canada on February 8, 2018

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for those interested in an honest assessment of traditional paganism and its relation to Christianity, this is not it, despite what is advertised. The author takes a very negative view towards traditional beliefs, belittling them right the way through and constantly suggesting that people didn't really believe the things they claimed to believe. This is obviously a book intended for mass popular consumption rather than any serious scholarly analysis. It is guided by a clunky and insulting narrative, based primarily on the author's own biases and speculation regarding the feelings, beliefs and motives of ancient peoples. It is irritating for anyone who has a solid grasp of the spiritual history of Europe and is looking for something beyond a coffee book decoration that reinforces modern atheistic conceptions.

9 people found this helpful

Foggygirl

Good read

Reviewed in Canada on January 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

An interesting read although at times I found the authors tone to be a tad bland and flat. Still a good read.

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