Synopses & Reviews
Paul Grimley Kuntz was a deeply religious man who not only found profundity in the Decalogue but also was convinced that it offers the most reasonable paradigm for a well-ordered society. In "Mosaic Paradigms Kuntz probes into the nature of the Decalogue, showing its centrality to stable sociopolitical institutions and interpreting its principles for contemporary life.
Sure to be considered Kuntz's magnum opus, "Mosaic Paradigms argues that the Ten Commandments are universal principles of order that have to be applied in concrete circumstances in order for their meaning to be fully understood. The value of Kuntz's approach is that it shows how adaptable the commandments have been across place and time. As proof of his perspective, Kuntz engages the thought of more than twenty philosophers from antiquity to modern times, analyzing how each interpreted the Decalogue and adapted it to the changing needs of his particular age.
Beginning with Philo and ending with Nietzsche, Kuntz takes readers on a tour across history, exploring the role of the Decalogue in the history of ideas and its place in influential philosophies. Among the figures treated in the book are St. Gregory Palamas, Richard Rolle, Ramon Lull, Aquinas, Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Hobbes, Locke, Edwards, Montesquieu, Kant, Jefferson, Bentham, Montaigne, Pascal, and Hegel. Some of these figures wrote treatises directly on the Decalogue; others referred to the Decalogue in their prominent writings; still others constructed their own decalogues.
In addition to the scholarly contribution Kuntz's work makes to the study of the Decalogue, the book is also constructive in design. By considering past thought on the Decalogue inrelation to competing visions of civil society, Kuntz hoped that readers would find a new reverence for the Ten Commandments and value their usefulness in addressing the decline of civil order.
Synopsis
Foreword by Marion Leathers KuntzPaul Grimley Kuntz was a deeply religious man who not only found religious profundity in the Decalogue but also was convinced that it offers the most reasonable paradigm for a well-ordered society. Decrying the loss of the true meaning of the Decalogue in modern times, Kuntz spent the last decade of his life preparing this book, his magnum opus, on the Decalogue. In his research and writing he left no stone unturned, considering the Decalogue and the history of its use from every conceivable angle.In "The Ten Commandments in History" Kuntz passionately argues that the Ten Commandments are universal principles of social order that have to be applied in concrete circumstances in order for their meaning to be fully understood. In a nearly seamless discourse about the tradition of the Ten Commandments, Kuntz engages the thought of more than twenty philosophers from antiquity to modernity, showing how great minds adapted the Decalogue to the needs of their particular age. Among the figures treated in the book are Philo, Aquinas, Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Hobbes, Locke, Edwards, Kant, Jefferson, Montaigne, Pascal, Hegel, and Nietzsche. By demonstrating the crucial role of the Decalogue in the history of ideas, Kuntz hoped that readers would find a new reverence for the Ten Commandments and once again value their place in civil society.