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Conversion and Initiation in Antiquity: Shifting Identities – Creating Change &#160;by Birgitte Secher Bøgh (Editor), 2014&#160;For decades, Arthur D. Nock’s famous definition of conversion and his distinction between conversion and adhesion have greatly influenced our understanding of individual religious transformation in the ancient world. The articles in this volume – originally presented as papers at the conference Conversion and Initiation in Antiquity (Ebeltoft, Denmark, December 2012) – aim to nuance this understanding. They do so by exploring different facets of these two phenomena in a wide range of religions in their own context and from new theoretical and empirical perspectives. The result is a compilation of many new insights into ancient initiation and conversion as well as their definitions and characteristics.(Text by the editor)&#160;Contents&#160;AbbreviationsIntroduction&#160;Theme 1. The choice: reasons, motivations, and results.Becoming Christian in Carthage in the Age of TertullianConversion in the oldest Apocryphal Acts&#160;Theme 2. Agency and agents: The context of decision.Ontological Conversion: A Description and Analysis of Two Case Studies from Tertullian’s De Baptismo and Iamblichus’ De MysteriisAgents of Apostasy, Delegates of Disaffiliation&#160;Theme 3. The change: the nature of reorientation.‘The Devil is in the Details’. Hellenistic Mystery Initiation Rites: Bridge-Burning or Bridge-Building?Conversion, Conflict, and the Drama of Social Reproduction: Narratives of Filial Resistance in Early Christianity and Modern BritainThere and Back Again: Temporary Immortality in the Mithras Liturgy&#160;Theme 4. Education: instructing and guiding the convert.The Role of Religious Education in six of the Pagan Religions of the Hellenistic-Roman PeriodEducating a MithraistObservations on Late Antique Rabbinic Sources on Instruction of Would-Be ConvertsThe Role of Philosophy and Education in Apologists’ Conversion to Christianity: The Case of Justin and Tatian&#160;General IndexIndex Locorum