The law of God: these words conjure an image of Moses breaking the
tablets at Mount Sinai, but the history of the alliance between law
and divinity is so much longer, and its scope so much broader, than a
single Judeo-Christian scene can possibly suggest. In his stunningly
ambitious new history, Rémi Brague goes back three thousand years to
trace this idea of divine law in the West from prehistoric religions
to modern times—giving new depth to today’s discussions about the
role of God in worldly affairs. Brague
masterfully describes the differing conceptions of divine law in
Judaic, Islamic, and Christian traditions and illuminates these ideas
with a wide range of philosophical, political, and religious sources.
In conclusion, he addresses the recent break in the alliance between
law and divinity—when modern societies, far from connecting the two,
started to think of law simply as the rule human community gives
itself. Exploring what this disconnection means for the contemporary
world, Brague—powerfully expanding on the project he began with The
Wisdom of the World—re-engages readers in a millennia-long
intellectual tradition, ultimately arriving at a better comprehension
of our own modernity. “Brague’s sense of intellectual adventure
is what makes his work genuinely exciting to read. The Law of God
offers a challenge that anyone concerned with today’s religious
struggles ought to take up.”—Adam Kirsch, New York Sun
“Scholars and students of contemporary world events, to the extent
that these may be viewed as a clash of rival fundamentalisms, will
have much to gain from Brague’s study. Ideally, in that case, the
book seems to be both an obvious primer and launching pad for further
scholarship.”—Times Higher Education Supplement
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780226808055
Publisert
2022
Utgiver
Vendor
University of Chicago Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter