Strange Gods: A Secular History of Conversion
- ISBN-10
- 0375423753
- ISBN-13
- 9780375423758
- Series
- Strange Gods
- Category
- Religion
- Pages
- 464
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2016
- Publisher
- Pantheon
- Author
- Susan Jacoby
Description
Moving through time, continents, and cultures--the triumph of Christianity over paganism in late antiquity, the Spanish Inquisition, John Calvin's dour theocracy, Southern plantations where African slaves had to accept their masters' religion--the narrative is punctuated by portraits of individual converts embodying the sacred and profane. The cast includes Augustine of Hippo; John Donne; the German Jew Edith Stein, whose conversion to Catholicism did not save her from Auschwitz; boxing champion Muhammad Ali; and former President George W. Bush. The story also encompasses conversions to rigid secular ideologies, notably Stalinist Communism, with their own truth claims. Finally Jacoby offers a powerful case for religious choice as a product of the secular Enlightenment.
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Other editions
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- 2016-02-02
- 400 pages
- Ebook
- Greenleaf Book Group
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