CAAR AND CHRIST

by Will Durant ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 23, 1944

This is the third volume in Burant's Story of Civilization and encompasses the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, with emphasis in the final section on the rise of Christianity underlined by the Council of Nica in 325 A.D. Durant's method in writing a synthetic history of the world virtually amounts to a behaviouristic study of mankind, for he subordinates the dry bones of fact to the portrait of each era in terms of ways of life and thought. This particular period contains two of the great dramas of all time: -- the metamorphosis of a crossroads village to a world empire; and the growth of a handful of hunted followers of a religious leader in a remote province to become heirs of that empire. While three quarters of the book follow established patterns of knowledge of the ancient world, many readers will find food for thought in the weighing of the evidence in ancient sources of the existence of Jesus and the beginnings of the Christianity. Durant's bias is definitely on the side of acceptance of the facts -- and he fits them into the general outline of parallel events in the Roman World. His is a useful gift -- this popularising of scholarship to persuade mass reading of history.

Pub Date: Oct. 23, 1944

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1944

Categories: NONFICTION