Journal of the American Academy of Religion Advance Access originally published online on August 1, 2006
Journal of the American Academy of Religion 2006 74(3):593-614; doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfj117
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On Book Burnings and Book Burners: Reflections on the Power (and Powerlessness) of Ideas
Hans J. Hillerbrand is at Box 90064, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706.
This article seeks to offer an overview of how in the past books (and even authors of books) have been burned in an effort to eradicate their ideas and also to punish their authors. The article demonstrates that this disposition appears to be a universal trait, not at all confined to the Western (Christian) tradition.