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 mission. Beyond this, he asks, how did the Achaemenians understand their place in the cosmos and their moral status in relation to others? Why did...
How does religion stimulate and feed imperial ambitions and violence? Recently this question has acquired new urgency, and in "Religion, Empire, and T...
