Customer Reviews

The Death of Christian Culture

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It is hard to believe this book was published in 1979--it is a throwback to a time when culture meant something other than the latest dress featured on "Sex and the City." This cranky book (really, just a stitched together collection of past articles) has a little bit of everything: (1) a good introduction to the philosophy of the East and its beneficial and baleful influence on Christianity; (2) a sketch of modernism in poetry and literature and the pernicious influence of Keats and Arnold; (3) a description of the intersection of freedom, justice, crime and punishment; (4) the disaster resulting from the loss of a classical education (and how Joyce, as being at least "half educated" has pulled the wool over the eyes of the rest of us who are merely "quarter educated"; and (5) a traditional defense of Catholicism as represented in the writings of Newman and the scholastics. Be warned: This is hard-core catholic writing that has the old take-no-prisoners tang to it. A delight to read. Highly recommended (and short, at a mere 175 pages).

An excellent commentary for the Christian perspective and where we began our steady decline from the Classical education that served us so well for centuries. Lots of meat here, likely to be reread over many years and maintain a permanent space on my bookcase. Should be required reading for those inclined students of Christianity.

John Senior's "Death of Christian Culture" is an interesting academic jeremiad taking aim at everything from poetry to education and showing how they have helped undermine Christian society. It is a very learned if dry book that will do better with academics instead of casual readers. There is an interesting introduction and a rather short preface by Senior's son. These only cover 4 pages--odd since the publisher, IHS Press, usually allows much longer prefaces and introductions. The work reads more like a collection of essays than a completed narrative. In the book, especially in a list of books that should be used for instructing the young, Senior seems unaware of his own times--and this can prove frustrating. Some excellent modern Christian writers--for example Tolkien and Solzhenitysn--are not included on the list (though Senior makes a throw away reference to "Gulag Archipelago"). While I am sympathetic to Senior's argument, I was frustrated that he did not look that often outside academia and literature. The frontline of the culture wars are in the homes.

Senior writes from a traditionalist Catholic perspective--and perhaps the timing of his book was ironic. This book was first published in 1978--the year that John Paul the Great was elevated to the papacy. The late Holy Father was able to reach out to the faithful in a way unlike many religious leaders before and showed how Christian culture could flourish even in the challenges of the modern secular world. Senior would join the Society of St. Pius X--the leaders of which were excommunicated by John Paul the Great after the archbishop who founded the SSPX started appointing his own bishops. It's not an uncommon phenomenon. You pray for a sign and then miss it when it is right in front of you--just ask a bunch of Pharisees in roughly 30 AD who called for a messiah--and then rejected Him when He appeared.