Ebook: The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason

Thomas Aquinas and "the triumph of faith" -- The quest for certainty -- The quest for virtue -- Changing political contexts : Alexander and the coming of the Hellenistic monarchies -- Absorbing the East, Rome and the integration of Greek culture -- "All nations look to the majesty of Rome" : the Roman empire at its height -- The empire in crisis, the empire in recovery : political transformations in the third century -- Jesus -- Paul, "the founder of Christianity"? -- "A crowd that lurks in corners, shunning light" : the first Christian communities -- Constantine and the coming of the Christian state -- "But what I wish, that must be canon" : emperors and the making of Christian doctrine -- "Enriched by the gifts of matrons" : bishops and society in the fourth century -- Six emperors and a bishop : Ambrose of Milan -- Interlude : Quintus Aurelius Symmachus and the defence of paganism -- The ascetic odyssey -- Eastern Christianity and the emergence of the Byzantine Empire, 395-600 -- The emergence of Catholic Christianity in the West, 395-640 -- "We honour the privilege of silence which is without peril" : the death of the Greek empirical tradition -- Thomas Aquinas and the restoration of reason.;A radical reappraisal of the impact of Constantine's adoption of Christianity in 368 AD on the later Roman world, and on Western civilization. Adopting those aspects of the religion that suited his purposes, Constantine turned Rome on a course from the relatively open, tolerant and pluralistic civilization of the Hellenistic world, towards a culture that was based on the rule of fixed authority. Only a thousand years later, with the Renaissance and the emergence of modern science, did Europe begin to free itself from the effects of Constantine's decision, yet the effects of his establishment of Christianity as a state religion remain with us, in many respects, today.--From publisher description.