Lättläst Kyrkohistoria

In the history of mankind considered as a whole there are two grand divisions. On the one hand, there is the ancient world seated in the darkness of death; on the other hand, the modern world which advances in the light of the Gospel. This is, beyond compare, the greatest fact of history.

So begins The Church at the Turning Points of History (IHS Press, Norfolk VA, 2007) by one of the foremost Catholic historians of his time, Belgian Godfrey Kurth (1847-1916).

The book, based on a series of lectures given in the very last years of the nineteenth century, was originally written in French and first published in English in 1918.

From a Catholic perspective, History cannot be regarded as just any other subject like, say, sociology or physics; it is an in intrinsic part of our Faith; the Church as such is historical since it has a mission in Time.Even the most secularized people think of time in terms of our Lords incarnation. Even if the average person’s connotation of ”1965″ is the year The Beatles released Help, the Vietnam War started, Uncle Bob was born, Dad died, whatever it may be – the date as such still means that our Lord was born 1965 years ago. The date as such, still bears witness to this the greatest of events, even if its significance has become lost to most of Mankind.

A commonplace in the History of Ideas is the distinction between the cyclical and the linear concept of time. The former being attributed to most primitive religions as well as the more sophisticated Asian systems of thought, the latter primarily to Christianity, Judaism and Islam.This is a generalization, of course, but a rather useful and adequate one. The cyclical concept of time is, basically, that the world goes through recurrent phases of birth, prime, decline and death, then rebirth etc, just as the seasons change. These changes stretches over thousands of years and it all goes on and on in all Eternity.

The Linear concept of Time on the other hand, at least from the Christian viewpoint, holds that there certainly is an Eternity, but beyond Time because Time as we know it is an earthly condition with a beginning and an end since, indeed, the world as such has a beginning and an end.

Of course, History as a field of study and writing was invented B.C, but after the Advent of our Lord Historiography takes on a completely different meaning. It is no longer the mere chronicle of bravery and tragedy, military and political victories and defeats, the recording of the constant interference of various passions and perversions in matters of State etc.

The Focus of History with a capital H, written with the suffix A.D. as in Anno Domini, the year or our Lord, is that of the Ecclesia Militans, with all her innumerable Saints and Martyrs; the Church Militant, fighting on Earth, in Time, to gain souls for Heaven and Eternity.The Church at the Turning Points of History is an excellent overview of Church History, scholarly and well-written and at the same time easily read. The extensive Note Apparatus, not least, makes it a very suitable reading companion for cafés, trains and other places where one does not have immediate access to a dictionary. As with all books from IHS Press, it not only has a substantial content but also an attractive cover and is produced with an attention to detail; always the hallmark of quality.

The author begins by emphasizing that the Church emerged from an exclusively Jewish milieu. When the Gospel was first spread throughout the ancient world it was preached in the Synagogue to Jews in dispersion. Many of the Faithful in those very early days became scandalized at the very idea of allowing non-Jews to be baptized. This provoked one of the first internal crises in the history of the Church, which was eventually to be settled at an assembly of apostles and disciples, known as the Council of Jerusalem.

Kurth writes:

Paul, the greatest genius of rising Christianity showed himself in all his power.//At this meeting Peter spoke with power and dignity and, indeed, showed himself, to the eyes of all, to be the infallible head of the Church of God// The Counsil of Jerusalem saved Christianity, but it had sacrificed Judaism. In deciding that the Church would be Catholic, that is to say, international, it had killed the national pretensions of the Jewish clique.

We are here reminded of the fact that teachings, now at the very foundations of our Faith, have at one or other point in time been subject to debate and discontent, that providence oftentimes has to work through politics. In short: the Church is, although divinely instituted, also a human institution. The reader is then guided through the gradual construction of Christian Civilization over more than a millennium. Kurth adheres to the view of most Catholic historians that the Church’s spiritual as well as temporal power reached its peak in the thirteenth century; the century of St Thomas as well as St Louis. Yet, according to Kurth the decline of Catholic civilization begins in the very last years of that glorious century, particularly with the ascent to the French throne by Philip VI, a.k.a. the Fair (1268-1314). This French King, who today is perhaps most remembered for having crushed the Knights Templar, also boldly defied Papal authority, confiscated much Church property and even for a short time imprisoned the octogenarian Pope Boniface VIII a foretaste, if you will, of the Henry VIIIs and Napoleons of centuries to come.

Not everyone, though, would agree with Kurth’s rather positive estimation of the Renaissance. Kurth holds that the Renaissance should be understood as more or less a natural evolution from, rather than a break with, medieval thought and culture. Even if the Renaissance did not develop out of a vacuum, this view is certainly debatable, and one with which this writer cannot totally agree . Yet, the author makes many a valid point and his chapter on this complex historical process is erudite and thought-provoking.

The last Chapter is devoted to the French Revolution of 1789. Catholic Historians in general, not only French-speaking ones, regard this revolution as not just another historical event but the beginning of the Revolution, which has ever since spread throughout the world. Rightfully so; never before in the history of mankind had Non Serviam been so solemnly proclaimed in an official document as in the ”Declaration of the Rights of Man”. Kurth points out that even if, on the whole, the French aristocracy had been utterly decadent throughout the 18th century the conditions of common people were improving significantly during the reign of Louis XVI. He underlines that the revolution could not really have been foreseen by anyone and disproves the myth that it was a natural and justified popular reaction to a tyrannical régime. The Church at the turning points of History shows how the Church, although based on unalterable truth, must constantly adapt to a world which is bound to change. It always has.

The book ends on a very optimistic note; the author foresees the reconstruction of Christian Civilization on the principles outlined in the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum (1896). One must bear in mind that this book was completed in 1899 when the Church was under the unwavering leadership of the great Leo XIII. True, at this time the Church was badly persecuted in many parts of the world and had quite recently lost its territorial domains to the new Masonic state of Italy etc. But, in the face of adversity it had very much recaptured the fighting spirit of the Counterreformation. The second half of the 19th and the first part of the 20th was in fact a golden age for the Church, intellectually, spiritually and morally, if not politically.

The Church at the turning points of History is a product of those not long gone times of Catholic self-confidence, which makes this masterly exposé of Church History not only enjoyable and interesting but inspiring.

/Ovanstående recension av undertecknad hari dagarna publicerats iCatholic www.thecatholic.org(den finns dock inte on-line än). Bokensom anmälsär utgiven av www.ihspress.com

Jonas De Geer

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