Convenient Myths: The Axial Age, Dark Green Religion, and the World that Never Was
"Humankind has often been held captive by pictures and stories concerning its own remote past. By revealing the misunderstandings and misrepresentations of 'religion' perpetuated by two such modern stories, this important book both liberates us from unhealthy and potentially damaging assumptions and opens the way for a fresh evaluation of the phenomena of religious faith and practice as we encounter them. Groundbreaking."-- Trevor Hart, Professor of Divinity, St. Mary's College, University of St. Andrews"InConvenient Myths, Iain Provan not only challenges deep (and deeply mistaken) myths, but destroys them on the rocks of rugged history."--Scot McKnight, Professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary"Iain Provan has a long track record of reliable, insightful interpretation. Now he brings his acute critical eye to consider familiar mantras that have served for popular religious interpretation. As Provan knows (and shows), these mantras have done a lot of damage through distortion and generalized misrepresentation. Provan makes clear that we cannot do our interpretive work by reliance upon such generalizations, but must go deeply into the particularity of religious traditions. His book is a summons to critical work that resists much of the facile interpretation now so widespread among us."--Walter Brueggemann, Professor Emeritus, Columbia Theological Seminary