Now in paperback with a new postscript; this updated edition of Paula Fredriksen’s critically acclaimed Augustine and the Jews traces the social and intellectual forces that led to the development of Christian anti-Judaism and shows how and why Augustine challenged this tradition.Drawing us into the life; times; and thought of Augustine of Hippo (396–430); Fredriksen focuses on the period of astounding creativity that led to his new understanding of Paul and to his great classic; The Confessions. She shows how Augustine’s struggle to read the Bible led him to a new theological vision; one that countered the anti-Judaism not only of his Manichaean opponents but also of his own church. The Christian Empire; Augustine held; was right to ban paganism and to coerce heretics. But the source of ancient Jewish scripture and current Jewish practice; he argued; was the very same as that of the New Testament and of the church—namely; God himself. Accordingly; he urged; Jews were to be left alone. Conceived as a vividly original way to defend Christian ideas about Jesus and about the Old Testament; Augustine’s theological innovation survived the collapse of the Western Roman Empire; and it ultimately served to protect Jewish lives against the brutality of medieval crusades.Augustine and the Jews sheds new light on the origins of Christian anti-Semitism and; through Augustine; opens a path toward better understanding between two of the world’s great religions.
#2375601 in Books David R Shearer 2009-09-29Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x 1.06 x 6.12l; 1.70 #File Name: 0300149255536 pagesPolicing Stalin s Socialism Repression and Social Order in the Soviet Union 1924 1953
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A standard referenceBy Gary DicksonThere are not too many book on the early Soviet police system; so we are lucky that Dr. Shearer's book is so good. As I read a serious work of history I often flip back and forth to the end notes to see where the author found the information; and judging from the many citations in Russian national and regional archives; he must have spent years on this book. And thank goodness he did. I've read a fair number of Russian doctoral dissertations on the same topic; and I have to say that this book makes better use of archival sources than anything else I've seen. And it's even more impressive because he did not write the book with a Russian co-author; which is a technique used by some writers to overcome the very real problems with working in Russian archives.If you're interested in how the Soviets established their power and the mechanisms they used to control the population; then this is the book for you. Dr. Shearer discusses how the Soviet police got started and their focus on controlling the population (the opposite of the "to protect and to serve" ethos that is the goal of police forces in many other countries). He goes into depth about how the Soviet police system evolved before WWII; the use of informants; the establishment of the passport system; the campaigns against unsupervised children and so-called marginals. The post-war period up to 1953 is discussed too briefly; but in a 400+ page book that is excusable. The only tiny complaint I have is that he did not get into the role played by judicial investigators (sledovateli) and the relationship between the police and prosecutors. All in all; this a first-class piece of scholarship. Well done; Dr. Shearer!0 of 10 people found the following review helpful. not satisfiedBy ericthe item is not as described- it has some signs of wear- a few pages have some highlightingdisappointing for the price...
