- Paperback: 182 pages
- Publisher: OUP Oxford; Reprint edition (15 Mar 1984)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0198266731
- ISBN-13: 978-0198266730
- Product Dimensions: 20.9 x 12.4 x 1.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 591,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Early Christian Thought and the Classical Tradition
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Product Description
Product Description
The historian of western culture cannot travel far without discovering that the roots of many twentieth-century questions lie in the ancient dialogue between the early Christians and culture of the old classical world. This book takes three Christian thinkers: Justin, clement of Alexandria, and Origen, and shows what the debate looked like from the Christian side. It draws on the pagan critics of the church to illustrate the case the Christians had to answer. The examination of the Christian synthesis illustrates the extent to which penetrating criticism of the classical tradition was combined with a profound acceptance of its humanism.
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First Sentence
In a famous passage of high rhetoric Tertullian puts a question that has reverberated down the centuries in the history of Western thought. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In a famous passage of high rhetoric Tertullian puts a question that has reverberated down the centuries in the history of Western thought. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As usual Chadwick's scholarship is astounding but severely let down by the shoddy way this piece of work has been put together. Badly cut, low quality paper which has fallen apart after one read through. Not worth the price in its current housing.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
A clear and concise introduction to early Christianity
2 May 2000
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This little gem by Henry Chadwick is a clear and concise introduction to three early Christian thinkers who addressed the question of how Christianity should interact with philosophy: Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen. All three were optimistic about the project of stating Christian faith in terms of the philosophy dominant in their culture. Chadwick's knowledge of the period is both wide and deep, but these essays assume little or no prior knowledge on the part of the reader. They are a lucid and informative introduction to a question which continues to trouble many thoughtful people of faith.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Nice introduction, but what happened to the price?!
21 Oct 2006
Format:Paperback
I bought this little paper back book in 1996 for about 14 dollars. I think $55 is a little steep for this brief series of lectures on the influence of Greek and Platonic thought on three early Apologists of the Catholic faith, Justin Martyr, Origen and Clement.
Chadwick's lectures herein are a clear and concise intro into the relationship between human capacity to understand God by way of Reason, as well as the Church's call for faith in the Revealed religion.
As many modern "fundamentalists" make the mistake of arguing that Reason and logic have no place in Christianity, and that people should instead rely completely on blind faith, it becomes important to recognize that the early Church found Greek ethics to be a perfectly compatble part of its theology. Not the ONLY part, but an important part to be sure.
It is out of this early connection that we have the growth of the concept of Natural law, which claims that humans are equipped with Reason in order to clearly understand the elements of which the good and ethical life consists, regardless of the nature of a person's faith.
THis book is a quick read, as it is based upon some lectures Chadwick gave at Oxford in the early 60's. It is not particularly comprehensive. Thus, for $55, I must recommend getting this book at the library, and spending that $55 on another book, like John Finnis' "Natural law and natural rights." Plus a little left over!
Chadwick's lectures herein are a clear and concise intro into the relationship between human capacity to understand God by way of Reason, as well as the Church's call for faith in the Revealed religion.
As many modern "fundamentalists" make the mistake of arguing that Reason and logic have no place in Christianity, and that people should instead rely completely on blind faith, it becomes important to recognize that the early Church found Greek ethics to be a perfectly compatble part of its theology. Not the ONLY part, but an important part to be sure.
It is out of this early connection that we have the growth of the concept of Natural law, which claims that humans are equipped with Reason in order to clearly understand the elements of which the good and ethical life consists, regardless of the nature of a person's faith.
THis book is a quick read, as it is based upon some lectures Chadwick gave at Oxford in the early 60's. It is not particularly comprehensive. Thus, for $55, I must recommend getting this book at the library, and spending that $55 on another book, like John Finnis' "Natural law and natural rights." Plus a little left over!
2 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Terrible
2 April 2006
Format:Paperback
Contains little that is of value and is instead a long list of names of scholars which probably know much more than the author, along with little if any explanation of their work. Avoid at all costs if at all possible.
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