Old Society, New Belief

This book brings together specialists in the history and religion of Rom and China with a twofold aim. First, it aims to illustrate in detail the similarities and differences each religion encountered in the process of merging into a new cultural environment. Second, by juxtaposing the familiar with the foreign, it also aims to capture aspects of this process that could otherwise be overlooked. This approach is based on the general proposition that, when a new religion begins to make contact with a society that already had long honored beliefs, certain areas of contention will inevitably ensue and changes on both sides must take place. This book aims to reassess the nature of each of these religions, not as unique cultural phenomena but as part of the cultural dynamic of human societies.