Sacrifice (Breakthroughs in Mimetic Theory)
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Narrated by:
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Tim Lundeen
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By:
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Rene Girard
About this listen
In Sacrifice, Rene Girard interrogates the Brahmanas of Vedic India, exploring coincidences with mimetic theory that are too numerous and striking to be accidental. Even that which appears to be dissimilar fails to contradict mimetic theory, but instead corresponds to the minimum of illusion without which sacrifice becomes impossible.
The Bible reveals collective violence, similar to that which generates sacrifice everywhere, but instead of making victims guilty, the Bible and the Gospels reveal the persecutors of a single victim. Instead of elaborating myths, they tell the truth absolutely contrary to the archaic sense. Once exposed, the single victim mechanism can no longer function as the model for would-be sacrificers.
Recognizing that the Vedic tradition also converges on a revelation that discredits sacrifice, mimetic theory locates within sacrifice itself a paradoxical power of quiet reflection that leads, in the long run, to the eclipse of this institution which is violent but nevertheless fundamental to the development of human culture.
Far from unduly privileging the Western tradition and awarding it a monopoly on the knowledge and repudiation of blood sacrifice, mimetic analysis recognizes comparable, but never truly identical, traits in the Vedic tradition.
In giving attention to the overlooked subject of Vedic sacrifice in Indian religious tradition, this Stanford Emeritus Professor and member of the French Academy deepens understanding of the universal practice of sacrifice." (Midwest Book Review)
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Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that it called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable?
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Great recasting of how God should be interpreted
- By John Doyle on 02-18-11
By: Karen Armstrong
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Not the Impossible Faith
- By: Richard Carrier
- Narrated by: Richard Carrier
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Written with occasional humor and an easy style, and thoroughly referenced, with many entertaining "gotcha!" moments, Not the Impossible Faith is a must-listen for anyone interested in the origins of Christianity. Richard Carrier, PhD, is an expert in the history of the ancient world and a critic of Christian attempts to distort history in defense of their faith.
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Bloody awful audiobook...
- By Amazon Customer on 10-23-13
By: Richard Carrier
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The Enlightenment
- And Why It Still Matters
- By: Anthony Pagden
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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One of our most renowned and brilliant historians takes a fresh look at the revolutionary intellectual movement that laid the foundation for the modern world. Liberty and equality. Human rights. Freedom of thought and expression. Belief in reason and progress. The value of scientific inquiry. These are just some of the ideas that were conceived and developed during the Enlightenment, and which changed forever the intellectual landscape of the Western world.
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A thorough political tract rather than history
- By Jacobus on 03-08-14
By: Anthony Pagden
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Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (The Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies)
- By: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi
- Narrated by: Aze Fellner
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of the National Jewish Book Award for History. This book discusses the troubling and possibly irreconcilable split between Jewish memory and Jewish historiography.
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Best book of history of Judaism written in centuries
- By Bicigodo on 07-19-15
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What Are We Doing Here?
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Alexis de Tocqueville, inform our political consciousness or discussing how beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson's peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display.
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Unpersuasive and a bit repetitive
- By Adam Shields on 03-07-18
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Between Past and Future
- Eight Exercises in Political Thought
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Hannah Arendt's insightful observations of the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, constitute an impassioned contribution to political philosophy. In Between Past and Future, Arendt describes the perplexing crises modern society faces as a result of the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, and glory. Through a series of eight exercises, she shows how we can redistill the vital essence of these concepts and use them to regain a frame of reference for the future.
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Just stunning
- By Peter Stephens on 02-26-18
By: Hannah Arendt
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Nature's God
- The Heretical Origins of the American Republic
- By: Matthew Stewart
- Narrated by: Michael Quinlan
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy? Not only the erudite Thomas Jefferson, the wily and elusive Ben Franklin, and the underappreciated Thomas Paine, but also Ethan Allen, the hero of the Green Mountain Boys, and Thomas Young, the forgotten Founder who kicked off the Boston Tea Party. These radicals who founded America set their sights on a revolution of the mind. Derided as "infidels" and "atheists" in their own time, they wanted to liberate us not just from one king but from the tyranny of supernatural religion.
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Excellent exploration of this subject
- By Caroline on 01-13-15
By: Matthew Stewart
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The Evolution of God
- By: Robert Wright
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In this sweeping narrative, which takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy.
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Very heavy reading
- By Stephen on 08-07-09
By: Robert Wright
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The Life of the Mind
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Considered by many to be Hannah Arendt's greatest work, published as she neared the end of her life, The Life of the Mind investigates thought itself, as it exists in contemplative life. In a shift from her previous writings, most of which focus on the world outside the mind, this work was planned as three volumes that would explore the activities of the mind considered by Arendt to be fundamental. What emerged is a rich, challenging analysis of human mental activity, considered in terms of thinking, willing, and judging.
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English only please
- By angela cozea on 11-20-19
By: Hannah Arendt
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Aristotle's Children
- How Christian, Muslims and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom
- By: Richard E. Rubenstein
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling author Richard E. Rubenstein brings the past to life in this engrossing story of social, religious, and scientific revolution during one of the darkest periods in European history. When a group of Dark Ages scholars rediscovered the works of Aristotle, the great thinker's ideas ignited a firestorm of enlightened thought. This is the endlessly fascinating account of the pivotal period in history when the modern era took root.
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Interesting story of the rediscovery of Aristotle
- By John on 12-16-04
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Finally a book that explains mimetic theory!
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a fine idea stuffed in a dead horse and beat
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A seminal work on the astonishing power of the gospel by one of the most original thinkers of our time.
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What listeners say about Sacrifice (Breakthroughs in Mimetic Theory)
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Christopher
- 06-21-15
Intriguing
I have a colleague who thinks the sun rises and sets on Rene Girard, so I started with this book because I could get it on Audible.
I didn't care for the narrator, but the theory is intriguing. I will have to read more of Girard. I also enjoyed the last chapter defense of both Christianity and the Vedic religions.
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- Brice Laughrey
- 12-27-19
Robotic
I appreciated René Girard's arguments and this unique perspective on sacrifice. There are definitely things worth considering, especially in the context of Christianity, where sacrifice is fundamental to the story of Jesus.
While the considerations in this book are interesting, the narration was difficult to get past. I know it can be difficult when the information is highly technical or uses a lot of jargon, but the narration was so robotic it was often difficult to follow during complex sentences. There was a lack of natural flow and inflection that made things unpleasant to listen to. I think reading the book probably would have been a better experience.
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- Waterman
- 11-03-21
A quick and solid introduction to mimetic desire
This is a quick listen and will give you a clear understanding of Girard’s overarching point. He juxtaposes Christian mythology with that of the Vadic (Hindu) tradition which allows for a wider understanding of ones own culture
These lectures are some of the most straightforward articulations of complex ideas and will give the listener a starting point to go deeper into Girards work.
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- Jeremy
- 07-12-23
Brilliant
This small piece by Rene Girard is an incredible academic work. Makes one sit there and think for hours, days and weeks afterward.
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- luke in seattle
- 08-28-16
solid, pithy Girard lectures transcribed
this is a tremendous text by Girard as he explains a parallel analysis of mimetic theory based on Ancient Hindu texts and Compares them to ancient biblical Concepts including finding both opposites as well as complementary Parts in his argument relative to his overall Theory. if you're looking for a great audio relatively short introduction to girardian thought, Theory and the overall sense of how scapegoats have formed civilizations and people groups this is an excellent choice
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-03-21
Finally an explanation of Christianity
This is a short but poignant explanation of how Christianity differs from the religions that came before it and after. It explains why it seems similar and how it transcends to a truth incomparable with the others.
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- Igor Naverniouk
- 11-13-19
Nuggets of insight floating in word soup.
This book makes many overly general claims that aren't supported by evidence, and it does so in passing, as if everyone already agrees. The first half of the book is written in a language that seems deliberately obfuscatory. It gets more coherent in the second half, or perhaps I just got used to the style. There core point of the argument makes sense and was new to me, which I enjoyed.
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1 person found this helpful