Benko Stephen. The Virgin Goddess Studies in the Pagan and Christian Roots of Mariology. Leiden: Brill, 2003. 2003

During the sixteenth century Reformation, Protestants accused the Roman Catholic Church of harboring ideas and practices which had been taken over from the Greco-Roman world. This was considered to be a serious charge, since the goal of Christia­nity, so the accusers claimed, was to replace paganism with the vera religio (true religion), not to continue it under a different name. The often crude and aggressive attacks by Protestants, especially during the era when polemics was a favorite disci­pline,[1] were strongly countered by Roman Catholic scholars. No area of Roman Catholic theology has received more attention in this debate than the role accorded and the devotion paid to the Virgin Mary. The literature on this topic is so extensive that it is nearly unmanageable,[2] but even a casual acquaintance with Protestant criticism of Mariology reveals that it is in this particular area that the charge of “paganism” is most often heard. However, according to the learned professor R. J. Zwi Werblowsky, every religion is many religions.[3] Therefore, the discovery of elements of our pagan past in the Christian religion should not surprise us.

Books and textbooks on the discipline History of religions:

1. Behera Maguni C. (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Readings on Tribe and Religions in India: Emerging Negotiations. Routledge,2024. — 502 p. - 2024 ãîä
2. Brodd Jeffrey, Little L., Nystrom B., Platzner R., Shek R., Stiles E.. Invitation to World Religions. 4th edition. — Oxford University Press,2022. — 1196 p. - 2022 ãîä
3. Ambasciano L.. An Unnatural History of Religions: Academia, Post-Truth and the Quest for Scientific Knowledge. Bloomsbury Academic,2019. — 280 p. - 2019 ãîä
4. Aldhouse-Green Miranda. Sacred Britannia: The Gods and Rituals of Roman Britain. Thames & Hudson,2018. — 256 p. - 2018 ãîä
5. Bell Michael. City of the Good: Nature, Religion, and the Ancient Search for What is Right. Princeton University Press,2018. — 360 p. - 2018 ãîä
6. Bhayro Siam, Rider Catherine (eds.). Demons and Illness from Antiquity to the Early-Modern Period. Leiden, Boston: Brill,2017. — xiv, 434 p. - 2017 ãîä
7. Blakely S. (ed.). Gods, Objects, and Ritual Practice. Lockwood Press,2017. — 371 p. - 2017 ãîä
8. Bredholt Christensen Lisbeth, Hammer Olav, Warburton David. The Handbook of Religions in Ancient Europe. Acumen,2013. — 456 p. - 2013 ãîä
9. Bommas M., Harrisson J., Roy Ph. (Eds.). Memory and Urban Religion in the Ancient World. Bloomsbury Academic,2012. — 312 p. - 2012 ãîä
10. Ahearne-Kroll Stephen P., Holloway Paul A., Kelhoffer James A. (eds.). Women and Gender in Ancient Religions: Interdisciplinary Approaches. JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck),2010. — 518 p. - 2010 ãîä
11. Annus Amar (ed.). Divination and Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,2010. — viii, 352 p. - 2010 ãîä
12. Cox Robert E.. Creating the Soul Body: The Sacred Science of Immortality. Inner Traditions,2008. — 288 p. - 2008 ãîä
13. Clothey Fred W.. Religion in India: a Historical Introduction. Routledge,2007. — 300 p. - 2007 ãîä
14. Asad Talal. Formation of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford University Press,2003. — 269 p. - 2003 ãîä
15. Carroll Brett. The Routledge Historical Atlas of Religion in America. Routledge,2000. — 144 p. - 2000 ãîä
16. Burkert Walter. Creation of the Sacred: Tracks of Biology in Early Religions. 3rd Edition. — Harvard University Press,1998. — 272 p. - 1998 ãîä
17. Clarke Peter et al. (eds.). The World's Religions. Routledge,1988. — 995 p. - 1988 ãîä
18. Asimov Isaac. Words in Genesis. Houghton Mifflin,1962. — 257 p. - 1962 ãîä