The Closing of the Western Mind

The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason

By: Charles Freeman

Narrated by: Nigel Patterson

A radical and powerful reappraisal of the impact of Constantine's adoption of Christianity on the later Roman world, and on the subsequent development both of Christianity and of Western civilization.

When the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 368 AD, he changed the course of European history in ways that continue to have repercussions to the present day. Adopting those aspects of the religion that suited his purposes, he 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, whether that of the Bible, or the writings of Ptolemy in astronomy and of Galen and Hippocrates in medicine. Only a thousand years later, with the advent of 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. Brilliantly wide-ranging and ambitious, this is a major work of history.

©2002 Charles Freeman (P)2021 Tantor

Indictment

A succession of rulers, religious and otherwise, did a real number on the human ability to think rationally without a lot of non rational nothings clouding the Western mind.

Fantastic.

This should be required reading. As they say, the truth will set you free and this book will help set you free from slavery of organized religion.

great research pays off

I enjoyed this book so much I have listened to it twice, narrator was excellent which certainly helped move the book along.

the political construction of Christianity

brilliantly explicate history of the early Church and its Platonic roots, well read and engaging

Convolution of the events

Too many names regarding the scholars of the church. Outdoor have been written more to the story line, church and politics in the 4th century. Without the unnecessary distractions…

Not proven

Not to be too snobbish, but I think the listener should be told that Charles Freeman is a free-lancer without a university position, and with a couple of master's degrees.

I am interested in the topic. But this book barely touches it. It is trivially true that faith and reason are in tension. But the author needs to deal with the extent to which the classical Greeks were authoritarian and intolerant too -- remember, Socrates was put to death. And E.R. Dodds has written brilliantly on the slide of classical Greece into magic and irrationality. This slide preceded Christianity, and may have abetted it.

The Romans were not exactly known for their math and science even before Christianity, although it is true that there were some philosophers and rhetoricians in Rome. I am not as sure that rhetoric is on the side of reason as much as Freeman thinks it is.

Freeman oddly distinguishes Jesus himself as standing for freedom of choice, while later Christianity is intolerant, doctrinaire, and irrational. He never supports that view of Jesus, except for a reference to Dostoyevsky's Grand Inquisitor. Jesus, as far as recent scholarship can tell (see Bart Ehrman's books), was an apocalyptic prophet, not much interested in human freedom of choice, except insofar as what one does might or might not help before the coming wrath of God. He also was, if the gospels can be trusted, a wonder-worker and magician -- indeed, he rose from the dead.

He also finds that the deleterious effects of the blend of Christianity and state power in the later Roman Empire began to end with such figures as Thomas Aquinas. Scholasticism? There is reason in the scholastics, but not a lot of math, science, and empiricism.