To Index| Group | Where | Number of Adherents |
% of total pop. |
Number of congreg./ churches/ units |
Number of countries |
Year | Source | Quote/ Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islam | Ghana | 1,667,040 | 12.00% | - | - | 1987 | Hintz, Martin. Ghana (series: Enchantment of the World). Chicago: Childrens Press (1987), pg. 111. | "Religion: About 45% of the population holds traditional beliefs, 43% are Christians; 12% are Muslims... Population: Estimated 1986 population - 13,892,000... " |
| Islam | Ghana | - | 16.00% | - | - | 1992 | Goring, Rosemary (ed). Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions (Larousse: 1994) pg. 581-584. | Table: "Population Distribution of Major Beliefs "; "Figures have been compiled from the most accurate recent available information and are in most cases correct to the nearest 1% " |
| Islam | Ghana | - | 12.00% | - | - | 1992 | *LINK* Nance Profiles web site (orig. source: DECEMBER '92 GLOBAL PRAYER DIGEST); (viewed Aug. 1998; now restricted.) | Total population: 15 million. 45% traditional religions. About 12% are Muslim, concentrated in the north and in cities. About 43% are Christian, living mostly in the south. |
| Islam | Ghana | 2,580,000 | 15.00% | - | - | 1994 | *LINK* Library of Congress Country Studies | 17.2 million [total pop.] (mid-1994). 1985 est.: 62% Christian, 15% Muslim, 22% indigenous or nonbelievers. Muslims mostly Sunni. |
| Islam | Ghana | 2,430,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | 1997 Britannica Book of the Year. Pg. 781-783. | Table: "Religion ": Divided by nations, with 2 columns: "Religious affiliation " & "1996 pop. " [of that religion]. Based on best avail. figures, whether census data, membership figures or estimates by analysts, as % of est. 1996 midyear pop. |
| Islam | Ghana | 5,430,211 | 30.00% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* CIA World Factbook web site (viewed Aug. 1998) | indigenous beliefs 38%, Muslim 30%, Christian 24%, other 8%; Total Population: 18,100,703. |
| Islam | Ghana | 2,040,000 | 12.00% | - | - | 1997 | Dostert, Pierre Etienne. Africa 1997 (The World Today Series). Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: Stryker-Post Publications (1997), pg. 46. | Estimates of % of population in principal religions, & est. 1997 total pop. |
| Islam | Ghana | - | 16.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World) | Table "Religions " |
| Islam | Ghana | - | 12.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* official government web site | The population of Ghana comprises Christians (43 per cent), animists (38 per cent) and Muslims (12 per cent). There is complete freedom of religion in Ghana. |
| Islam | Ghana | 5,400,000 | 30.00% | - | - | 1999 | Barnett, Jeanie M. Ghana ( "Major World Nations " book series). Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers (1999), pg. 24, 26. | "...Ghana's 18 million people... "; pg. 26: "The people of northern Ghana are chiefly Muslim... Muslim Ghanaians make up about 30% of the country's population. " |
| Islam | Ghana | 3,809,000 | 18.00% | - | - | 2000 | K. F. Bin Mohd Noor. "Muslims Statistics... for Year 2000 " [orig. src: Barrett. World Christian Encyclopedia, 1982] | Table |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | Ghana | 23,298 | 0.20% | 482 units |
- | 1983 | Botting, Heather & Gary Botting. The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. Toronto: University of Toronto Press (1984), pg. 53-59. | Table: "1983 Service Year Report of JWs Worldwide "; Adherent count here is from "1983 Peak Publishers " column |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | Ghana | 54,234 | 0.29% | 847 units |
- | 1997 | *LINK* official organization web site | Adherent/member count is for "1997 Peak Witnesses "; Memorial attendance (annual sacrament meeting) for same year: 197,055. |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | Ghana | 60,112 | 0.31% | 919 units |
- | 1998 | *LINK* Jehovah's Witnesses official web site; section: "Statistics "; web page: "Worldwide Report " (viewed 16 April 1999). | Table: "1998 Report of Jehovah's Witnesses Worldwide "; This adherent/member count is for "1998 Peak Witnesses " |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | Ghana | - | 1.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World) | Table "Religions " |
| Jehovah's Witnesses - Memorial attendance | Ghana | 84,476 | - | 482 units |
- | 1983 | Botting, Heather & Gary Botting. The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. Toronto: University of Toronto Press (1984), pg. 53-59. | Table: "1983 Service Year Report of JWs Worldwide "; Data from columns: "No. of congs. " and "Memorial attendance " |
| Jehovah's Witnesses - Memorial attendance | Ghana | 197,055 | 1.05% | 847 units |
- | 1997 | *LINK* official organization web site | From 1997 Statistics "Memorial attendance " column. Count of all who attend this once-a-year meeting, whether or not a "publisher " in full standing. Most would be considered adherents. |
| Jehovah's Witnesses - Memorial attendance | Ghana | 201,800 | 1.05% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Jehovah's Witnesses official web site; section: "Statistics "; web page: "Worldwide Report " (viewed 16 April 1999). | Table: "1998 Report of Jehovah's Witnesses Worldwide "; "Memorial attendance " column indicates attendance at yearly communion meeting. |
| Mennonite World Conference | Ghana | 3,022 | - | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* Mennonite World Conference web site; page: "Mennonite and Brethren in Christ World Membership Totals " (viewed 8 Aug. 1999). | Table: "Mennonite and Brethren in Christ World Membership Totals "; "based on the most recent data available... from 1996 or 1997... statistics indicate baptized members "; Dif. religious bodies: 2. |
| Methodist | Ghana | - | - | - | - | 1981 | Crim, Keith (ed.). The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions. San Francisco: Harper Collins (1989). Reprint; originally pub. as Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, 1981; pg. 478. | "[Methodist] Churches having more than 20,000 members are found in Angola, Congo, Dahomey-Togo, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone... " |
| Moshi | Ghana | - | - | - | 1 country |
1995 | Haskins, J. From Afar to Zulu. New York: Walker Pub. (1995), pg. 191-7. | Table: Add'l African Cultures |
| Nzima | Ghana | - | - | - | 1 country |
1995 | Haskins, J. From Afar to Zulu. New York: Walker Pub. (1995), pg. 191-7. | Table: Add'l African Cultures |
| other | Ghana | 660,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | 1997 Britannica Book of the Year. Pg. 781-783. | Table; "other " = NOT African Christian, Protestant, primal-indigenous, Roman Catholic, Islam |
| Pentecostal | Ghana | 1,376,000 | 8.00% | - | - | 1994 | *LINK* Library of Congress Country Studies | 17.2 million [total pop.] (mid-1994).1985 est.: 62% Christian, 15% Muslim, 22% indigenous or nonbelievers. Christians: Protestants (25%, esp. Methodists & Presbyterians), Roman Catholics (15%), Pentecostals (8%), & Independent African Churches (about 14%) |
| primal-indigenous | Ghana | 6,251,400 | 45.00% | - | - | 1987 | Hintz, Martin. Ghana (series: Enchantment of the World). Chicago: Childrens Press (1987), pg. 111. | "Religion: About 45% of the population holds traditional beliefs, 43% are Christians; 12% are Muslims... Population: Estimated 1986 population - 13,892,000... " |
| primal-indigenous | Ghana | - | 21.00% | - | - | 1992 | Goring, Rosemary (ed). Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions (Larousse: 1994) pg. 581-584. | Table: "Population Distribution of Major Beliefs "; "Figures have been compiled from the most accurate recent available information and are in most cases correct to the nearest 1% "; Listed in table as "Traditional beliefs " |
| primal-indigenous | Ghana | 2,970,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | 1997 Britannica Book of the Year. Pg. 781-783. | Table; listed as "traditional beliefs " |
| primal-indigenous | Ghana | 6,878,267 | 38.00% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* CIA World Factbook web site (viewed Aug. 1998) | indigenous beliefs 38%, Muslim 30%, Christian 24%, other 8%; Total Population: 18,100,703. |
| primal-indigenous | Ghana | 7,650,000 | 45.00% | - | - | 1997 | Dostert, Pierre Etienne. Africa 1997 (The World Today Series). Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: Stryker-Post Publications (1997), pg. 46. | Estimates of % of population in principal religions, & est. 1997 total pop. |
| primal-indigenous | Ghana | - | 20.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World) | Table "Religions "; listed in table as "animism " |
| primal-indigenous | Ghana | - | 38.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* official government web site | The population of Ghana comprises Christians (43 per cent), animists (38 per cent) and Muslims (12 per cent). There is complete freedom of religion in Ghana. |
| primal-indigenous | Ghana | 6,840,000 | 38.00% | - | - | 1999 | Barnett, Jeanie M. Ghana ( "Major World Nations " book series). Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers (1999), pg. 24, 26-28. | "...Ghana's 18 million people... "; pg. 26: "About 38% of Ghana's people practice traditional African religions. Many of these traditional religions are polytheistic (involving the worship of many gods or spirits). These lesser gods are under the ultimate control of a supreme being or god who is called 'Onyame' or 'onyankopon' by the Akan and 'Mawu' by the Ewes... "; Pg. 28: "The priesthood plays an important role in traditional religions. " |
| Protestant | Ghana | - | 44.00% | - | - | 1992 | Goring, Rosemary (ed). Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions (Larousse: 1994) pg. 581-584. | Table: "Population Distribution of Major Beliefs "; "Figures have been compiled from the most accurate recent available information and are in most cases correct to the nearest 1% "; Protestant "includes all non-Roman Catholic denominations " |
| Protestant | Ghana | 4,300,000 | 25.00% | - | - | 1994 | *LINK* Library of Congress Country Studies | 17.2 million [total pop.] (mid-1994).1985 est.: 62% Christian, 15% Muslim, 22% indigenous or nonbelievers. Christians: Protestants (25%, esp. Methodists & Presbyterians), Roman Catholics (15%), Pentecostals (8%), & Independent African Churches (about 14%) |
| Protestant | Ghana | 3,390,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | 1997 Britannica Book of the Year. Pg. 781-783. | Table: "Religion ": Divided by nations, with 2 columns: "Religious affiliation " & "1996 pop. " [of that religion]. Based on best avail. figures, whether census data, membership figures or estimates by analysts, as % of est. 1996 midyear pop. |
| Protestant | Ghana | - | 28.00% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Nazarene web site: Nazarene World Mission Society; (major source: Johnstone's Operation World) | Table "Religions " |
| Scientology | Ghana | - | - | 1 unit |
- | 1999 | *LINK* web page (OPPOSING VIEW): "Scientology Worldwide " (viewed 13 Feb. 1999); "Last Update on 10th Feb. 1999 " | Number here ( "# congregations ") represent total of all orgs: Dianetic Centers, Celebrity Centers, missions, etc.; "CoS web sites have lists of Missions (1998) & Orgs (1996) from which the Table below is derived. Original concept and research by 'Inducto'. " |
| Tigari | Ghana | - | - | - | - | 1945 | Cavendish, Richard (ed.). Man, Myth & Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural (vol. 15). New York: Marshall Cavendish Corp. (1970), pg. 1979. | "One of the most celebrated of anti-witchcraft movements was the Tigari cult which spread throughout Ghana and neighbouring territories in the 1940s, and which was directed to the elimination of witches, the procuring of health, fortune and children. Tigari ceremonial was enacted for 'clients' who had particular requests to make at the shrine, and Tigari priests manipulated their equipment to bring the semi-magical forces that they claimed to command into operation. To the accompaniment of drums, sacrifices were performed by which the priest claimed to exorcize witches or the effect of witchcraft. Malefactors were condemned and fines levied against them: the system worked because thos condemned feared the power of the Tigari priest and his medicine, and so yielded up whatever as demanded of them. " |
| Tigari | Ghana | - | - | - | - | 1955 | Cavendish, Richard (ed.). Man, Myth & Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural (vol. 15). New York: Marshall Cavendish Corp. (1970), pg. 1980. | "As long as [it] was popular, Tigari provided a swifter avenue of social mobility than had the older religious system. In a society where men were just beginning to recognize the possibilities of 'getting on in the world', of leaving tribal and village associations and traditionally ascribed roles, it is not surprising that religion should become a field of endeavour both for those seeking wealth and success and those attempting to exercise power. A decline in the Tigari cult occurred in the 1950s, because changing circumstances demand new magical responses. What followed Tigari was an interesting development which illustrated a continuance of traditional preoccupations, the intensification of demand for reassurance from the insecurities with which Tigari had sought to cope, and the growing capacity to adopt Western forms of organization. The new movements resembled very much more the mission churches... " |
| Twi | Ghana | - | - | - | 1 country |
1995 | Haskins, J. From Afar to Zulu. New York: Walker Pub. (1995), pg. 191-7. | Table: Add'l African Cultures |
| Unity Church | Ghana | - | - | 2 units |
- | 1998 | *LINK* official organization web site (viewed 1998) | Counted the churches in their directory. |
| miscellaneous regional info | Ghana | - | - | - | - | 1987 | Hintz, Martin. Ghana (series: Enchantment of the World). Chicago: Childrens Press (1987), pg. 85. | "Ghanaians are very religious. They accept many different faiths. Many of the people still believe in their traditional gods and spirits... Among the Ghanaians there is a mixture of Christians and Muslims. On the whole, different religious groups exist peacefully side by side. For instance, a fetish [traditional religious] priest might support the construction of a new Christian school in his village. In a curious blending of traditional and modern ways, many festivals officially end on Sunday with Christian church services. Even within one family, several religions may be practiced. " |
| Anglican | Gibraltar | 2,313 | 8.00% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* CIA World Factbook web site (viewed Aug. 1998) | Roman Catholic 74%, Protestant 11% (Church of England 8%, other 3%), Muslim 8%, Jewish 2%, none or other 5% (1981); Total Population: 28,913 (1997). (Territory of United Kingdom) |
| Catholic | Gibraltar | 23,000 | 85.19% | 5 units |
- | 1995 | 1998 Catholic Almanac: Our Sunday Visitor: USA (1997), pg. 333-367. | Figures are as of Dec. 31, 1995. Number used for "congregations " is from number of Catholic parishes. |
| Catholic | Gibraltar | 21,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | 1997 Britannica Book of the Year. Pg. 781-783. | Table: "Religion ": Divided by nations, with 2 columns: "Religious affiliation " & "1996 pop. " [of that religion]. Based on best avail. figures, whether census data, membership figures or estimates by analysts, as % of est. 1996 midyear pop. |
| Catholic | Gibraltar | 21,396 | 74.00% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* CIA World Factbook web site (viewed Aug. 1998) | Roman Catholic 74%, Protestant 11% (Church of England 8%, other 3%), Muslim 8%, Jewish 2%, none or other 5% (1981); Total Population: 28,913 (1997). (Territory of United Kingdom) |
| Church of England | Gibraltar | 2,313 | 8.00% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* CIA World Factbook web site (viewed Aug. 1998) | Roman Catholic 74%, Protestant 11% (Church of England 8%, other 3%), Muslim 8%, Jewish 2%, none or other 5% (1981); Total Population: 28,913 (1997). (Territory of United Kingdom) |
| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Gibraltar | - | - | 1 unit |
- | 1997 | Deseret News 1999-2000 Church Almanac. Deseret News: Salt Lake City, UT (1998), pg. 267-410. | Information from a variety of sources. Figures for year-end 1997. |
| Islam | Gibraltar | 3,000 | 10.00% | - | - | 1986 | *LINK* Web site: "Arabic Paper "; web page: "Muslim Countries of the World " (viewed 15 June 1999). [Written 1998.] | [NOTE: Unreliable statistical methodology.] "In 1986... Muslim Education Trust organization [U.K.] obtained... 1971 census & [info. from] Embassies of the respective countires... 1971 census showed the Muslim Minorities countries had around 308 Million Muslim.. "; "...add (784.5M [independent Muslim countries]+ 308M) = 1092.5 Million Muslims in 1971 "; Table shows country, "population " [number of Muslims in the country], & % Muslim. Total adds up to 317,391,000, so these figures are apparently intended to be estimates for 1986. |
| Islam | Gibraltar | 2,313 | 8.00% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* CIA World Factbook web site (viewed Aug. 1998) | Roman Catholic 74%, Protestant 11% (Church of England 8%, other 3%), Muslim 8%, Jewish 2%, none or other 5% (1981); Total Population: 28,913 (1997). (Territory of United Kingdom) |
| Islam | Gibraltar | 3,100 | 10.00% | - | - | 2000 | K. F. Bin Mohd Noor. "Muslims Statistics... for Year 2000 " [orig. src: Barrett. World Christian Encyclopedia, 1982] | Table |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | Gibraltar | 103 | 0.33% | 1 unit |
- | 1983 | Botting, Heather & Gary Botting. The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. Toronto: University of Toronto Press (1984), pg. 53-59. | Table: "1983 Service Year Report of JWs Worldwide "; Adherent count here is from "1983 Peak Publishers " column |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | Gibraltar | 117 | 0.43% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* official organization web site | Adherent/member count is for "1997 Peak Witnesses "; Memorial attendance (annual sacrament meeting) for same year: 158. |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | Gibraltar | 125 | 0.46% | 2 units |
- | 1998 | *LINK* Jehovah's Witnesses official web site; section: "Statistics "; web page: "Worldwide Report " (viewed 16 April 1999). | Table: "1998 Report of Jehovah's Witnesses Worldwide "; This adherent/member count is for "1998 Peak Witnesses " |
| Jehovah's Witnesses - Memorial attendance | Gibraltar | 155 | - | 1 unit |
- | 1983 | Botting, Heather & Gary Botting. The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. Toronto: University of Toronto Press (1984), pg. 53-59. | Table: "1983 Service Year Report of JWs Worldwide "; Data from columns: "No. of congs. " and "Memorial attendance " |
| Jehovah's Witnesses - Memorial attendance | Gibraltar | 158 | 0.58% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* official organization web site | From 1997 Statistics "Memorial attendance " column. Count of all who attend this once-a-year meeting, whether or not a "publisher " in full standing. Most would be considered adherents. |
| Jehovah's Witnesses - Memorial attendance | Gibraltar | 152 | 0.56% | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Jehovah's Witnesses official web site; section: "Statistics "; web page: "Worldwide Report " (viewed 16 April 1999). | Table: "1998 Report of Jehovah's Witnesses Worldwide "; "Memorial attendance " column indicates attendance at yearly communion meeting. |
| Judaism | Gibraltar | 1,000 | 8.10% | - | - | 1937 | Gilbert, Martin (ed.) The Illustrated Atlas of Jewish Civilization: 4,000 Years of Jewish History. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. (1990), pg. 161. | Map: "European Jewry on the Eve of the Holocaust 1937-41 "; "Figures show Jewish populations in 1937 and percentage of total population. " |
| Judaism | Gibraltar | 578 | 2.00% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* CIA World Factbook web site (viewed Aug. 1998) | Roman Catholic 74%, Protestant 11% (Church of England 8%, other 3%), Muslim 8%, Jewish 2%, none or other 5% (1981); Total Population: 28,913 (1997). (Territory of United Kingdom) |
| Judaism | Gibraltar | 600 | - | - | - | 1998 | *LINK* Jewish Communities of the World web site (1998) | Table: World Jewry. "collected our data from from demographic and other academic studies, community reports, and up-dates in the general media... consulted with experts to verify findings before reaching our assessments and estimates. " |
| other | Gibraltar | 6,000 | - | - | - | 1996 | 1997 Britannica Book of the Year. Pg. 781-783. | Table; "other " = NOT Roman Catholic |
| Protestant | Gibraltar | 3,180 | 11.00% | - | - | 1997 | *LINK* CIA World Factbook web site (viewed Aug. 1998) | Roman Catholic 74%, Protestant 11% (Church of England 8%, other 3%), Muslim 8%, Jewish 2%, none or other 5% (1981); Total Population: 28,913 (1997). (Territory of United Kingdom) |
| Aristotelian | Greece | - | - | 1 unit |
1 country |
-335 B.C.E. | Osborne, Richard. Philosophy for Beginners. New York, NY: Writers and Readers Publishing (1992), pg. 16. | "Aristotle was the last, and the most influential of the great Greek philosophers. Born in 384 at Stagyra in Thrace, he was sent by his father, a court physician, to Plato's Academy... He challenged Plato's idealism most directly in his empirical approach to the study of nature. In Lesbos he did original work in marine biology... In 335 he founded his own school at Athens, the Lyceum. As a centre of systematic research it far outstripped the Academy. When teaching, Aristotle would walk and talk, and from this habit, the Lyceum students became known as the peripatetics. " |
| Aristotelian | Greece | - | - | - | - | -322 B.C.E. | Yenne, Bill. 100 Men Who Shaped World History. San Francisco, CA: Bluewood Books (1994), pg. 22. | "Aristotle 384-322 BC. Taught by Plato and the teacher of Alexander the Great, Aristotle was one of history's greatest philosophers, and was one of the first to fully explore the relationship and synergy of all aspects of nature and humanity... Born in Stagira, a Greek outpost... Aristotle became a pupil of Plato at age 17, remaining first as a student and later as a teacher at Plato's Academy in Athens for 20 years... Under Alexander's auspices, he formed his own school, the Lyceum, which he headed until 323 BC... his major impact on the evolution of learning was his application of a systematic method to the study of human relationships with other aspects of the world. Aristotelian thought was ultimately harmonized with Christian theology by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, with Jewish theology by Maimonides (1135-1204) and with Islam by Averroes (1126-1198). " |
| Catholic | Greece | 61,000 | 0.60% | 65 units |
- | 1995 | 1998 Catholic Almanac: Our Sunday Visitor: USA (1997), pg. 333-367. | Figures are as of Dec. 31, 1995. Number used for "congregations " is from number of Catholic parishes. |
| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Greece | 400 | - | 6 units |
- | 1995 | Deseret News 1997-98 Church Almanac. Deseret News: Salt Lake City, UT (1996), pg. 188-408. | "Year-end 1995: Est. population [of country]; Members, [number shown in '# of adherents' column to left] " |
| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Greece | 300 | - | 4 units |
- | 1997 | Deseret News 1999-2000 Church Almanac. Deseret News: Salt Lake City, UT (1998), pg. 267-410. | Information from a variety of sources. Figures for year-end 1997. |
| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Greece | - | - | 4 units |
- | 1999 | "LDS Scene " in Ensign, Sept. 1999, pg. 77. | "The Church's first meetinghouses in two nations were recently constructed. In Athens, Greece, Elder Charles Didier... dedicated a new meetinghouse... Three of Greece's four branches--Halandri, Ilisia, and Pireaus--are meeting in the new building; the fourth branch is located in the city of Thessaloniki. " |
| citizens | Greece | - | 16.67% | - | - | -500 B.C.E. | Osborne, Richard. Philosophy for Beginners. New York, NY: Writers and Readers Publishing (1992), pg. 9. | "The glory that was Greece. There was an extraordinary flowering of culture in classical Greece. Passionate and enquiring, the Greeks produced ideas and artefacts out of all proportion to the general development of the society of the time... But it must be remembered that the newly-invented democracies were based on slavery--only one-sixth of the members of a city-state were citizens, once hyou counted out slaves, children, foreigners (barbarians the Greeks called them) and women (who had almost no civil rights). This was to deform their attempts to develop ethical and political philosophies. " |
| Cynicism | Greece | - | - | - | - | -323 B.C.E. | Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996), pg. 305. | "...Roman religion... included various moral schools, largely influenced by Greek philosophy... Cynicism, for example, as founded by the Greek Antisthenes and exemplified by Diogenes of Sinope (of lantern fame, c. 412-323 BC), derived from the Socratic notion that virtue is the only good and the chief means to happiness. By virtue, Cynics meant the knowledge of what is good, apart from the opinions of polite society. In principle, they believed in independence and a kind of asceticism that was indifferent to poverty or wealth, pleasure or pain. But in practice this often translated into calculatedly outrageous behavior and nose-thumbing, from which the modern use of the term cynic derives. " |
| Dionysus worship | Greece | - | - | - | - | -1000 B.C.E. | Otto, Walter F. (Translated by Robert B. Palmer.) Dionysus: Myth and Cult. Dallas, Texas: Spring Publications (1981 - reissued; English translation first pub. 1965 by Indiana University Press), pg. 58. | "The familiarity which Homeric epic has with the religion of Dionysus leads us to the same conclusion we could have drawn from the Ionic Anthesteria. Dionysus must have already been indigenous to Greek civilization toward the end of the second millennium at least... Everything which has been advanced recently to prove his migration from Thrace or Phrygia is in no way convincing. In its older form this hyposthesis was, as we know, represented by Erwin Rohde. He speaks of the 'Thracian cult of ecstasy' which invaded Greece with frightening savagery and was adopted only after serious oposition. " |
| Dionysus worship | Greece | - | - | - | - | -700 B.C.E. | Otto, Walter F. (Translated by Robert B. Palmer.) Dionysus: Myth and Cult. Dallas, Texas: Spring Publications (1981 - reissued; English translation first pub. 1965 by Indiana University Press), pg. 52-53. | "Contrary to the opinion which has prevailed up to now, the mainland of Greece, itself, is designated as the third seat of the Dionysiac movement, because the great excitement which the arrival of Dionysus evoked there is supposed to have been only a re-awakening of an age-old worship. Hence, one is forced to assume that the concepts and rites attached to his name had already belonged to the pre-Greek population. If we ask for the date when the foreigner supposedly made his way into the ranks of the Greek gods, Wilamowitz explains that he arrived on the mainland, at the earliest, in the eighth century, and that his victory over the orthodox believers may not be dated prior to the yeear 700 [B.C.] " |
| Dionysus worship | Greece | - | - | - | - | -700 B.C.E. | Otto, Walter F. (Translated by Robert B. Palmer.) Dionysus: Myth and Cult. Dallas, Texas: Spring Publications (1981 - reissued; English translation first pub. 1965 by Indiana University Press), pg. 52. | "The Birthplace of the Cult of Dionysus: Nowadays it is believed that research has conclusively proven that Dionysus made his way into Greece as a foreigner, and that he was able to receive recognition only after overcoming powerful opposition. Thrace, and Phrygia, which was inhabited by a related people, are looked upon as his birthplace. It was thought at first that he migrated directly from Thrace to Greece. More recently, however, it is held that compelling reasons have been discovered for the idea that he came, rather, over the sea, out of Phrygia or Lydia. Both views were finally combined by Nilsson. According to him, Dionysus must have made his way into the Greek mainland from Thrace as well as from Phrygia, once in his old-Thracian form, and the othe time in a form modified by the influence of neighboring religions in Asia Minor. " |
| Dionysus worship | Greece | - | - | - | - | -700 B.C.E. | Otto, Walter F. (Translated by Robert B. Palmer.) Dionysus: Myth and Cult. Dallas, Texas: Spring Publications (1981 - reissued; English translation first pub. 1965 by Indiana University Press), pg. 53. | "The Greeks themselves considered their principal cults of Dionysus to be age-old. How right they were in this is shown by the fact that the 'old Dionysia,' the name given to the Anthesteria by Thucydides, were common to the Ionic tribes, and, as the festival of Dionysus, have to be older than the partition and migration of the Ionians, ad Deubner rightly notes. In Delphi the worship of Dionysus could be considered older than that of Apollo. In Smyrna, where the Anthesteria were celebrated by bringing in Dionysus on a ship set on wheels, there is evidence of a festival of Dionysus alread for the period when the city was still Aeolic. " |
| Dionysus worship | Greece | - | - | - | - | -500 B.C.E. | Otto, Walter F. (Translated by Robert B. Palmer.) Dionysus: Myth and Cult. Dallas, Texas: Spring Publications (1981 - reissued; English translation first pub. 1965 by Indiana University Press), pg. 58. | "...the cult of Dionysus was at its most active in Greece in precisely those areas in which the knowledge of it had been preserved by previous Thracian inhabitants, namely, in Phocis and in Boeotia. Under these circumstances one might well thikn that the Thracians could have brought this cult to central Greece. But it could ust as well have found its way from Greece to Thrace; and the well-known orgiastic cults of Thrace... could... be used to prove that it was precisely the Thracians who must have been very rady to accept a Greek Dionysus. " |
