Sceptic and Believer in Ancient Mediterranean Religions

What are the roles of doubt and scepticism in the religious landscape of the ancient Mediterranean? How is doubt expressed within a specific religious community, and what reactions does it provoke? How does "insider doubt" differ from the sceptical attitude of outsiders? Exploring these questions with respect to a wide range of religious contexts and topics (including early Christianity, Greco-Roman religions, Egyptian religions, astrology, and magic), the essays in this volume confirm the thesis that doubting one's own religious tradition is not simply a "Western" post-Enlightenment phenomenon. On the contrary, ancient religions offered opportunities and contexts wherein aspects of doubt are not just tolerated but accepted; moreover, doubt and scepticism concerning certain religious ideas or aspects of belief also motivated creative reinterpretation of those ideas.

Born 1975; 2005 Promotion; 2013 Habilitation; since 2018 Heisenberg Fellow at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany; Research Associate at the Department of Greek, Latin and Classical Studies, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa; 2019-2020 Visiting Associate Professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany..
Born 1967; 2000 Promotion; 2004 Habilitation; since 2007 Professor of New Testament at Universität Regensburg (Germany); Research Associate at the Department of New Testament, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein (South Africa); since 2018 Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies »Beyond Canon«, Universität Regensburg (Germany); since 2019 Adjunct Ordinary Professor at the Catholic University of America (Washington, District of Columbia, USA)..
Born 1976; 2007 PhD; since 2017 Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia; Research Associate at the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa..
Born 1975; 2008 PhD; since 2018 Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies "Beyond Canon", University of Regensburg, Germany.