Let's Talk Religion

Explore the fascinating world of religion in Ancient Greece, from the powerful Olympian gods like Zeus, Athena, and Apollo to sacred rituals, temples, myths, and festivals that shaped daily Greek life.

Find me and my music here:
https://linktr.ee/filipholm

Support Let's Talk Religion on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/letstalkreligion
Or through a one-time donation:
https://paypal.me/talkreligiondonate

Sources/Recommended Reading:

Bowden, Hugh (2010). "Mystery cults in the Ancient World". Thames and Hudson Ltd.

Burkert, William (1987). "Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical". Wiley-Blackwell.

Burkert, Walter (1988). "Ancient Mystery Cults". Harvard University Press.

Chulp, Radek (2016). "Proclus: An Introduction". Cambridge University Press.

Cooper, John M. et. al (translated by) (1997). "Plato: Complete Works". Hackett Publishing.

Dodds, E.R. (2004). "The Greeks & The Irrational". University of California Press.

Eidinow, Esther & Julia Kindt (ed.) (2017). "The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion". Oxford University Press.

Gerson, Loyd P. (ed.) (2019). "Plotinus: The Enneads". Cambridge University Press. (This is the translation of the Enneads I have been using in this episode).

Gerson, Loyd P (2008). "Cambridge Companion to Plotinus". Cambridge University Press.

Gregory, John (ed.) (1998). "The Neoplatonists: a reader". Routledge.

Huffman, Carl A. (ed.) (2017). "A History of Pythagoreanism". Cambridge University Press.

Iamblichus "On the Mysteries". Tranlsated by Emma C. Clarke, John M. Dillon & Jackson P. Hershell. Writings from the Graeco-Roman World. Society of Biblical Literature.

Inwood, Brad (ed.) (2003). "The Cambridge Companion to the Stoics". Cambridge University Press.

Kirk, G.S., J.E. Raven & M. Schofield (1983). "The Presocratic Philosophers". Second Edition. Cambridge University Press.

Parker, Robert C.T. (2011). "On Greek Religion". Cornell University Press.

Proclus "The Elements of Theology: A Revised Text with Translation, Introduction, and Commentary". Translated by E.R. Dodds. Second Edition. Oxford University Press.

Shaw, Gregory (2014). "Theurgy and the Soul: The Neoplatonism of Iamblichus". Angelico Press/Sophia Perennis.

Ustinova, Yulia (2017). "Divine Mania: Alterations of Consciousness in Ancient Greece". Routledge.

Wallis, R.T. (1998). "Neoplatonism". Second Edition. Bristol Classical Paperbacks. Hackett Publishing Company.

Zhmud, Leonid (2012). "Pythagoras and the Early Pythagoreans". Translated by Kevin Windle & Rosh Ireland. OUP Oxford.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did the Quran once contain additional suras that are no longer part of the standard text? In this video, we explore reports about the codex of Ubayy ibn Ka'b and examine claims about “lost” or excluded suras during the Uthmanic recension.

Find me and my music here:
https://linktr.ee/filipholm

Support Let's Talk Religion on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/letstalkreligion
Or through a one-time donation:
https://paypal.me/talkreligiondonate

Sources/Recommended Reading:

Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali. 2022. The Shi’is and the Qur’an: Between Apocalypse, Civil Wars, and Empire. Religions 13: 1.

Anthony, Sean W. (2019). "TWO ‘LOST’ SŪRAS OF THE QURʾĀN: SŪRAT AL-KHALʿ AND SŪRAT AL-ḤAFD BETWEEN TEXTUAL AND RITUAL CANON (1st-3rd/7th-9th CENTURIES)". JSAI 46 (2019).

Harvey, R., & College, E. (2017). "The Legal Epistemology of Qur'anic Variants: The Readings of Ibn Masʿūd in Kufan fiqh and the Ḥanafī madhhab".

Karimi-Nia, Morteza. (2019). A New Document in the Early History of the Qurʾān. Journal of Islamic Manuscripts. 10. 292-326. 10.1163/1878464X-01003002.

Sadeghi, Behnam & Bergmann, Uwe. (2010). The Codex of a Companion of the Prophet and the Qurān of the Prophet. Arabica. 57. 343-436. 10.1163/157005810X504518.

Sinai, Nicolai (2017). "The Qur'an: A Historical-Critical Introduction". Edinburgh University Press.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who was Mazdak, and did he really preach a form of “ancient communism”? In this video, we explore Mazdakism—a radical movement in Sasanian Persia that challenged wealth, power, and social inequality over 1,500 years ago.

Find me and my music here:
https://linktr.ee/filipholm

Support Let's Talk Religion on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/letstalkreligion
Or through a one-time donation:
https://paypal.me/talkreligiondonate

Sources/Recommended Reading:

Boyce, Mary (2000). "Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices". Routledge; 2nd edition.

Crone, Patricia (2012). “The Nativist Prophets of Early Islamic Iran: Rural Revolt and Local Zoroastrianism”. Cambridge University Press.

Moazami, Mahnaz (ed.) (2016). "Zoroastrianism: A collection of Articles from the Encyclopedia Iranica". ENCYCLOPAEDIA IRANICA FOUNDATION. 2 Volumes.

Rose, Jenny (2019). "Zoroastrianism: An Introduction". I.B. Tauris Introduction to Religions. Bloomsbury Academic.

Yarshater, Ehsan (1983). “Mazdakism”. In “The Cambridge History of Iran”, vol. 3. Cambridge University Press.

https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mazdak-crossref/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Was the legendary “Atlantis of the Sands” real? In this video, we explore the mystery of Iram of the Pillars, the lost city often linked to the ancient people of ʿĀd mentioned in the Qurʾān. We explore whether it was originally a city or the name of a people, and all the legends surrouding it until this very day.

Music by Filip Holm

Find me and my music here:
https://linktr.ee/filipholm

Support Let's Talk Religion on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/letstalkreligion
Or through a one-time donation:
https://paypal.me/talkreligiondonate

Sources/Recommended Reading:

Al-Jallad, A.الجلادأ. (2025). The Epigraphy of the Tribe of ʿĀd [النقوش القديمة التي تذكر عاد]. Athīrat: Journal of Ancient Arabia, 1(1-2), 281-289. https://doi.org/10.1163/30504880-12340015

Clapp, Nicholas (1999). “The Road to Ubar: Finding the Atlantis of the Sands”. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Elmaz, Orhan (2018). “A Paradise in the Desert: Iram at the Intersection of One Thousand and One Nights, Quranic Exegesis, and Arabian History”. In “To the Madbar and Back Again: Studies in the Languages, Archaeology, and Cultures of Arabia, Dedicated to Michael C.A. Macdonald”. Edited by Laïla Nehmé &
Ahmad Al-Jallad. Brill.

Thomas, Bertram (1932). “Arabia Felix: Across the Empty Quarter of Arabia”. Jonathan Cape.

Thomas, Bertram (1933). “Ubar—the Atlantis of the sands of Rub’ Al Khali”. Journal of The Royal Central Asian Society, 20(2), 259–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/03068379308725252

Webb, P. A. (2019). Iram. In K. Fleet, G. Krämer, D. Matringe, J. Nawas, & E.
Rowson (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of Islam 3 (pp. 117-121). Brill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did Abd al-Malik shape the development of Islam? This video explores the reign of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik, including his reforms, the construction of the Dome of the Rock, and his role in shaping early Islamic identity. Was he the most important caliph in Islamic history?

Find me and my music here:
https://linktr.ee/filipholm

Support Let's Talk Religion on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/letstalkreligion
Or through a one-time donation:
https://paypal.me/talkreligiondonate

Sources/Recommended Reading:

Donner, Fred (2012). "Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam". Harvard University Press.

Dov Goitein, Shelomo (1950). "The Historical Background of the Erection of the Dome of the Rock". In Journal of the American Oriental Society , Apr. - Jun., 1950, Vol. 70, No. 2, pp. 104-108.

Elad, Amikam (2008). "֒ABD AL-MALIK AND THE DOME OF THE ROCK: A FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THEMUSLIM SOURCES". In JERUSALEM STUDIES IN ARABIC AND ISLAM 35 (2008).

Marsham, Andrew (2023). "The Umayyad Empire". Edinburgh University Press.

Robinson, Chase F. (2012). "'Abd al-Malik". Makers of the Muslim World. Oneworld Academic.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.