In a work that is as much about the present as the past; Brad Gregory identifies the unintended consequences of the Protestant Reformation and traces the way it shaped the modern condition over the course of the following five centuries. A hyperpluralism of religious and secular beliefs; an absence of any substantive common good; the triumph of capitalism and its driver; consumerism—all these; Gregory argues; were long-term effects of a movement that marked the end of more than a millennium during which Christianity provided a framework for shared intellectual; social; and moral life in the West.Before the Protestant Reformation; Western Christianity was an institutionalized worldview laden with expectations of security for earthly societies and hopes of eternal salvation for individuals. The Reformation’s protagonists sought to advance the realization of this vision; not disrupt it. But a complex web of rejections; retentions; and transformations of medieval Christianity gradually replaced the religious fabric that bound societies together in the West. Today; what we are left with are fragments: intellectual disagreements that splinter into ever finer fractals of specialized discourse; a notion that modern science—as the source of all truth—necessarily undermines religious belief; a pervasive resort to a therapeutic vision of religion; a set of smuggled moral values with which we try to fertilize a sterile liberalism; and the institutionalized assumption that only secular universities can pursue knowledge.The Unintended Reformation asks what propelled the West into this trajectory of pluralism and polarization; and finds answers deep in our medieval Christian past.
#415963 in Books Harvard University Press 2008-12-15 2008-08-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.25 x .75 x 5.47l; .58 #File Name: 0674030680288 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A Great Examination of Atlantic SlaveryBy RDDIn Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora; Stephanie E. Smallwood examines the interaction between Europeans and Africans in the Gold Coast slave trade during the seventeenth through eighteenth centuries. Smallwood herself describes the subject; writing; “Saltwater Slavery brings the people aboard slave ships to life as subjects in American social history.â€Smallwood seeks to better understand the perspectives of slaves in the Atlantic World of the Middle Passage by reading between the lines of European documents to tease out the slaves’ narratives. Smallwood writes; “Considering the ‘saltwater’ dimension of slaves’ lives allows us to piece together a picture of a place; a time; and an experience that does not otherwise figure into the archival record.â€Smallwood argues that the coasts represented a key boundary; for example; between slavery as Africans understood it in the interior of Africa and how Europeans commodified it at the littoral. Similarly between the world of the slave ship and the needs of plantation owners in the Americas. Smallwood writes; “On the coast; captives were marked as commodities both physically and figuratively…As a result; captives and those who claimed to own them understood that saltwater slavery menaced them with ‘social death’ of unprecedented proportions.†Once aboard the ships; “slaves became; for the purpose of transatlantic shipment; mere physical units that could be arranged and molded at will.†The ships represented the boundary where power dynamics turned people into objects. Having crossed the Atlantic; slavers found that “the commodities they sold to American buyers were not the same commodities purchased on the African coast†due to the ravages of disease and violence both physical and psychological.Smallwood’s discussion of commodifying slaves draws a great deal from Michel Foucault. Broadly speaking; Smallwood’s entire argument follows a Foucauldian discourse of power; especially when she describes relations of slaves to one another based on ethic similarities or differences. Smallwood also relies heavily on African studies to supplement her analysis of the primary sources.For her method; Smallwood relies on official documents such as ledgers and more informal documents; comprising “internal correspondence between and among officials in London and agents stationed in Africa and the Americas.†She also includes various journals and other marginalia to create a fuller picture; observing that “it is in the dissonances between these two accounts that we can discern something of the captives’ own testimony.â€0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Clear and eye openingBy Bella HainesWell written and insightful. The thoughts Ms. Smallwood proposes are revolutionary for me. As a young white girl; I was taught about the slave trade and the impact it had on human lives. I understood it was horrible but I was too young to conceive of all the social; political; international and personal aspects of its effects. As I matured; some things crossed my mind with understanding; but this book enabled all the loose thoughts to come together so that I could see a bigger; clearer picture of the effects of the unspeakable atrocities themselves and the wrongs that have continued long after the abolishment of slavery. I applaud Ms. Smallwood for her careful and deliberate work towards delivering a clear and eye opening illustration of a matter so easily misunderstood and overlooked in its monumental significance.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Anyone who reads this great account of a forced journey can easily and fully ...By CustomerAnyone who reads this great account of a forced journey can easily and fully understands why the history of forcing Africans to and enslavement in the U.S. cannot be buried nor lost in "alternative facts"!!!
