Genesis and Regeneration: Essays on Conceptions of Origins

The essays collected herein investigate conceptions presented within some of the major cultures of antiquity and of the early modern world regarding the beginnings of the world, of humanity, and of social organization. The discussion of origins, not surprisingly, reveals itself as a statement of identity and purpose. Through discourse concerning questions such as where things come from, or whence we originate, groups define their borders, point out those excluded from them, and formulate how they wish to interpret, for example, their mode of linguistic expression, their social structure, or the seemingly objective fact of their being human.