Synopses & Reviews
The text known as the Mithras Liturgy is one of the most important texts for the study of non-Christian religiosity in late Antiquity. Hans Dieter Betz, one of the leading authorities on the history of religion in late Classical Antiquity, is working on a critical edition and commentary of the text to be published shortly. In the Hans Lietzmann Lecture delivered in Berlin and Jena, he uses the example of the Mithras Liturgy to elucidate a pagan view of being and religiosity in the late antique period and to compare it with Christian models. Among other things, this shows surprising parallels with contemporary discourses.
Synopsis
Bei der sogenannten "Mithrasliturgie" handelt es sich um einen der wichtigsten Texte fur das Studium nichtchristlicher spatantiker Religiositat. Hans Dieter Betz, einer der fuhrenden Experten fur die spatantike Religionsgeschichte, arbeitet an einer kritischen Edition und Kommentierung des Textes, die demnachst erscheinen wird. In der 2000 in Berlin und Jena gehaltenen sechsten "Hans-Lietzmann-Vorlesung" erlautert er am Beispiel der "Mithrasliturgie" eine pagane Daseinshaltung und Religiositat der Spatantike und vergleicht sie mit christlichen Entwurfen. Dabei ergeben sich auch uuml;berraschende Parallelen zu gegenwartigen Diskursen.
Synopsis
This public lecture is staged annually in memory of the ecclesiastic historian Hans Lietzmann (1875-1942), Adolf von Harnacks's successor as director of the Academy project The Greek Christian Authors of the First Centuries (GDS). The invited speaker is an internationally renowned scholar from the field of archeology, classical studies, history of religion, and patristics. The lectures address central topics of the history of ancient religion that are of relevance to the present day.