Since religion is the heart of culture, Dawson wrote, then “religion is the key to history

Sanctifying the World: Christopher Dawson

by Bradley J. Birzer




Sanctifying the World: The Augustinian Life and Mind of Christopher Dawson, 

Featured Book: Since religion is the heart of culture, Dawson wrote, then “religion is the key to history;” therefore “[w]e cannot understand the inner form of a society unless we understand its religion.” To understand Europe and the West, then, one must see Christianity at its center, a central theme of Dawson’s voluminous writings for decades. In this thoroughly researched book, Birzer analyzes Dawson’s work in light of the venerable thinker’s own philosophy of history.

To understand Dawson is to recognize the Catholic faith that shaped his life and work. As the subtitle suggests, Birzer stresses the Augustinian element of Dawson’s Catholicism; following St. Augustine, Dawson saw the world as created by God, and history “as the vehicle for the Divine to interact with humanity.” Moreover, he shared St. Augustine’s view of human beings as created in God’s image, and while each individual has his own unique purpose, he requires “God’s grace to fill the vacuum and remake” himself.

As a result Dawson saw his writing as a vocation “to sanctify the world, through grace.” Whether explaining the relationship of history and culture, or critiquing the troubled ideologies of his day, Dawson tirelessly labored to inspire the present through his study of the past.

...............

Read more: www.theimaginativeconservative.org