TY  - BOOK
AU  - Smith,Jonathan Z.
TI  - Drudgery divine: on the comparison of early Christianities and the religions of late antiquity 
T2  - Jordan lectures in comparative religion
SN  - 0226763625
AV  - BR128.R7 S55 1990
U1  - 200.93 23
PY  - 1990///
CY  - Chicago
PB  - University of Chicago Press
KW  - Christianity and other religions
KW  - Roman
KW  - Study and teaching
KW  - History
KW  - Judaism
KW  - Relations
KW  - Christianity
KW  - Origin
KW  - Apologetics
KW  - Rome
KW  - Religion
N1  - Lectures delivered at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1988; Includes bibliographical references and index
N2  - "In this major theoretical and methodological statement on the history of religions, Jonathan Z. Smith shows how convert apologetic agendas can dictate the course of comparative religious studies. As his example, Smith reviews four centuries of scholarship comparing early Christianities with religions of late Antiquity (especially the so-called mystery cults) and shows how this scholarship has been based upon an underlying Protestant-Catholic polemic. The result is a devastating critique of traditional New Testament scholarship, a redescription of early Christianities as religious traditions amenable to comparison, and a milestone in Smith's controversial approach to comparative religious studies."--Back cover
UR  - http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0608/90038519-d.html
UR  - http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0608/90038519-t.html
ER  -