Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety : Some Aspects of Religious Experience from Marcus Aurelius to Constantine (The Wiles Lectures Given at the,)

Rating:
Summary: a classic
Review: as funny as this sounds, i really found this book hard to put down. dodds gives a really nice, clear overview of the similarities between pagan and christian religions in the early-AD period, as well as touching briefly on the debates between them. this book also includes a lot on the sort of one-hit religious wonders of the ancient world. a pretty short read, and very informative.

Rating:
Summary: I read it in one sitting
Review: Dodds delivers a concise but fascinating book on the interactions between the receeding Roman pagan religions and nascent Christianity. He draws heavily on primary sources, and (unlike too many other texts on the subject) refrains from gratuitous explanations and judgements. Coming from a background in religious philosophy, I would recommend this book for those interested in the formation of (and interrelatedness of) the religious ideas of Christianity, Gnosticism, Orphic/Pythagorean cults, and Neoplatonism.