The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity: A Sociohistorical Approach to Religious Transformation [Paperback]

James C. Russell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195104668 | ISBN-13: 978-0195104660 | Publication Date: June 20, 1996

While historians of Christianity have generally acknowledged some degree of Germanic influence in the development of early medieval Christianity, Russell goes further, arguing for a fundamental Germanic reinterpretation of Christianity. This first full-scale treatment of the subject follows a truly interdisciplinary approach, applying to the early medieval period a sociohistorical method similar to that which has already proven fruitful in explicating the history of Early Christianity and Late Antiquity. The encounter of the Germanic peoples with Christianity is studied from within the larger context of the encounter of a predominantly "world-accepting" Indo-European folk-religiosity with predominantly "world-rejecting" religious movements. While the first part of the book develops a general model of religious transformation for such encounters, the second part applies this model to the Germano-Christian scenario. Russell shows how a Christian missionary policy of temporary accommodation inadvertently contributed to a reciprocal Germanization of Christianity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An intelligent synthesis of observations from a wide range of anthropological, historical, and other literature."--Catholic Historical Review

"Highly interesting and challenging reading. An important contribution to research."--Theological Studies.

"Russell develops a general model of religious change that ought to be of interest to anyone concerned with the sociology (or anthropology) of belief systems per se, let alone the history of the Church."--C. Scott Littleton, Occidental College.

"Fascinating. It is a very important contribution to the growing awareness of the bright light of the 'Dark' Ages."--Ronald Murphy, Georgetown University

About the Author

James C. Russell received his doctorate in Historical Theology from Fordham University. He teaches at Saint Peter's College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 20, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195104668
• ISBN-13: 978-0195104660
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A scintillating and compelling analysis, July 27, 2001

By 

Elliot B. Bougis "E.B. de Sales" (Taichung, Taiwan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity: A Sociohistorical Approach to Religious Transformation (Paperback)

I stumbled upon this book while researching for a study of the conjoined paganization/Christianization of Medieval literature. What a find! As the reviewer above mentioned, Russell's strength lies in the amazing range of his scholarship. This intellectual breadth, however, does not detract from Russell's more focused, balanced, and lucid examination of key points (e.g., anomie as a factor in social religious conversion, fundamental worldview clashes between Christianity and Germanic converts, etc.). Russell covers a lot of ground in a mere 200+ pages. Moreover, his final assertions are modest enough to be credible, and yet daring enough to remain highly interesting. Plus, from a research perspective, the bibliography alone is worth a handful of other books. This book has been normative in my decisions about the contours of any future scholarship I pursue. Alas, I was left hungering for a continuation of many of the themes, to which Russell often just alludes (e.g, the imbibed Germanic ethos as the animus for the "Christian" Crusades, the contemporary implications of urban anomie for our globalizing world, etc.). Of course, such stellar scholarship cannot be rushed. Surely Russell's next inquiry is worth the wait!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and innovative study of Germanic religiosity, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity: A Sociohistorical Approach to Religious Transformation (Hardcover)

Scholar James Russell has given us an important work with this detailed study. Subtitled "A sociohistorical approach to religious transformation," it is an exceedingly well-researched and documented analysis of the conversion of the Germanic tribes to the imported and fundamentally alien religion of Christianity during the period of 376-754 of the Common Era. Russell's work is all the more dynamic as he does not limit his inquiry simply to one field of study, but rather utilizes insights from sources as varied as modern sociobiological understanding of kinship behaviors, theological models on the nature of religious conversion, and comparative Indo-European religious research. Dexterously culling relevant evidence from such disparate disciplines, he then interprets a vast array of documentary material from the period of European history in question. The end result is a convincing book that offers a wealth of food for thought-not just in regards to historical conceptions of the past, but with far-reaching implications which relate directly to the tide of spiritual malaise currently at a high water mark in the collective European psyche. The first half of Russell's work provides an in-depth examination of various aspects of conversion, Christianization and Germanization, allowing him to arrive at a functional definition of religious transformation which he then applies to the more straightforward historical research material in the latter sections of the book. Along the way he presents a lucid exploration of ancient Germanic religiosity and social structure, placed appropriately in the wider context of a much older Indo-European religious tradition. Russell completes the study by tracing the parallel events of Germanization and Christianization in the central European tribal territories. He marshals a convincing array of historical, linguistic and other evidence to demonstrate his major thesis, asserting that during the process of the large European conversions Christianity was significantly "Germanicized" as a consequence of its adoption by the tribal peoples, while at the same time the latter were often "Christianized" only in a quite perfunctory and tenuous sense. Contrary to simplistic models put forth by some past historians, this book illustrates that conversion was not any sort of linear "one-way street"; a testament to the fundamental power of indigenous Indo-European and Germanic religiosity lies in the evidence that it was never fully or substantially eradicated by the faith which succeeded it. As Russell shows, a more accurate scenario was that of native spirituality and folk-tradition sublimated into a Christian framework, which in this altered form then became the predominant spiritual system for Europe. Russell's Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity is wide-ranging yet commanding in its contentions, and academia could do well with encouraging more scholars of this calibre and fortitude who are able to avoid the pitfall of over-specialization and produce works of great scope and lasting relevance. Make no doubt about it, this is a demanding and complex book, but for those willing to invest the effort, the benefits of understanding its content will be amply rewarding, and of imperative relevance for anyone who wishes to apprehend the past, present and future of genuine European religiosity.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful Study, July 30, 2009

By 

Death Bredon (Anglosphere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity: A Sociohistorical Approach to Religious Transformation (Paperback)

For Western Europe and its colonial sons and daughters, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of failing to engage upon critical reflection upon our received Christian heritage. So, thank goodness that Mr. Russell has shaken us from our easy-going slumber with his study, "The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity."

The book is written with a non-polemical, matter of fact, academic tone. But, it can nevertheless be jarring to readers of broader Germanic (or Teutonic) descent -- i.e., all of post-Roman Western Europe and its colonial extensions -- to consider the historical development of its religious peculiarities in light of the broader Christian tradition, which pre-dates the collapse of the Western portion of the Greco-Roman Empire and the subsequent ascendency of the various Germanic tribes and the emergence of a new, Christianized, Western Europe. Indeed, while Christianity traditionally has managed to "indigenize" itself into both numerous and various specific ethnic groups (Hellenes, Arabs, Slavs, Celts, etc.), one of the costs of such a process is cross-inculteration, in which such indigenized Christianity sometimes takes on characteristics of a new ethnos to such an extent that and objective observer may fairly consider Christianity to have been somewhat corrupted or distorted by the culture rather than Christianity completing a redemption of it. Metaphorically speaking, the question can become whether the dog is walking the man and not the other way around, as we prefer to see the matter.

What Russell manages to achieve on a fairly short space is convincingly point out the major aspects of the reception of Christianity into Western European society and culture that represent examples of the culture corrupting the cult, rather than the cult redeeming the culture. The eye-opening process of reading Russell's work can be quite discomfiting, as he is demonstrating objective flaws in the received patrimony of Western Christendom, of which most of his readers are bound to be heirs, whether religious or not, as even in a post-Christian age, Western Europe cannot deny its tribal, Germanic origin, nor the integral role that Christianity has played in the formation of the contemporary world.

Nevertheless, even if Russell's description of what Western Christianity now is due to its incubation in Germanic Western Europe, with all its repulsive imperfections, finds a disturbed readership, we reader still have the freedom to resist and to purge the substantive Germanizations from our Christian patrimony and thereby walk a more authentic Christian path.