Cult of the Saints

Rating:
Summary: The Authoritative Text
Review: Peter Brown has given us a wonderful history of a fascinating period in early Christianity, a time when believers could communicate with Christ through the preserved relics of saints. One cannot fully understand the spread of Christian ideals and traditions into the late Roman Empire without first consulting this book. Those unfamiliar with the cult of the saints will be surprised at the seeming preoccupation with death associated with early Christian traditions--in addition to preserving and displaying bones of deceased bishops (which supposedly held the power to heal and cure), ceremonies and festivals were often held at tombs and burial sites.

This book is not for the casual reader whose approaches ancient history as a hobby (I fall into that catagory). It isn't a consistantly linear text, and Brown often uses Latin terminology that is left undefined, and even uses direct quotes from Latin sources without translating them. While historians and scholars will probably have no problems (I assume they are used to this approach), an average history buff like me will have to consult a buddy who's fluent in Latin.

Nonetheless, Peter Brown is thorough and precise in his study on the workings of the early church. He shows us not only how saints to the masses, but how an individual believer could form a relationship with the dead saint, thus connecting himself to the divine. Although I had difficulty reading it for recreation, I know it will be a valuable reference text for future projects.

Rating:
Summary: The Authoritative Text
Review: Peter Brown has given us a wonderful history of a fascinating period in early Christianity, a time when believers could communicate with Christ through the preserved relics of saints. One cannot fully understand the spread of Christian ideals and traditions into the late Roman Empire without first consulting this book. Those unfamiliar with the cult of the saints will be surprised at the seeming preoccupation with death associated with early Christian traditions--in addition to preserving and displaying bones of deceased bishops (which supposedly held the power to heal and cure), ceremonies and festivals were often held at tombs and burial sites.

This book is not for the casual reader whose approaches ancient history as a hobby (I fall into that catagory). It isn't a consistantly linear text, and Brown often uses Latin terminology that is left undefined, and even uses direct quotes from Latin sources without translating them. While historians and scholars will probably have no problems (I assume they are used to this approach), an average history buff like me will have to consult a buddy who's fluent in Latin.

Nonetheless, Peter Brown is thorough and precise in his study on the workings of the early church. He shows us not only how saints to the masses, but how an individual believer could form a relationship with the dead saint, thus connecting himself to the divine. Although I had difficulty reading it for recreation, I know it will be a valuable reference text for future projects.

Rating:
Summary: a classic!
Review: Peter Brown's book on the Cult of Saints has become a classic work on the formation of the cult of saints in Late Antiquity/Early Medieval Europe. Meticulously researched (as always with Peter Brown), this is essential reading for anyone interested in the cult of saints. It is highly recommended for all students of Medieval history and religion. Though dense and scholarly, this is a worthy read for anyone interested in the topic.

Rating:
Summary: a classic!
Review: Peter Brown's book on the Cult of Saints has become a classic work on the formation of the cult of saints in Late Antiquity/Early Medieval Europe. Meticulously researched (as always with Peter Brown), this is essential reading for anyone interested in the cult of saints. It is highly recommended for all students of Medieval history and religion. Though dense and scholarly, this is a worthy read for anyone interested in the topic.

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant monograph
Review: This monograph has become the classic work on the cult of the saints, and is part of Peter Brown's monumental contribution to the study of early Christianity.
Brown takes on the complex phenomenon of the cult of the saints, countering the prevalent view, expoused by no less a thinker than David Hume, that the cult of the saints was merely a folk continuation of a pagan world view.
Indeed, just the opposite was true. The cult of the saints dramatically reversed the pagan view of the universe. In pagan thought, heaven and earth were distinctly separate, but now through the cult heaven and earth were linked by the physical presence of saints and their relics on earth. Rather than being a supersition of commoners, the cult was developed and perpetuated by the most educated and cultured elites of the church.
Brown shows that the cult was not "medieval." Indeed it developed from the classical values that permeated the late antique world. Saints become "spiritual friends," reflecting the warm sense amicitia that was so cherished Roman elites, and saints were said to be "patrons," who could intermediate before God in the same fashion that a patron would mediate for a client before a Roman official.
Brown paints a vivid picture of early Christian piety, a world filled with genuine emotion and profound spirituality.