Authority and the Sacred

The Christianisation of the Roman world lies at the root of modern Europe, yet at the time it was a tentative and piecemeal process. Peter Brown's fascinating study examines the factors which proved decisive and the compromises which made the emergence of the Christian 'thought world' possible: how the the old gods of the Roman Empire could be reinterpreted as symbols to further the message of the Church. ' ... the treatment is fresh and independent.' The Times Literary Supplement'A brilliant book, by a scholar to whom church historians are already deeply indebted, providing ample material for further debates.' The Expository Times