Excellent4.8 out of 5On Trustpilot
  1. The Church/
  2. Church History

How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West

by Perez Zagorin

  • Paperback
  • 392 pages
  • Publisher: University Presses of California, Columbia and Princeton
  • 15.6 x 22.9 x 2.4 cm

£22.82

Save 35% | Free UK Delivery

Available - Usually dispatched within 4 days

Buying for a school or church? Upgrade to a FREE Eden Advance Account

Free delivery on orders over £10

Religious intolerance, so terrible and deadly in its recent manifestations, is nothing new. In fact, until after the eighteenth century, Christianity was perhaps the most intolerant of all the great world religions. "How Christian Europe and the West" went from this extreme to their present universal belief in religious toleration is the momentous story fully told for the first time in this timely and important book by a leading historian of early modern Europe. Perez Zagorin takes readers to a time when both the Catholic Church and the main new Protestant denominations embraced a policy of endorsing religious persecution, coercing unity, and, with the state's help, mercilessly crushing dissent and heresy. This position had its roots in certain intellectual and religious traditions, which Zagorin traces before showing how out of the same traditions came the beginnings of pluralism in the West. Here we see how sixteenth- and seventeenth-century thinkers - writing from religious, theological, and philosophical perspectives - contributed far more than did political expediency or the growth of religious skepticism to advance the cause of toleration.Reading these thinkers - from Erasmus and Sir Thomas More to John Milton and John Locke, among others - Zagorin brings to light a common, if unexpected, thread: concern for the spiritual welfare of religion itself weighed more in the defense of toleration than did any secular or pragmatic arguments. His book - which ranges from England through the Netherlands, the post-1685 Huguenot Diaspora, and the American Colonies - also exposes a close connection between toleration and religious freedom. A far-reaching and incisive discussion of the major writers, thinkers, and controversies responsible for the emergence of religious tolerance in Western society - from the Enlightenment through the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights - this original and richly nuanced work constitutes an essential chapter in the intellectual history of the modern world.
How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West and Francis Bacon
Francis BaconHow the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West

  • Author

    Perez Zagorin

  • Book Format

    Paperback

  • Publisher

    University Presses of California, Columbia and Princeton

  • Published

    October 2005

  • Edition

    New edition

  • Weight

    545g

  • Page Count

    392

  • Dimensions

    15.6 x 22.9 x 2.4 cm

  • ISBN

    9780691121420

  • ISBN-10

    0691121427

  • Eden Code

    3950921

Over 14,000 churches and schools have upgraded to an Advance Account and we‘d love to welcome you into this free program. We know that church volunteers and school teachers often use their own money, then have claim it back on on an expense form. We can take all of that hassle away by invoicing your church or school directly and delivering your order straight away.

Opening an account is quick and easy, with most accounts being approved and setup within a few hours of filling in the form below (on weekdays, not weekends). As soon as we‘ve approved the application we‘ll send you an email to let you know that its done.

Upgrade to a FREE Eden Advance Account
Write a review
      Ask a question