Religion, Empire, and Torture: The Case of Achaemenian Persia, with a PostScript on Abu Ghraib

by Bruce Lincoln

Book Overview

How does religion stimulate and feed imperial ambitions and violence? Recently this question has acquired new urgency, and in Religion, Empire, and Torture, Bruce Lincoln approaches the problem via a classic but little-studied case: Achaemenian Persia.

Lincoln identifies three core components of an imperial theology that have transhistorical and contemporary relevance: dualistic ethics, a theory of divine election, and a sense of salvific...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 022625187X
• ISBN13: 9780226251875
• Release Date: October 2014
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.9"