medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Is Ditchkins disease spreading beyond the Simonyi sinecure in Oxford?
John Wickstrom wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Perhaps my use of the term ‘fair’ was too kind. Wickham’s approach to
> Christianity in general and to monasticism in particular is political
> and sociological; he also tends to choose the most skeptical
> interpretation of the motives and behavior of bishops and monks.
> “Fanatical’ often seems the most frequent adjective Wickham associates
> with monastic groups. Nowhere does he discuss the spiritual
> aspirations of monasticism in what I can only call sympathetic
> language (a la Peter Brown, for example); he prefers modern
> sociological language to paraphrasing the sources when it comes to
> describing religious agendas.
>
> This sort of attitude does not bother me; but it will surely reinforce
> the tendency of students towards religious skepticism and their
> quickness to question the integrity of religious figures. That’s the
> pedagogical problem I was trying to hint at in my original post.
>
> best,
>
> John W.
>
> *From:* medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval
> religious culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf
> Of *Revd Gordon Plumb
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 22, 2009 11:50 AM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Re: [M-R] Wickham's new book
>
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> I can't for the life of me see that the issue of whether Wickham is
> sympathetic to Christianity is relevant to the suitability of his book
> for undergraduates, since on your admission he is fair and fulsome in
> his treatment. If only books sympathetic to Christianity were used we
> might have a very short reading list!!
>
> Gordon Plumb (Revd - who is sometimes sympathetic to Christianity!)
>
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