Questions remain, but Freeman does a good job in forcing a reexamination of this crucial turning point.
A chronicle of one significant year in Christian history.
In 381, Emperor Theodosius decreed that all subjects of the Roman Empire were required to believe in the Christian Trinity. That same year, the First Council of Constantinople brought together Christian leaders to codify this belief in the Trinity as correct and accepted doctrine. Historians have taught for centuries that the Christian church harmoniously and all but simultaneously came to the decision that the Trinity was indeed true and orthodox belief, but Freeman (The Closing of the Western Mind, 2003, etc.) emphatically disagrees. Debate over the Trinity and over the nature of Christ was still quite alive during this period, he asserts. Theodosius, largely for reasons of state security, squelched this debate through official edicts, overlaid with a veneer of doctrinal concord through the Council of Constantinople. The author frames his argument as being about the freedom of intellectual debate and the free exchange of ideas. Before 381, he avers, the Greek tradition of open intellectual discourse and the Roman tradition of religious tolerance marked the empire and, indeed, all of the Western world. After 381, both traditions would be extinguished for more than 1,000 years. “The tragedy of Theodosius’ imposition and its aftermath lay in the elimination of discussion,” writes Freeman, “not only of spiritual matters but across the whole spectrum of human knowledge.” He stops short of passing judgment on Theodosius or any of the other personalities involved in this lively period. Instead, he hopes to see them in context, rather than as the two-dimensional characters history has long depicted.
Questions remain, but Freeman does a good job in forcing a reexamination of this crucial turning point.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-59020-171-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Overlook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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