The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity

"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 "A provocative and admirable work."--Choice "Fascinating. It is a very important contribution to the growing awareness of the bright light of the `Dark' Ages."--Ronald Murphy, Georgetown University "There is far more to the book than simply a demonstration that Christianity was powerfully influenced by Germanic--and by extension, Indo-European--`world-accepting' religious ideas at a crucial phase in its evolution. Indeed, 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 "An intelligent synthesis of observations from a wide range of anthropological, historical, and other literature....[Russell's] ultimate mapping of the Germanizing shifts in early medieval Christian belief and praxis is done with a subtle eye to this particularization, its consequences, and the attempted undoing of it since the Second Vatican Council. The overall result is a statement of general religious historical interest and of equal relevance to the modern heirs of Christendom."--Catholic Historical Review "Highly interesting and challenging reading. An important contribution to research."--Theological Studies. "Russell's work is valuable."--Journal of World History "Insightfully treating the confrontation between Roman Christianity and Germanic paganism and its resolution, James C. Russell gets to the nub of the matter and provides a basis for a better understanding of what transpired. He thus provides his readers with conceptual tools that will assist them toward understanding other confrontations between Christianity and non-Christian cultures. It is an excellent contribution to early medieval and church history studies....Altogether stimulating and provocative." --The Historian "...this book rewards a patient reading."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History "[The book] has achieved a solid mastery of the relevant literature."--American Journal of Sociology "...An interesting and provocative read."--History