Synopses & Reviews
Covering an expanse of more than three thousand years,
Hellenic Temples and Christian Churches charts, in one concise volume, the history of Greece's religious cultures from antiquity all the way through to present, post-independence Greece.
Focusing on the encounter and interaction between Hellenism and (Orthodox) Christianity, which is the most salient feature of Greece's religious landscape—influencing not only Greek religious history, but Greek culture and history as a whole—Vasilios N. Makrides considers the religious cultures of Greece both historically, from the ancient Greek through the Byzantine and the Ottoman periods up to the present, and systematically, by locating common characteristics and trajectoriesacross time. Weaving other traditions including Judaism and Islam into his account, Makrides highlights the patterns of development, continuity, and change that have characterized the country's long and unique religious history.
Contrary to the arguments of those who posit a single, exclusive religious culture for Greece, Makrides demonstrates the diversity and plurality that has characterized Greece's religious landscape across history. Beautifully written and easy to navigate, Hellenic Temples and Christian Churches offers an essential foundation for students, scholars, and the public on Greece's long religious history, from ancient Greece and the origins of Christianity to the formation of "Helleno-Christianity" in modern Greece.
Review
"Makrides... makes available to students and scholars alike a comprehensive and comparative study of the religious history of Greece; his nondogmatic, scholarly study is a major contribution to intellectual history and to the academic study of religion. Because it is clearly written and carefully argued, it will draw the attention of scholars of both ancient and modern Greece. Summing Up: Highly recommended."-CHOICE,
Review
"The first synthetic survey of a complex plurality of voices from antiquity to the present; it is broad in scope, rich in detail for every period, and theoretically challenging. Like the Greek tradition itself, it builds bridges between disciplines that have for too long remained separate."
-Anthony Kaldellis,author of The Christian Parthenon: Classicism and Pilgrimage in Byzantine Athens
Review
"Until now no one has written a comprehensive, synthetic history of the religious cultures of Greece. In this deeply learned book, Vasilios Makrides presents a brilliant analysis of the complex, multifaceted and intertwined history of Hellenism and Christianity. Hellenic Temples and Christian Churches is a tour de force of a book that is now the foundational text on which all future research will be based."
-Thomas W. Gallant,University of California, San Diego
Review
"Provides a careful new look at the palimpsest of Hellenism and Christianity over the long course of Greek history, revealing the immense complexity of the religious cultures of Greece. The book is at once a valuable contribution to the comparative study of religion and to our understanding of Greece's dense religious history."
-K. E. Fleming,author of Greece: A Jewish History
Review
"[Makrides] has masterfully presented a history of the religious cultures of Greece from antiquity to the present. Few scholars today would have the courage, let alone sufficient knowledge of the sources, to present a panoramic synthesis of so huge a topic..."-Vasiliki M. Limberis,The Journal of Religion
Synopsis
People, A Global Agenda discusses the social impact of global transformations. A collaborative effort of more than fifty thinkers from countries throughout the world, the book contains specific proposals intended to address several of the major problems afflicting virtually every country today. The crises confronted by the contributors include poverty, unemployment, and social disintegration.
Part One examines the need for a shift in our understanding of security from a political to a human sense of the term. Contributors devise strategies for improving human living conditions, and propose new frameworks of development cooperation and new patterns of global governance in order to enhance human security.
Part Two highlights the impact of poverty in political, economic, social, and environmental terms. The character of unemployment, under-employment, low-productive employment, and the new phenomenon of jobless growth at the turn of the 21st century forms the heart of Part Three. The selections seek to delineate measures, at both the state and market level, for the expansion of productive employment and sustainable livelihoods, and for the role of new technology in this endeavor.
Part Four examines the causes and impacts of the world's social disintegration and inequality, and advocates means by which social cohesion and justice can be enhanced.
About the Author
Uner Kirdar is Senior Advisor to the Administrator and Director, UNDP Development Study Programme, United Nations Development Programme.
Leonard Silk was economics columnist of The New York Times and Chairman of the Editorial Board of Business Week. Mark Silk is a staff writer for the Atlantic Journal - Constitution and coauthor, with his father, of The American Establishment.