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My blog posts revolve around my interests and vocation as a historian: the intersection of history and contemporary church life, the intersection of history and contemporary politics, serendipitous discoveries in archives or on research trips, publications and research projects, upcoming conferences, and speaking engagements.
The views expressed in these blogs represent the views of the authors, and not necessarily those of any organizations with which they are associated. |
 As in previous years, I hoped to significantly lower the stacks of books building up around my desk and chairs…but once again I failed. But there is always next year… In the meantime, as in previous years I have summarized my reading of books from a variety of genres and subjects. Some of the books are for work, some are for hobbies, and some are just one-day mindless reads at the cottage. You can decide which books fit into what category.
This book is the memoir of Eisenhower’s experience as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe. It is a brief work (compared to the output of Prime Minister Churchill!) but a helpful one nonetheless that provides an overview of his rise in rank and responsibility, the tactical and strategic problems faced by the allies, the political hornets’ nests often stepped on, and the rationale for vital decisions made. While memoirs by officers are often written to create a narrative that whitewashes suspect actions or bolster one’s reputation, this narrative has a ring of authenticity and humility to it that is refreshing. Of course, that is not to say Eisenhower was perfect, however it is to say that out of the host of leaders in the global conflagration he was one of the better ones. A quote on the immediate postwar trials: “Here is the true, long-term assurance that democracy may flourish in the world. Physical means and skillful organization may see it safely through a crisis, but only if basically the democracy of our day satisfies the mental, moral, and physical wants of the masses living under it can it continue to exist.” “We believe individual liberty, rooted in human dignity, is man’s greatest treasure. We believe that men, given free expression of their will, prefer freedom and self dependence to dictatorship and collectivism. From the evidence, it would appear that the communist leaders also believe this; Else why do they attack and attempt to destroy the practice of these concepts? Were they completely confident in rectitude and appeal of their own doctrine, there would be no necessity for them to follow an aggressive policy. Time would be the only ally they needed if communism as a spiritual force and moral inspiration appealed more to mankind than do individual rights and liberties. We who saw Europe liberated know that the Communistic fear that men will cling to freedom is well founded. It is possible that this truth may be the reason for what appears to be an aggressive intent on the part of the communists to tear down all governmental structures based upon individual freedom.” (477)
For some strange reason I did not know that Christopher Columbus travelled to the Americas more than once – he travelled across the Atlantic four times. The things you learn when you read books! This is a very interesting and insightful book on the context, motives, tensions, activities, persons, and impacts of Spanish exploration in general and that of Columbus in particular. This work is a fair description of the dramatic events unfolding at the end of the fifteenth century, pointing out the highs and lows of European conduct in the “New World” as well as noting the same among the various peoples he met upon arrival. Due to it being written almost fifteen years ago it avoids the current culture wars over statues and imperial legacy – something that refreshingly allows for more history and less polemics. Comments on what is coined the “Columbian Exchange”: “Nothing would ever be the same. Columbus could not have guessed that the most lasting and irreversible effects of his voyages would transcendence quest for empire and trade; instead, he inadvertently transformed the global environment. More than Christianity, or slavery, or gold, or any of the other forces with which Columbus and Spain grappled, this two-way transmission between the Old World and the New World brought about changes larger than they could have imagined. The transformation was wide changing, cataclysmic, and enduring. And it would take years, decades, centuries for the effects of this two-way transmission to unfold.” (222) The author’s closing words: “Columbus held up a mirror to the Old World, revealing and magnifying its inhumanity and greed along with its piety, curiosity, and exuberance. Columbus’s voyages revealed many harsh truths about the limits of human understanding, but it is too late to undo the consequences of these voyages. Their Crimson thread is now woven deeply into the fabric of European and global history. For all the scorn Columbus engendered, his four voyages constitute one of the greatest adventure stories in history. Although he was not the first explorer to glimpse or visit the distant shores of the Americas, his was the discovery that permanently planted the reality of the New World in the imagination - political schemes - of the Old. Columbus forever changed the idea of what a European empire could be. He had the vision – and, at times, the delusion - to imagine, and to persuade himself and others that he had found something immense, important, and lasting. For all their accomplishments in liabilities, Columbus’s voyages were just the beginning, setting in motion consequences - political, cultural, and scientific - that persist to this day. In its complexity and powerful contradictions, his example speaks more urgently than ever to our contentious era.” (368)
There is value to reading what modern historians write about early Christianity. And there is value reading what early Christians wrote about their own experience., This book is of the later type. This is an excellent collection of some of the key writings of the early church that focus on a number of people who became heroes and saints of the church. Few if any doubt the importance of such figures on the formation of the church in all subsequent generations, and so it is a valuable read for any who seek to be informed about such early developments. To be honest, this book must read for serious Christians who seek to know about church practices regarding martyrs, monks, saints, relics, miracles, liturgy, heresy, church hierarchy, care for poor, missions, relations with the state, and so on. Of course, you can find online every ancient writing that in this book[1] – but the editorial comments and the ability to hold actual paper in your hand (and be able to write with a pen in the margins) is best for people of my vintage. Here are the chapters: -Life of Anthony by Athanasius -Life of Paul of Thebes by Jerome -Life of Hilarion by Jerome -Life of Malchus by Jerome -Life of Martin of Tours by Sulpicius Severus -Life of Benedict by Gregory the Great There are simply too many great quotes from the texts themselves, so here are some introductory comments from the editor: “These early Christian biographies, which were the debutantes in the tradition of Saints lives, the first links in the hagiographical chain, already manifest certain narrative elements that will recur later in the tradition. Examples of such hagiographical hallmarks are the theme of flight from an unwelcome marriage, as in the case of Malchus. Other themes that will be found time and time again, related to the special spiritual powers and superhuman status associated with saints, are the saint portrayed as a child of precocious wisdom, like Benedict, who ‘from a very early childhood possessed the wisdom of old age’, the power of the sign of the cross, as demonstrated in the episode when the Benedict is able to shatter a cup of poison merely by making the sign of the cross in front of it, the sensibility to foresee events or to perceive what is happening far away, as we see in Athanasius’ portrayal of Antony, and the fact that the saints body is said to remain uncorrupted after his death, as in the case of Hilarion's body after his death on Cyprus. The extremely popular themes of encounters with wild beasts who prove unnaturally helpful or obedient occur particularly, but not exclusively, in the biographies composed by Jerome…. These are but a few of the themes that will recur again and again in medieval accounts of saints’ lives, whose prime purpose was to edify rather than simply to record historical facts about a specific Christian life. Authors of late hagiographies would have been very familiar with these works of Athanasius, Jerome, Sulpicius Severus and Gregory the Great for they were read aloud during the celebration of the liturgy or at mealtimes in the monastery refractories. Paulinus of Milan may be unusual in referring space explicitly to the influence of the earlier Lives but he was by no means the last to take these biographies as literary models: there is hardly any later example of hagiography in which echoes of their language cannot be heard or reflections of their structure seen. As a result, generation after generation was to hear and heed the words of St Anthony when he said, ‘Remember the deeds done by each of the saints so that the memory of their example inspire your soul to virtue and restrain it from vices.’” (xxxiv-xxxv)
Alarmed by Protestant attacks on the practice of crossing oneself during liturgy or personal prayers, Francis de Sales sought to stem the tide by providing a defense of the practice. His main concern was the advance of Calvinism in France, for they, unlike Lutherans or those in the Church of England, were the most outspoken opponents of what they considered to be Popish superstitions. Francis de Sales was a young priest when he started to write a work that was published in 1600. This brief book on the sign of the cross is the third section of a four-part treatise entitled Brief Treatise Concerning the Virtue of the Cross and the Manner of Honoring It. (Book One was on relics, Book Two on images, and Book Four on veneration.[2]) He later became a Bishop of Geneva (thus leading to clashes with Calvinist reformers), a highly regarded leader in the Catholic Church, and then a Saint.[3] This defence is a gracious (surprising since it was written in an age of ruthless polemics) and compelling argument for signing the cross, and I see why it was so successful in countering the spread of Calvinist views on the matter. In fact, those who think it is a “wrong” practice had better read this book if they want to have an informed view of the counter arguments for their position. Here is a brief quote that makes an important point about how one reads scripture in regard to freedom and prohibition. (A very similar issue at the root of the differences between Lutheran and Zwinglian usages of music/images.) “Having no written commandment to make the Sign of the Cross, he will not make it. Having no written prohibition of it, I will not cease to make it.” (51)
This book details the travails of a denomination in a period filled with exciting highs and vexing lows. It traces how the denomination recovered well from its divisions related to the formation of the United Church of Canada (1925), how it experienced rapid grow in the postwar boom of the 1950s, and how it struggled to adjust to the striking collapse of church attendance that started in the 1960s and continued unabated into the 1980s and beyond. Perhaps one of the most striking aspects of the book is the description of the attempts by the church to stop the hemorrhaging, but literally everything the church did was to no avail. Like virtually all denominations in Canada at that time no one knew how to “fix” the problem. What we know now is that they were in the opening decades of a half-century precipitous decline of the church in the western world. Here is a quote that captures a sad reality (one that all denominations to one degree or another experienced): “What the denomination failed to consider adequately as time went on was the changing religious nature of Canada. The denomination did not adjust enough to the decreasing religiosity of Canadians. They continued to imagine…that if you build it, they will come. By 1985 this was no longer the case. Canadian Presbyterians failed to see this.” (190)
I had heard of this book for decades but had never read it. In fact, this is the first Agatha Christie book I have ever read. (She published over 70 books – quite impressive accomplishment indeed!) I will not give the plot away, for it is worth reading for the ending. I have not seen any films of the book, so not sure if any films mirror the book of take licence. I like to provide at least one meaningful quote from my summer reads, but it was hard to find one. Perhaps this one passed the test: “He was a man of between sixty and seventy. From a little distance he had the bland aspect of a philanthropist. His slightly bald head, his domed forehead, the smiling mouth that displayed a very white set of false teeth, all seemed to speak of a benevolent personality. Only the eyes belied this assumption. They were small, deep set and crafty. Not only that. As the man, making some remark to his young companion, glassed across the room, his gaze stopped on Poirot for a moment, and just for that second there was a strange malevolence, and unnatural tension in his glance.” (19)
I found this book at the local general store near the cottage for the bargain price of 25 cents! The premise is that there is a secret passage from the Quran that portrays Islam as not so violent. Radical Muslims want to find it and destroy it, whereas those who hope for a détente between the West and Islam want to bring it to light so that peace prevails. You will have to read it to find out what happens. This gives you a sense of the genre: “Aiden Ozbek met Carolyn Leonard at a quiet table near the back bar. The head of Jack Rutledge’s Secret Service detail, she was in her late thirties, about five-foot-ten, and very fit. She wore her red hair down around her shoulders, and her understated Brooks Brothers suit concealed a .40 caliber Sig Sauer 229, two spare magazines, a BlackBerry, Guardian Protective Devices ‘pop and drop’ OC grenades, and a few other tools necessary to her trade.” (135)
I grew up reading the Hardy Boys series and look what I found up north in a used book bin for 25 cents! It is a first edition copy of the first book in the Hardy Boys series. It may be worth $10 or $10,000, depending on the website you look at…. If you see me post a blog from a trip to Europe it was worth the latter.  [1] For instance, see https://www.ccel.org/fathers
[2] https://donboscosanto.eu/francesco_di_sales/Lexicon/Fontes/02-Oeuvres%20de%20Saint%20Francois%20de%20Sales-Tome%20II-Defense%20de%20l'estendart%20de%20la%20Sainte%20Croix.html [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_de_Sales
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