English Conferences of Ernest Renan: Rome and Christianity. Marcus Aurelius

Ernest RenanProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.8
Word count
203K words
Chapters
21

Tags

English Originals Religion Philosophy LecturesChristian HistoryReligious PhilosophyRoman HistoryFigure PortraitsStoic ThoughtMoral CultivationAcademic StudyIntellectual CommentaryClassical Civilization

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.English Conferences of Ernest Renan: Rome and Christianity. Marcus AureliusAuthor: Renan, Ernest, 1823-1892,Language: English, Class: BR: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Christianity, Release Date: Jun 3, 2013

Editor's review

This book collects two conference lectures Renan published in English, on the relationship between Rome and Christianity and on the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. Renan was a major nineteenth-century French scholar of religious and intellectual history, and his writing combines historical scholarship with a literary, speculative tone; these two texts concentrate his way of understanding the transformation of ancient religion and Stoic philosophy. For readers, its value lies not in offering definitive conclusions but in presenting a nineteenth-century intellectual's perspective on early Christianity and the Roman spiritual world: it has both concern and the limits of its era's intellectual context. The book involves many ancient figures, sects, and institutional backgrounds, which may be difficult for first-time readers, but with basic readings in Roman history and early Christian history, its argumentative thread becomes clear. It suits those interested in intellectual and religious history, and also serves to observe the kind of literary academic lecture style that preceded modern historical writing.

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Reading tips

  1. Read an introductory work on Roman history or early Christian history first, then proceed to the main text.
  2. Read the two lectures in two sessions, writing a brief summary of key points after each.
  3. Look up ancient names and sect names as you encounter them and take brief notes.
  4. Note the author's stance and the limitations of his era, and compare his views with those of other historians.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

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FAQ

Can I understand this book without a background in religious history? You can read it, but it will be rather difficult. The book involves many ancient figures, sects, and institutional backgrounds, and without a foundation you may easily get lost. It is advisable to first acquire introductory knowledge of Roman imperial history and early Christian history, then read the main text, which will make understanding much smoother.
What are the core contents of the two lectures respectively? One discusses the relationship between Rome and Christianity, involving the ancient religious environment and the rise of Christianity; the other centers on the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, involving Stoic philosophy and the spiritual world of the emperor. Both reflect Renan's characteristic of examining the transformation of ancient thought with historical and literary methods.
Does Renan's discussion still have reference value today? As an important voice in nineteenth-century religious and intellectual history, Renan's discussion has value for historical sources and the history of ideas, helping readers understand how intellectuals of that era viewed ancient religion. But some of his judgments carry the limitations of his time, and when reading they should be compared with other modern research rather than taken as definitive conclusions.

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About the author

Ernest Renan Author · French · 1823–1892

Ernest Renan (1823–1892) was a French philosopher, Orientalist and historian of religion, born in Tréguier, Brittany, and died in Paris. He is best known for The Life of Jesus, the first volume of his History of the Origins of Christianity, which is regarded as a pioneering work in comparative religious studies. His writing combines historical scholarship with a literary style; besides his works on religious history, he left autobiographical writings such as Recollections of My Youth, as well as lectures on Rome and Christianity and on Marcus Aurelius. In 1882 he put forward the famous claim that a nation is a soul or spiritual principle, which proved widely influential; in 1878 he was elected to the Académie française. The library holds seven of his works, including French originals and English translations of the titles mentioned above.