Forbearance and Compulsion

Download or read book Forbearance and Compulsion written by Maijastina Kahlos and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most surveys of religious tolerance and intolerance start from the medieval and early modern period, either passing over or making brief mention of discussions of religious moderation and coercion in Greco-Roman antiquity. Here Maijastina Kahlos widens the historical perspective to encompass late antiquity, examining ancient discussions of religious moderation and coercion in their historical contexts. The relations and interactions between various religious groups, especially pagans and Christians, are scrutinized, and the stark contrast often drawn between a tolerant polytheism and an intolerant Christianity is replaced by a more refined portrait of the complex late antique world.