Peter J King

The History of Dying & Resurrected Gods Peter J King

The dying and resurrected gods under discussion include 22 historical gods that reflect this very common theme. These myths can be looked upon as variations upon one great human mythical symphony, what Joseph Campbell called the "monomyth." An argument is made that these archetypal symbols are psychological projections of the collective unconscious, the need of the human mind faced with the overwhelming specter of imminent mortality to fashion eternal symbols of human resurrection married to the god's victory over the shadowy domain of death, a spiritual transcendence of the physical underworld to the numinous realm of eternal spirit, logos, the human and the divine united in a transcendent marriage of cycles of life, death, and infinite revitalization. This is the role of the dying/reborn god. This is the message to the believer, for they all share a similar pattern: "Beginning with some violent cosmic or social crisis, and culminating in the suffering of a mysterious victim (often at the hands of a furious mob), all these myths conclude with the triumphal return of the sufferer, thereby revealed as a divinity."In a world divided by religious beliefs, an understanding of the origins of these religious beliefs is essential. And more importantly the believer is benefited by learning to separate the philosophy from the dogma and myth. The purpose of this series of books on religion, mythology and theology is designed to emphasize our common humanity and spirituality and eliminate the divisiveness that exists within the organized religions. This book is designed to be a state of the art, academic reference work and provides an overview of the topic and gives the reader a structured knowledge of the topic at the most affordable price possible. The accuracy and knowledge is of an international viewpoint. The edited articles represent the inputs of many knowledgeable individuals and the most current knowledge on the topic, based on the date of publication.