History of Religious Ideas, Volume 3: From Muhammad to the Age of Reforms - Paperback

History of Religious Ideas, Volume 3: From Muhammad to the Age of Reforms

This volume completes the immensely learned three-volume A History of Religious Ideas. Eliade examines the movement of Jewish thought out of ancient Eurasia, the Christian transformation of the Mediterranean area and Europe, and the rise and diffusion of Islam from approximately the sixth through the seventeenth centuries. Eliade's vast knowledge of past and present scholarship provides a synthesis that is unparalleled.

Comprehensive Religious Scholarship

In addition to reviewing recent interpretations of the individual traditions, Eliade explores the interactions of the three religions and shows their continuing mutual influence to be subtle but unmistakable. This scholarly work examines the development and spread of major religious movements across continents and centuries, providing detailed analysis of theological evolution and cultural exchange.

Beyond Orthodox Traditions

As in his previous work, Eliade pays particular attention to heresies, folk beliefs, and cults of secret wisdom, such as alchemy and sorcery, and continues the discussion, begun in earlier volumes, of pre-Christian shamanistic practices in northern Europe and the syncretistic tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. These subcultures, he maintains, are as important as the better-known orthodoxies to a full understanding of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Academic Authority

This volume represents the culmination of Eliade's life work in religious studies, offering students, scholars, and readers interested in religious history a definitive reference on the medieval and early modern periods of the world's major monotheistic traditions.