Jaro Pelikan was one of the foremost, if not the foremost, contemporary scholars of Western civilization and Christian doctrinal history. The referenced book describes how Christ "fit in" to and reflected the cultural milieu of each of the last 20 centuries - ie, it's not a book about religion, but about cultural history and how the view of Christ has changed over that time, and how it was reflected it in art, literature, etc. So pretty interesting stuff, from a former Jefferson Prize winner, AAAS president, and the translator of the motto of the Madison Avenue Rod, Gun, Bloody Mary & Labrador Retriever Benevolent Association ("Keep your powder, your trout flies and your martinis dry") into Latin (Semper siccandae sunt: potio Pulvis, et pelliculatio).
In any event, I really enjoyed this introductory paragraph as among the best book setups i've ever read:
"Regardless of what anyone may personally think or believe about him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of Western culture for almost twenty centuries. If it were possible, with some sort of supermagnet, to pull up out of that history every scrap of metal bearing at least a trace of his name, how much would be left? It is from his birth that most of the human race dates its calendars, it is by his name that millions curse, and in his name that millions pray."
I did get to wondering though whether there will be a 21st century of preeminence.
In any event, I really enjoyed this introductory paragraph as among the best book setups i've ever read:
"Regardless of what anyone may personally think or believe about him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of Western culture for almost twenty centuries. If it were possible, with some sort of supermagnet, to pull up out of that history every scrap of metal bearing at least a trace of his name, how much would be left? It is from his birth that most of the human race dates its calendars, it is by his name that millions curse, and in his name that millions pray."
I did get to wondering though whether there will be a 21st century of preeminence.
