History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Ocean of the Soul: Men, the World and God in the Stories of Farid Al-Din Attar (Handbook of Oriental Studies/Handbuch Der Orientalistik)

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The Ocean of the Soul: Men, the World and God in the Stories of Farid Al-Din Attar (Handbook of Oriental Studies/Handbuch Der Orientalistik)
Hellmut Ritter
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 9004120688

Book Description

The Ocean of the Soul is one of the great works of the German Orientalist Hellmut Ritter (1892-1971). It presents a comprehensive analysis of the writings of the mystical Persian poet Farīd al-Dīn `Aṭṭār who is thought to have died at an advanced age in April 1221 when the Mongols destroyed his home city of Nīshāpūr in the north-east of Iran. The book, which resulted from decades of investigation of literary and historical sources, was first published in 1955 and has since remained unsurpassed not only as the definitive study of `Aṭṭār's world of ideas but as an indispensable guide to understanding pre-modern Islamic literature in general.

Quoting at length from `Aṭṭār and other Islamic sources, Ritter sketches an extraordinarily vivid portrait of the Islamic attitude toward life, characteristic developments in pious and ascetic circles, and, in conclusion, various dominant mystical currents of thought and feeling.

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

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Lived Religion in Your Living Room
Beautiful pictures, good essay
Extraordinary book on the Art of Vietnam

Pagodas, Gods and Spirits of Vietnam
Ann Helen Unger , and Walter Unger
Manufacturer: Thames & Hudson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

This book reveals through text and illustrations the extraordinarily varied and prolific religions of Vietnam. Despite decades of government discouragement of all religion, the deeply anchored faiths of the Vietnamese people have continued to flourish, and indeed to increase their hold on believers. Everywhere between the Red River in the north and the Mekong Delta in the south, sacrificial offerings are heaped upon altars, hundreds of thousands of the faithful stream again on pilgrimages, and there is a regular increase in the request- and thanksgiving-rites in the chuas, dinhs, and dens, the pagodas, village ceremony halls, and hero temples all over the land. In most guide books, Vietnam is described as a Buddhist country; but in contrast to their neighbors in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, the Vietnamese follow a Buddhism that is far from pure. The faith and its teachings were taken over from India about 2,000 years ago, but Vietnamese Buddhism was mingled with more ancient indigenous ancestor cults and spirit beliefs suitable to local customs and needs. Other strains were also absorbed: elements of Hinduism as well as the teachings of Confucius and Taoism. The text by Ann Unger admirably explains this complex situation and shows how the great number of beautiful, serene religious buildings throughout the country reflect the multiple strands of the country's religious fabric. Walter Unger's arresting photographs document the architectural splendor of the buildings as well as the worshipers in a ground-breaking reportage of a country that for so long has been hidden from the rest of the world.

Customer Reviews:

Lived Religion in Your Living Room.......2006-05-20

This is a great book one never gets tired of looking through. It is full of a great variety of beautiful color photographs, all of them giving you a different glimpse of religion in Vietnam. Some shots show you the outside of the sacred temples and pagodas in all of their ornate architecture, others the insides of these buildings as people--priests and lay folks--pray and carry out rites. And many others still focus on the icons, the deities being worshipped. One excellent thing about these latter shots is that the deities are always situated in their ritual contexts (incense burning, offerings spread out before them) and not in the abstract like museum pieces. By the end, one is left with a vivid sense of the deeply intense and heart-felt religiosity of the Vietnamese people as they really live it.

The essay at the beginning is quite helpful, preparing you to generally have an idea what you're looking at (so that the images are not just exotic sound and fury signifying nothing) and doing a fine job of showing how several different religious traditions have flowed together to inform and shape Vietnamese religiosity. The treatment is careful and well-researched while written in a very accessible style.

I'm not sure who wouldn't like this lovely book. Anyone interested in Vietnam and its culture should, for sure. Photography buffs will also find something here, I'd think. But I think scholars of Religious Studies should also take note--sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and a book like this is invaluable in approaching lived religion. Finally, this is a super book for any armchair travelers out there; it's the next best thing to actually going to Vietnam in person.

Beautiful pictures, good essay.......2001-08-02

This is a coffee-table style book: hundreds of beautiful, color pictures, with a short, informative essay. In fact, the nearly 50-page essay is better than many coffee-table books are. If you're interested in pictures, this is your book. If you're interested in descriptions of beliefs and practices, this is merely an introduction. Unfortunately, I don't know of a good book for that purpopse, although I've looked around both in Vietnam and the United States. Also, this book doesn't cover Hoa Hao, Vietnamese Catholicism or the Montangards' religions at all, and only the most famous Cham and Cao Dai sites.

Extraordinary book on the Art of Vietnam.......2000-09-24

I highly recommend this beautifully photographed and well document book on the art and culture of Vietnam. I loved the pictures of many sacred ceremonies and Ms. Unger's descriptive text. It is a miracle that these buildings still exist after what Vietnam has endured. The only reservation I have with the book is that it does not cover ancient Vietnam history in depth. Otherwise, the book is extraordinary.

The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art (Princeton Paperbacks)

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Refutes a long-dead theory of derivation from political emperor-art
A necessary tool for the understanding of early christianity
Mathews explains clearly why Christanity won over Antiquity.

The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art (Princeton Paperbacks)
Thomas F. Mathews
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0691009392

Book Description

Between the third and sixth centuries, the ancient gods, goddesses, and heroes who had populated the imagination of humankind for a millennium were replaced by a new imagery of Christ and his saints. Thomas Mathews explores the many different, often surprising, artistic images and religious interpretations of Christ during this period. He challenges the accepted theory of the "Emperor Mystique," which, interpreting Christ as king, derives the vocabulary of Christian art from the propagandistic imagery of the Roman emperor. This revised edition contains a new preface by the author and a new chapter on the origin and development of icons in private domestic cult.

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Refutes a long-dead theory of derivation from political emperor-art.......2005-11-07

Mathews is primarily concerned to refute a particular early 20th-Century German and Eastern European ideological theory that the portrayal of Jesus in art was derived directly from the detailed portrayal of Roman emperors in art and that this artistic portrayal of Jesus as emperor legitimates imperial political structure, with an emperor, in the contemporary era (of 1920-1950).

Mathews shows that the early artistic portrayal of Jesus presented him as a counter-Jupiter and all-ruler (pantokrator), not as a worldly emperor (kosmocrator). Jesus was also portrayed in early Christian art as androgynous and as the most powerful magician, and as a philosopher. The portrayal of Jesus in art consciously and deliberately presented him as anti-emperor.

Sometimes Mathews confusingly asserts that the way Jesus was portrayed had absolutely nothing to do with the emperor, but in other chapters, originally published as separate articles, he asserts that Jesus was portrayed consciously and deliberately as a non-emperor. Mathews' extremist manner of expression and apparent self-contradiction reveals his succumbing to political fear of 20th-Century re-institution of emperors, resulting in a polemical mode of expression, which lacks precision. Mathews' overweening concern to refute an early 20th-Century political theory causes him to misstate or inconsistently describe his theory about how Jesus was portrayed and what the portrayals meant in the first few centuries.

He ought to strike most of his invective against the very specific, quirky, and particular early 20th-century theory of artistic derivation that he confusingly labels with the ambiguous term "the emperor mystique", and instead explain consistently his positive position about how the Jesus figure did relate to or refute the figure of the emperor -- and, more to the point, how the Christ religion overall was artistically portrayed in relation to how the Roman imperial system of Pax Romana was artistically portrayed.

Mathews ought to engage with the latest theories of Roman imperial theology/ideology, starting with the work of S.R.F. Price, and contribute directly to that effort, rather than devoting so much coverage to a particular 1930s-era view. That's the hardest aspect of reading this book: today's reader comes to it expecting commentary on Price and Horsley, but instead, finds a concern that seems to affirm most of Price and Horsley while being positioned as somehow "against the Emperor Mystique".

This book is dissonant and confusing polemics until you figure out how to harmonize it with the sensible views of Price and Horsley. By the phrase 'the Emperor Mystique', Mathews doesn't have Price and Horsley's view in mind as one naturally expects these days, but rather, a particular quirky, specific theory of artistic-elements derivation of Jesus' portrayal, a theory that was in service of 20th-Century pro-emperor politics.

No scholars are currently asserting that the artistic portrayal of Jesus is directly derived from the portrayal of emperors in their "purely political" function. Rather, what Price, Horsley, and N.T. Wright are stressing these days is that the New Testament books were highly intent on presenting a rebuttal and sociopolitical alternative to the religiously legitimated political ideology and imperial theology of Pax Romana and Roman imperial Ruler Cult -- a view that is supported by Mathews' Christ Pantokrator (almighty all-ruler), magician, and personally caring philosopher.

The book presents a somewhat useful picture of Jesus as philosopher, counter-Jupiter, and healer-magician, but unfortunately that clarification is tangled up with confusing polemics in a self-contradictory, overheated manner of expression, all the more confusing because you get that battle (tilting against a long-dead windmill of 1930s German politics) where you expect instead an engagement with more recent scholarship clarifying the relationship of Christianity and the late-antique Roman empire.

As a rebuttal to the particular artistic-derivation theory of Grabar, the book succeeds, but it doesn't engage with the more general, recent, systematic studies of Christianity as rebuttal and alternative to the system of the Roman empire.

A necessary tool for the understanding of early christianity.......2001-03-28

While Mathews has crafted an thorough polemic against what he calls the "Emperor Mystique" prevalent as a key hermenuetic of early christian art, he stimulated me to go beyond the declared intent of his thoughtful book. The author opens the door to the polyvalence of the symbolism of the art of the church, particularly from the third through the sixth centuries. Mathews presents the adaptation of Greco-Roman art forms and their translation into the competitive contexts of christian origins. While I was persuaded that Alfoldi and Grabar probably went too far in their attempt to link the art of the church with an exclusively imperial model, I still believe that many christians would have recognized elements of this model in viewing the paintings and mosaics of the church. Religious symbolism can function in multiple ways, both singly and in combinations depending on various religious, political, social, and economic agenda. This book is a useful complement to Averil Cameron's "Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire."

Mathews explains clearly why Christanity won over Antiquity........1999-01-23

This is a bold and clear reinterpretation of Early Christian Art. It moves the reader through a cany reseeing that respects and illuminates both the message and the people who received it. Mathews explains in an open and well documented way how Christian images fought and defeated the pagan gods. As an art historian trained with the rather confusing cannon of earlier scholarship I found it delightful reading.

No Place for God: The Denial of Transcendence in Modern Church Architecture

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The Devil is a Modern Architect

No Place for God: The Denial of Transcendence in Modern Church Architecture
Moyra Doorly
Manufacturer: Ignatius Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1586171534

Book Description

Once modern science declared the emptiness and meaninglessness of a strictly material universe, it was only a matter of time before architects would adopt the new understanding of space, that is to say that no space is special because none is any different or better than any other.

In their quest to adapt to and speak to the present age, Catholics over the last forty years have unquestioningly allowed the trends in modern architecture to fashion their churches, and the outcome has been the construction of the ugliest and emptiest churches in history, according to author Moyra Doorly, an architect from England.

In No Place for God, Doorly traces the principles of modern architecture to the ideas of space that spread rapidly during the twentieth century. She sees a parallel between the desacralization of the heavens, and consequently of our churches, and the mass inward search for a god of one's own. This double movement -- away from the transcendent God, who reveals himself to man through Scripture and tradition, and toward an inner truth relevant only to oneself -- has emptied our churches, and the worship that takes place within them, of the majesty and beauty that once inspired reverence in both believers and unbelievers alike.

In non-technical language accompanied by photographs, Doorly explains what has gone wrong with our churches and suggests a simple way to begin rectifying it.

Customer Reviews:

The Devil is a Modern Architect.......2007-05-30

I'd thought everyone had lost the plot. Now I'm sure The Devil must be a Modern Architect'. Exigent, compelling reading.

Houses of God: Religious Architecture for a New Millenium

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Finest Book on Religious Architecture in the Last 25 Years
God in Space and Space for God
Beautiful and diverse

Houses of God: Religious Architecture for a New Millenium
Michael J. Crosbie
Manufacturer: Images Publishing Group Pty. Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1920744975

Amazon.com

If this is architecture for the gods, the gods must be groaning. Not to say that this big, handsome paperback look at more than 40 recent faith-centered architectural projects around the U.S.--complete with full-color photographs, plans, and excellent annotations--doesn't make it amply and diversely clear that there has been a boom in America in recent years in the building of churches, synagogues, mosques, and nondenominational chapels. And certainly not to say that architects aren't finding all sorts of clever ways to update religious iconography for modern times, or combine traditional and contemporary architectural styles under one roof--be it deeply pitched, in the style of the classic country church (like the new St. James Episcopal Church in Fairhope, AL, whose heart-redwood boards, painted bone-white, evoke the region's charming Gulf Coast carpenter-Gothic style), or domed (like Skidmore Owings & Merrill's high-profile Islamic Cultural Center, the first mosque for New York City's sizable Muslim population, skewed on its site to face Mecca, as required by Muslim law, and complete with its own dramatic, postmodern minaret of square, terra-cotta-colored panels).

It's just that many of these sacred edifices aim so hard for contemporaneity or flexibility of use that they look like anything but houses of worship. Here, we have a low-slung, multivolume light brick Presbyterian church in Baltimore that looks like an Eisenhower-era public high school; there, the Metropolitan Community Church in Washington, D.C., whose enormous rainbow flag is the only thing that tips you off that this is the first American church (and not a huge gymnasium or sports arena) to have been built by a gay congregation. Certainly, no one could be serious about worship in the Gethsemane Episcopal Cathedral, in Fargo, ND, which resembles a hideous hybrid of a whitewashed grain silo and one of those garish "luxury homes"--complete with a multitude of LEGO-like gables and picture windows--that you see cropping up on (sadly) tree-shorn lots in suburban subdivisions across America. Strip the interiors of most of these projects of the telltale cross, Magen David, or what have you, and the overwhelming effect seems to be that of a spanking new auditorium--all outfitted in blond wood and gray slate--appropriate for a multitude of uses, but special to none.

With their skyward-reaching spires and far-flying buttresses, onion-shaped domes and slender towers--even (in the case of early Protestant America) their handsome, strong-limbed austerity--houses of worship once were stunning expressions of human artistry and effort in the name of the divine. It's no wonder, then, that amidst the (at best) "tasteful" palette of present-day ordinariness that's showcased here the most spiritual of entries seem to be the quirkiest or most outrageous. To wit, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Temple in Independence, MO, with its psychedelic, illuminated spire that spirals up into the heavens like a Dairy Queen soft-serve cone; a tiny grotto-like chapel that overlooks the Pacific Ocean in Sea Ranch, CA, its rustic, weirdly curved stone flanks and shingled-wood roof rising from the land like Corbu's cathedral at Ronchamps, France (had it been scaled and styled for a Hobbit); and the San Juan Bautista Mission, which was built on a shoestring budget by a group of parishioners, professionals, and residents of the mostly poor Latin American neighborhood in Miami in which it sits like a little jewel from old Havana. Inside, the cherubim that are depicted on a lovely ceiling fresco easily could be all of the many-hued children of 21st-century Miami, so matter-of-factly does the image assume, and attain, contemporaneity. It's one of the few instances in this nonetheless substantive, stylish, and engaging book in which the creativity, expressiveness, and sense of wonderment that the gods gave us in the first place haven't been sacrificed to the blandly mortal demands of modernity. --Timothy Murphy

Book Description

Houses of God demonstrates an inspiring array of gathering places for worship, collected from the USA and abroad. There are churches, synagogues and temples by some of the world's leading architects.

Customer Reviews:

Finest Book on Religious Architecture in the Last 25 Years.......2002-06-30

Over the span of my professional career, I have focused on religious architecture. Having done extensive research on the topic over the course of my career, this book stands out as the finest compilation on this building type. The projects and religious organizations are diverse. What they all have in common is the quality of design and the search for appropriateness in architecture for worship.

God in Space and Space for God.......2001-02-17

As an admirer of all kinds of architecture, a real estate writer and a somewhat recent protestant convert to the Roman Church, I found this book intelligent and appealing at many levels. I have a deep love for orthodoxy and traditional architecture which I have learned in the Catholic Church, but I have also been graced with looking beyond trans-historical spaces to find God and communion in the ACTIONS of the liturgy, the GATHERING of a community, the silence found in open SPACES, modern or not. Andy Warhol may have said it best once that "the best thing to have anywhere is space," and to fill it with art or icons seemed sad---paraphrasing. I now understand what he meant. Gothic Cathedrals served a purpose for educationa and catechism with many pieces parts and light and art. But those days are gone in a fast modern world where we seek the simple. In this book the venerable Crosbie shows sensitivity and respect for each faith and each style. The photographs are stunning, the plans and cut sections are clear and easy to read and decipher; the art direction and clear crisp layouts let the building breath and pray and speak for themselves without heavy academic comments. I may not have liked 100% of the structures, but so little is written about new, working, and smartly done houses for worship this is a Godsend. No pun intended. I highly recommend it to the spiritual enthusiast or student, liturgists, architects, or those who like modern or contemporary structures.

Beautiful and diverse.......2000-07-27

A beautiful volume exploring a very diverse collection of religious facilities - small and large, urban and rural, contemporary and traditional. A great primer on design possibilities for Judeo-Christian religious facilities.

Book Description

In this pioneering study, historian Scott T. Swank reveals the links between the daily life of the Shakers in their planned religious communitites and their artand architecture.

As the Director of Canterbury Shaker Village, the author has had unlimited access to the Village's archives, resources, and grounds, examining papers and artifacts, exploring the 25 remaining buildings, and experiencing the seasons. He has literally been able to walk in the footpaths of the Canterbury Shakers, whose community remained prominent for 200 years. It is one of the oldest, most typical, and most completely preserved of all the Shaker villages, the only community with an intact first-generation meetinghouse and first dwelling house on their original sites. The result of the author's painstaking research and close observation is this perceptive book, filled with discoveries, presentingthe full sweep of Shaker art and architecture in the context of a specific Shaker community in Canterbury, New Hampshire.

Two centuries ago, the Shakers established America's most successful communal societies. They lived in isolated, rural villages, pursuing work and worship in communitieswhere religion, social behavior, and environmental design were constructed as a harmonious whole. These utopian communities were regulated by "gospel order" which assured their members that their disciplined lives were in harmony with God's will. In these spiritual havens, they endeavored to accomplish their founder's twin mandates,"Hands to work, hearts to God."

Shaker designs have endured long after the communities that created them have passed from the American scene. Shaker style, encompassing all elements of art and architecture, has been greatly esteemed for its craftsmanship, sense of proportion, simplicity, and practicality. The author's well researched text, detailed captions, and excerptsfrom diaries and letters bring life to the legacy of Shaker objects as well as to the architecture. He also provides a time line, a bibliography, and notes.

Accompanying the text are 250 illustrations including 150 in color principally by Bill Finney, who has been photographing Canterbury for over twenty years. There are alsohistorical pictures and maps and newly created plans and diagrams.

This insightful book should especially interest collectors, historians, interior designers, and architects, giving readers a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Shakers'artistic legacy.

Other Details:250 illustrations, 150 in full color240 pages10 x 10"Published 1999

Customer Reviews:

Deceptive marketing.......2000-04-23

I had no idea this book only covers the former Shaker village at Canterbury, New Hampshire. The title and cover of this book indicates a comprehensive treatment of Shaker buildings, not just one village. None of the info available . . . amazon.com indicated the true nature of this book. This is a real problem with buying books sight-unseen from internet booksellers. Nonetheless, this is a good book about Canterbury. But some of the finest Shaker buildings are in Kentucky, and the only buildings still inhabited by modern Shakers are in Maine. All these and more are in Julie Nicoletta's definitive book, "The Architecture of the Shakers." It's also a better price!

Teotihuacan: Art from the City of the Gods

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Teotihuacan: Art from the City of the Gods

Manufacturer: Thames & Hudson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0500277672

Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning in Horticulture

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Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning in Horticulture
Christopher McIntosh
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Sensations: A Time Travel through Garden History

ASIN: 1860647405
Release Date: 2004-12-23

Book Description

Gardens of the Gods reveals the symbolic language of garden design, exploring the gardens of China with their moon gates and im-mortal rocks, the Zen gardens of Japan, and the paradise gardens of Islam. It even looks at Renaissance Italy with their richly mythological imagery, the landscaped parks of England, the gardens of New Harmony in the United States and some striking modern examples of symbolic gardens, including the Tarot Garden of the sculptress Niki de Saint Phalle in Italy. This beautifully illustrated book also includes a chapter with suggestions for creating a 'garden of meaning' and a selected catalog of plants with sym-bolic or mythological associations.

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