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Pagan Portals - Polytheism: A Platonic Approach
Scattered articles, impenetrable vocabularies; until now there has yet to be a single volume that shows what all things look like in the big picture from a polytheist perspective. Pagan Portals - A Platonic Approach fills that gap. Drawing on the wisdom of the Platonists, this book gives the reader a comprehensive, unified and accessible tour of reality, from the rather innocuous assumption that something is beyond Nature to the profound and thunderous unravelling of all things from the gods.
- GenresPhilosophyPaganism
96 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 29, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 14, 2022
I did not find this slender little volume an easy read. I was super excited to see this, a 'big picture from a polytheist perspective' that draws on Platonism. I hoped it would simplify it into something easily digestible and comprehensible.
Dr. Edward Butler has for years been responding kindly to my pleas to simplify, simplify further and finally just dumb down the elements of this philosophy. I finally got my arms around it, in a blobby and amorphous fashion. This was supposed to be AHA for me.
It wasn't. In fact, I found myself re-reading each sentence, each line, each phrase over and over again (as I do with Dr. Butler's books), trying to get past the words and down into the meaning. So frustrating, to know what the words mean but not be able to break them down into the underlying sense of them.
But about halfway through, danged if I didn't get my eureka moment! Not about the whole thing, but finally moving past the concept of the henads and into the realm of the Gods as 'the engine behind the procession of reality.' Not a timeline of who came when and how, but of EVERYTHING proceeding from the Gods.
One of those things to which you go, 'Of course,' but then it thunks into place years after you thought you had it down.
It didn't last. By the time I got to the appendices I was back to struggling. But I do think that I finally have a BETTER understanding, and believe that with each re-reading of this book I can peel back another layer.
And maybe quit bugging poor Edward.
Dr. Edward Butler has for years been responding kindly to my pleas to simplify, simplify further and finally just dumb down the elements of this philosophy. I finally got my arms around it, in a blobby and amorphous fashion. This was supposed to be AHA for me.
It wasn't. In fact, I found myself re-reading each sentence, each line, each phrase over and over again (as I do with Dr. Butler's books), trying to get past the words and down into the meaning. So frustrating, to know what the words mean but not be able to break them down into the underlying sense of them.
But about halfway through, danged if I didn't get my eureka moment! Not about the whole thing, but finally moving past the concept of the henads and into the realm of the Gods as 'the engine behind the procession of reality.' Not a timeline of who came when and how, but of EVERYTHING proceeding from the Gods.
One of those things to which you go, 'Of course,' but then it thunks into place years after you thought you had it down.
It didn't last. By the time I got to the appendices I was back to struggling. But I do think that I finally have a BETTER understanding, and believe that with each re-reading of this book I can peel back another layer.
And maybe quit bugging poor Edward.
January 15, 2023
To read this slender volume was quite a demanding but also an enjoyable task. Steven Dillion approaches Polytheism by first defining Theism and explaining what a God is. Then he elaborated how a God is polycentric and therefor calls for polytheism. I must admit that most of the time I felt stupid while reading. Most chapters I had to read twice and I'm still not able to confidently say I understand religion at all. Given that Pagan Portals are books for the broad public and not solely aimed at philosophers and theologists the style of this book might be overwhelming. However it definitely broadened my perspective and I now have the words to describe why polytheism makes sense to me.
September 10, 2022
An Exceptional Introduction to Polycentric Theism
Pagan Portals — Polytheism: A Platonic Approach by Steven Dillon is an exceptional introduction to the arguments for polycentric theism. While short, the book is packed with immense concepts that will repay, even demand, rereading.
Dillon has done for polytheism what Edward Feser has done for monotheism by balancing depth with accessibility. The chapters build the argument one piece at a time, helping the reader arrive at the conclusions with ease.
This work has moved the conversation, that is so often dominated by monotheism, into fresh space and gives an alternative to arguments that serve so often as pretexts for evangelization.
Pagan Portals opens a door (portal) into the wider intellectual world of pagan philosophers, introducing the reader to ancient arguments that beautifully demonstrate the ineffability that precedes all of nature.
I highly recommend this work for anyone interested in philosophy of religion, ancient philosophy, and paganism.
Pagan Portals — Polytheism: A Platonic Approach by Steven Dillon is an exceptional introduction to the arguments for polycentric theism. While short, the book is packed with immense concepts that will repay, even demand, rereading.
Dillon has done for polytheism what Edward Feser has done for monotheism by balancing depth with accessibility. The chapters build the argument one piece at a time, helping the reader arrive at the conclusions with ease.
This work has moved the conversation, that is so often dominated by monotheism, into fresh space and gives an alternative to arguments that serve so often as pretexts for evangelization.
Pagan Portals opens a door (portal) into the wider intellectual world of pagan philosophers, introducing the reader to ancient arguments that beautifully demonstrate the ineffability that precedes all of nature.
I highly recommend this work for anyone interested in philosophy of religion, ancient philosophy, and paganism.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews