Description: This is one of my favorite books. Renowned anthropologist and historian of religion Mircea Eliade attempts to describe how religious people experience the sacred. He also gives a fascinating explanation of primitive religions. The popular image of the religion of primitive peoples is pretty unflattering: they worship rocks, animals, and whatnot; their rituals are just attempts to extract favors from imaginary spirits; their myths are laughably bad attempts at scientific explanations, etc. Eliade shows that these are complete misunderstandings. Primitive people don't worship natural objects, but they believe that natural objects can be revelations of the sacred, and that one can worship the gods through them. Primitive men certainly do want help from their gods (who wouldn't?), but they are also driven by what Eliade calls an 'ontological nostalgia', a desire to live in the presence of the gods who are the preeminently real and the source of all being. Nor do their myths seem so silly when one understands the function they serve and the universal symbolism they employ.
Price: 20.12 USD
Location: East Hanover, NJ
End Time: 2025-01-10T09:23:41.000Z
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Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 60 Days
Refund will be given as: Money back or replacement (buyer's choice)
EAN: 9780156792011
UPC: 9780156792011
ISBN: 9780156792011
MPN: N/A
Book Title: Sacred and the Profane : the Nature of Religion
Number of Pages: 256 Pages
Language: English
Publisher: HarperCollins
Topic: Christian Theology / Apologetics, Religious, General, Sociology of Religion
Publication Year: 1968
Item Height: 0.7 in
Features: Reprint
Genre: Religion, Philosophy, Social Science
Item Weight: 7.1 Oz
Author: Mircea Eliade
Item Length: 8 in
Item Width: 5.3 in
Format: Trade Paperback
