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Rating: 
Summary: Christianity and Culture Explained
Review: Christopher Dawson (1889-1870) was a Roman Catholic author and historian. He, along with a number of fellow coverts, created a Renaissance of English Catholic scholarship.This book contains the full text of Dawson's 1960 work, "The Historic Reality of Christian Culture," as well as several essays touching on the general theme of Christianity and European culture. "The Historic Reality of Christian Culture" is an important work explaining why one can speak of a Christian culture. As Dawson notes, no one would describe Arabic culture without a mention of Islam, but when it comes to Europe, culture is discussed as if Christianity wasn't a significant factor. The essays in this work are excellent. In particular, I liked the essay "The Classical Tradition and Christianity." The merging of Christianity and Classical Culture was one of the most momentous facts in world history. In "The Secularization of Western Culture," Dawson draws attention to the neglected figure of Tommaso Campanella, whom he regards as the forerunner of modern revolutionary socialism. There is one other collection of essays by Dawson that I'm aware of: DYNAMICS OF WORLD HISTORY. It is a bit lengthier and contains some of the same essays, as well as essays on a broader range of topics. In addition, after this work was published, Catholic University Press started publishing Dawson's Collected Works.
Rating:
Summary: Christianity and Culture Explained
Review: Christopher Dawson (1889-1870) was a Roman Catholic author and historian. He, along with a number of fellow coverts, created a Renaissance of English Catholic scholarship. This book contains the full text of Dawson's 1960 work, "The Historic Reality of Christian Culture," as well as several essays touching on the general theme of Christianity and European culture. "The Historic Reality of Christian Culture" is an important work explaining why one can speak of a Christian culture. As Dawson notes, no one would describe Arabic culture without a mention of Islam, but when it comes to Europe, culture is discussed as if Christianity wasn't a significant factor. The essays in this work are excellent. In particular, I liked the essay "The Classical Tradition and Christianity." The merging of Christianity and Classical Culture was one of the most momentous facts in world history. In "The Secularization of Western Culture," Dawson draws attention to the neglected figure of Tommaso Campanella, whom he regards as the forerunner of modern revolutionary socialism. There is one other collection of essays by Dawson that I'm aware of: DYNAMICS OF WORLD HISTORY. It is a bit lengthier and contains some of the same essays, as well as essays on a broader range of topics. In addition, after this work was published, Catholic University Press started publishing Dawson's Collected Works.
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Summary: Backwards Into The Future; Preserving Our Christian Culture.
Review: Dawson was one of the great historians of western, christian culture. He also brought a knowledge of sociology and psychology to the study of the basis for our classic western civilization. His thesis is quite simple, a culture is a reflection of the ethics and beliefs of the people who form the base society. While western culture is much more "diverse" than many contemporary academics wish to admit, the foundation of our art, literature, law, (as well as religion), all lie in our Christian experience and world view. One of Dawson's more prescient points is the correlation between a religious foundation for our civilization and the seperation of same which has recently led to a deterioration of the basic values and mores that have given the western world all that we hold dear. While written several decades ago, many of Dawson's observations prove to be almost prophetic. If you are a fan of the "permanent things", or are at all concerned with the question of how to restore our way of life, you will want to read this book.
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