CHRISTIANITY AND HISTORY

by E. Harris Harbison ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Although all of these essays have had a prior existence, either as parts of Professor Harbison's other books or as papers delivered by him at various symposia, they are not really occasional pieces but rather variations on a central concern. The questions asked (What has the City of Man or of Nature to do with the City of God? Can one be a ""scientific"" historian and a Christian one as well?) are still current in much of academia. The professor's way of dealing with them is quite as lively as it is learned: his prose, never pompous, is sharpened by some significant scholarly gifts, including an apparently thorough grounding in theology and philosophy. Although deplores the 19th century chorus to ""objectivity,"" 20th century organ-music on the anti-rationalist schools of Barth and Berdyaev is not his favorite score either. He quotes approvingly Frost's ""freedom is feeling easy in your harness, and amidst the conflicting claims of the Christian paradox- History as divine power (inexorable righteousness) against History as divine love (the suffering of free men)- he would accent the latter. A comparative study of Machiavelli and Moore, a brilliant understanding of Calvin, and a controversial appraisal of the Protestant Reformation are the high points of a consistently high-level and highly pleasing performance

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Princeton Univ. Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1964

Categories: NONFICTION