Iain W. Provan is the E. Marshall Shepherd Professor of Biblical Studies (Old Testament) at Regent College. He has previously taught at King's College London, the University of Wales, and the University of Edinburgh. He is author of Seriously Dangerous Religion: What the Old Testament Really Says and Why it Matters, Convenient Myths: The Axial Age, Dark Green Religion, and the World that Never Was, commentaries on 1 & 2 Kings, Ecclesiastes & Song of Songs, and Lamentations, and co-author (with V. Phillips Long and Tremper Longman III) of A Biblical History of Israel. He is also a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge.
A Critical Examination of Two Myths That Drive Culture: The Axial Age and Dark Green Religion
Speaker(s): Iain Provan
Date: March 12 2014
Length: 52min
Product ID: RGDL4402D
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Description
The contemporary world has been shaped in part by two important and potent myths. Karl Jaspers' construct of the 'axial age' envisions the common past (800-200 BC), the time when Western society was born and world religions spontaneously and independently appeared out of a seemingly shared value set. Conversely, the myth of the 'dark green golden age' as narrated by David Suzuki and others asserts that the axial age, and the otherworldliness that accompanied the emergence of organized religion, ripped society from a previously deep communion with nature. Both myths contend that to maintain balance we must return to the idealized past. In this lecture, Iain Provan engages critically with both myths, explaining why we should not embrace them and why it matters if we do. This was recorded at the University of British Columbia Graduate and Faculty Christian Forum.
See All Audio by Iain Provan
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