Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety

This is a series of lectures (4) comparing various aspects of Christian Pagan spirituality. Though it has the quality of a lecture it is very well footnoted and annotated; there are gems and wry comments sprinkled throughout. The method of comparison is one of textual literary analysis, something that might seem a little old-fashioned especially when one considers how little of the writings of Late Antiquity has come down to us. (Ie, you can't make generalizations on general religious behavior with such scanty evidence.) Get it for its fluent discussion of various Christian and Pagan sects and their sometimes silliness. BTW, the author is an admitted agnostic and is not above an irreverent comment or two on religion.

Dodds delivers a concise but fascinating book on the interactions between the receeding Roman pagan religions and nascent Christianity. He draws heavily on primary sources, and (unlike too many other texts on the subject) refrains from gratuitous explanations and judgements. Coming from a background in religious philosophy, I would recommend this book for those interested in the formation of (and interrelatedness of) the religious ideas of Christianity, Gnosticism, Orphic/Pythagorean cults, and Neoplatonism.

as funny as this sounds, i really found this book hard to put down. dodds gives a really nice, clear overview of the similarities between pagan and christian religions in the early-AD period, as well as touching briefly on the debates between them. this book also includes a lot on the sort of one-hit religious wonders of the ancient world. a pretty short read, and very informative.