{"product_id":"religion-empire-and-torture-bruce-lincoln-9780226481968","title":"Religion, Empire, and Torture: The Case of Achaemenian Persia, with a PostScript on Abu Ghraib","description":"How does religion stimulate and feed imperial ambitions and violence? Recently this question has acquired new urgency, and in \u003ci\u003eReligion, Empire, and Torture, \u003c\/i\u003eBruce Lincoln approaches the problem via a classic but little-studied case: Achaemenian Persia. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLincoln 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 they feel called to intervene in the struggle between good and evil? What was their sense of historic purpose, especially their desire to restore paradise lost? And how did this lead them to deal with enemies and critics as imperial power ran its course? Lincoln shows how these religious ideas shaped Achaemenian practice and brought the Persians unprecedented wealth, power, and territory, but also produced unmanageable contradictions, as in a gruesome case of torture discussed in the book's final chapter. Close study of that episode leads Lincoln back to the present with a postscript that provides a searing and utterly novel perspective on the photographs from Abu Ghraib.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Bruce Lincoln\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226481964\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226481968\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/01\/2007\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 192\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.91lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.04h x 6.40w x 0.74d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristianity Today\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2012 pg. 68","brand":"Bruce Lincoln","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48086413050111,"sku":"9780226481968","price":99.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_a1faa1b2-21d7-4142-8578-bb30f75ae0e1.jpg?v=1769094528","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/religion-empire-and-torture-bruce-lincoln-9780226481968","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}