Wed, 17 Oct 2007
A dozen late antiquities
From Peter Brown's lecture:
It was soon apparent to me that each country had its own classical tradition, its own late antiquity and, very much, its own conflict of Christianity and paganism. To pick up the unmistakable tone of a laïc Frenchman in the Empire chrétien of André Piganiol, of a conservative Catholic in an Italian journal or of a Lutheran contributor to the Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte was much more than to discover the "bias" of a particular article. It was to add alternative layers to one’s own heart and mind, by seeing one’s own preoccupations with Christianity in the last centuries of the Roman Empire from the standpoint of European cultures very different from one’s own.
posted by Bill White at 01:24 | permalink | email me | | |
That explains Europe
Just between you and me, Europe seems a little off lately, doesn't it, the last hundred years or so? The elevator doesn't quite go to the top floor anymore, if you get my drift. Now I'm not a doctor, but maybe Europe's self-lobotomization has something to do with it.
posted by Bill White at 01:00 | permalink | email me | | |
