Dreams, Prophecy and Violence from Early Christianity to the Rise of Islam
Dreams and Divination from Byzantium to Baghdad (400-1000 CE). Oxford, in press.

PROFESSOR BRONWEN NEIL has been awarded a prestigious Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship for her project, Dreams, Prophecy and Violence from Early Christianity to the Rise of Islam.

The project at Macquarie University uncovers the common themes in dream literature from pagan and Jewish antiquity to early Christianity and early Islam, showing how dreams and prophecy have been used to increase religious control, and to justify violence since the period of Late Antiquity.

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Dr Neil said that the project benefits Australia by building intercultural understanding between contemporary Jews, Christians and Muslims.

“It stresses the common cultural roots of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by uncovering the crucial role of dreams and prophecy in increasing the authority of religious leaders, and the use of dreams to justify inter-religious violence.”