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The Holy Family and Its Legacy

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Luke Skywalker, John Connor, Anakin Skywalker, Oedipus, memorials of martyred soldiers, corporations, only sons of single mothers living on welfare, Harry Potter, Hitler, and Jesus Christ, all of these have something in common, according to Albrecht Koschorke. In his book The Holy Family and its Legacy, he explains how the Christian conceptualization of the family Jesus grew up in has been worked out in the secular culture of the later western world. He begins with fairly clear explanations of the whole school of theology that developed during the medieval period to explain the birth and divinity of Jesus, in order to dig into the ways it profoundly affected and became part of the psyches of even unbelieving modern westerners, even beyond the basic story that still seems to captivate our popular imagination.

In some ways, I would have to suggest that an excellent use of The Holy Family and its Legacy would be to consider it a prerequisite for reading Michel Foucault's On Sexuality. This is due to the fact that Foucault basically assumes his readers already understand a number of theological concepts and societal trends that Kosshorke explains in his work. Additionally, the closer touch on pop culture could help a more general reader transition into the more dizzying theoretical academic style of thinking that is a part of both books in a similar way. Freud, of course, is discussed, particularly as regards the way in which is obviously flawed ideas retain such imaginative power in society. Beyond sociology, psychology, and theology, Koschorke's book is basically mind-blowing in the way it reveals the underpinnings of our culture.

The Holy Family and its Legacy is about the way in which secular civil authorities absorbed the qualities of the Christian religion, and in much of Europe have replaced the church. While the modern pop cultures soften the contents and make the book more approachable, they do not lessen the overall academic seriousness of the work. It explains why we are so concerned about preserving the innocence of women and especially children in the modern era, compared to medieval times when children were seen as bearing original sin that had to be trained out of them before they could be good. Koschorke's book could even be used in a class about the compliance of the German populace during the Nazi regime, as regards its discussion of both messianic tendencies in certain men and the state as usurping God-like authority. Really, a must read book.