Ursus Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 "There is no crime for those have Christ," declared Shenoute, a fifth-century Egyptian abbot. For Shenoute and those like him, the call from Christ to promote, defend and preserve the new religion outweighed any other consideration and justified any means. "Violence" whether of the margins or of the center , cannot be understood without reference to the values, motives and self-preservations of its authors, explains Michael Gaddis, the book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viggen Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 the full review can be read at regards viggen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skarr Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 Good review, Ursus. I have read a few accounts of violence that was perpetrated by the Church in the name of preserving their faith and I would tend to agree with your conclusion that you didn't need to read 300 pgs to arrive at that. Violence has always been a factor in any movement involving control or power over a territory, state or people's minds / beliefs. After all, most individuals fear physical harm and beatings, torture and a number of other things which are extremely abhorrent to our modern sensibilities were routinely performed on those who were weak or less fortunate in those times. There is a tendency for people to yearn for the peaceful times of yore, but that is more or less due to the romantic authors and the poets, who always tend to hyperbole anyway. Violence was a fabric of society and you had no real police or a form of justice that treated people with any compassion or with a sense of according them basic rights. It was all about who had the money and the power. If you think about it really, when Rome fell in the west, the aristocracy in Rome was not much affected. They simply shifted loyalties to their new masters and sure, they lost a little land. However, the poor lost everything - from their skin to their lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLavius Valerius Constantinus Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 Well, that review shocked me. "Violence is effecious" in solving the Church's problems. I didn't think the Church truly used that much vim until the Cathars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viggen Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 ...this review has now been updated to the new layout! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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