Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion

I purchased this book initially because as a Solitary Eclectic Wiccan I have found precious little material exploring Wiccan theology and wanted to condense my own ideas with the help of some good reference material.This book does help me in that regard, but not as much as I had hoped. I would say the vast majority of the book deals with what Isaac Bonewits referred to as "Mesopaganisms" and their comparison/contrast with "Paleopaganisms", with Neopaganisms being the extreme minority of the topics under discussion. There, he uses somewhat odd definitions and lumps all of Witchcraft into the same framework as Wicca, which isn't accurate or fair, but may be a useful enough construct to form sweeping theories with. Basically the most of the text is dedicated to creating definitions.That said, the book gave me lots to ponder that wasn't on my original shopping list so to speak, and the final, shortest, chapter DOES handle theology more directly. The presentation is generalizing and nonspecific but still helpful. I was most taken by his idea that the New Age movement, which he characterizes as Gnostic, is essentially at odds with the Witchcraft religions in their basic worldviews (Paganisms envisioning the world, the Gods, and the human race as codependent, while Gnostic philosophy sets apart the idea of the One from all lesser emanations; in the one, Nature is sacred, while in the other, Nature is illusion). He surmises that these two incompatible philosophies form loose alliances due to the shared experience of Christian condemnation.All in all I recommend this book for advancing Neopagans who are looking to help firm up their definitions of broad terms and identify themselves with the religious movements around the world that share common themes with their own.

This is a fine study of the ideas that lay behind ancient Paganism, and how they relate to and resemble the ideas of modern Paganism.York proposes a model of Paganism which is pluralistic and polytheistic, nature-focused, human-focused and that seeks a good life on earth more than it does a specific sort of good afterlife.He begins by examining some of the most well-preserved of ancient forms, those of China and India. He finds in traditional Taoist Paganism his first and most complete model. In Hinduism he has to choose among the many forms to find the (still fairly prominent) presence of Pagan ways. Having isolated the pagan remnants in those ways, he goes on to other world religions, including Japanese culture, European Catholicism and North American First Peoples. York makes fairly good use of material from the african world, including santeria, Lucumi, and the like.After pointing out the Pagan ideas in the various world paths, he examines the neopagan movement, and reaches interesting conclusions.I'd recommend this as a fine contribution to the development of Pagan theological thinking.

Michael York includes Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Yaruba, and just about everything else in his definition of "paganism." From reading the text its pretty clear that the working definition of "paganism" is "everything not Jewish, Christian, or Moslem." At one point he's even lumping Mormons and Adventists, non-main-steam Christians into "paganism." Very few practicing Pagans, Hindus, Buddhists or Mormons would accept that definition. I was left wondering if he has a clue what he's talking about. The back cover promises, "audacious redrawing of traditional religious boundaries," and York delivers that. So audacious is his redrawing that very few of the groups about which he writes would recognize or accept his audacity. At one point he says that contemporary western neo-paganism is less polytheistic than the Christian trinity. Who is he to redefine the ancient Hindu religion as "pagan"? Or Buddhism? No, I don't think it's scholarly, its not spiritual, and not much of anything else either. For [$$$] it's way over priced.

Great condition and as described! Thank you so very much!

Mr. York lives in an academical world completely away from any real contact with any pagan tradition. His mind is full of the complexes that afflict the "modern citizen" away from the depth of any pagan cosmovision. The thesis of paganism as a "world religion" comes from a monotheistic background. Paganism is related to the earth, to holy places, to the sacredness of life, to a certain type of people. Diversity and many paths are the beautiful fruits of paganism. If you want to know about paganism, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for intellectual dry speculations, buy it!

I was assigned this book for a class, but I really enjoyed reading it. I loved wandering through all the different cultures and their beliefs.

I use this for personal research. Very pleased with the product. I liked it came earlier I expected.

York's book successfully attempts to readdress the paucity of serious academic study on Paganism. Although a little more in-depth studies of specific branches, rather than an overview of many, would have been welcome.

Bonne référence pour les étudiants en sciences humaines travaillant sur le courant New Age ! Courage... il est facile et agréable à lire !