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jdintr's review against another edition
5.0
Philip Jenkins is among the most complete religious historians we have writing today, and this book--like Lost Christianities, The New Christendom, and Jesus Wars goes deeply into the study of World War I. The title here, The Great and Holy War is fully borne out by Jenkins's research.
The first half of the book covers the war's impact on the western nations that waged it. Initially, denominations with close ties to warring states--Anglicanism in Britain, Lutheranism in Germany--supported the war and justified the slaughter that was to come. But as the war went on, religious movements swept Europe. Spiritualism promised families to communicate with lost brothers and sons. Miracles and angel sitings were reported in the press. Ghosts were expected to rise up and continue the struggle for their beleaguered comrades. Most notably, the Fatimid prophecies swept Portugal and gave rise to Marian movements within the Catholic church.
In the second half, Jenkins examines the global consequences of the war. Zionism boomed and led Jews toward the creation of Israel following the next world war. In Africa, Christian evangelists began to turn the tide against animism. Islam initially struggled with the loss of the Ottoman caliph, but later turned that confusion into a commitment to fundamentalism and the writings of mid-century jihadi philosophers like Qutb. And the Middle East, which at the time the war began was still a polyglot collection of religions--20% of the population was Christian--began to eradicate Christian communities and fall into Wahhabi Islam's backwards sway. Jenkins covers movements from Morocco to the East Indies in this section, a truly global survey of religion during and after the Great War.
This is an important book for those who want to understand the underpinnings of the religious and political world today.
The first half of the book covers the war's impact on the western nations that waged it. Initially, denominations with close ties to warring states--Anglicanism in Britain, Lutheranism in Germany--supported the war and justified the slaughter that was to come. But as the war went on, religious movements swept Europe. Spiritualism promised families to communicate with lost brothers and sons. Miracles and angel sitings were reported in the press. Ghosts were expected to rise up and continue the struggle for their beleaguered comrades. Most notably, the Fatimid prophecies swept Portugal and gave rise to Marian movements within the Catholic church.
In the second half, Jenkins examines the global consequences of the war. Zionism boomed and led Jews toward the creation of Israel following the next world war. In Africa, Christian evangelists began to turn the tide against animism. Islam initially struggled with the loss of the Ottoman caliph, but later turned that confusion into a commitment to fundamentalism and the writings of mid-century jihadi philosophers like Qutb. And the Middle East, which at the time the war began was still a polyglot collection of religions--20% of the population was Christian--began to eradicate Christian communities and fall into Wahhabi Islam's backwards sway. Jenkins covers movements from Morocco to the East Indies in this section, a truly global survey of religion during and after the Great War.
This is an important book for those who want to understand the underpinnings of the religious and political world today.
rwlongino's review against another edition
4.0
Jenkins offers a phenomenally thorough account of the Great War as a Holy War. I don't know how I missed all of these connections in my history class, but I suppose public school isn't the best place to get a religious/theological grounding for such an event. I'm amazed at the connections Jenkins makes and I'm thankful for his work.
latviadugan's review against another edition
4.0
That World War 1 "destroyed one religious world, and created another" is a thesis Jenkins well supports. This period of history witnessed the end of the Ottoman Empire and the redrawing of borders in the Middle East, the October Revolution, the Balfour Declaration supporting the formation of an independent Jewish state, and the end of the Caliphate. Colonial peoples began organizing for independence. In Europe itself, the war gave birth to apocalyptic interpretations of history on the one hand and challenged traditional teachings of the church on the other. In the years leading up to war, nationalism was fueled and sanctified in religious terms. Soldiers on all sides were fighting for the kingdom of God.
"Religion is essential to understanding the war, to understanding why people went to war, what they hoped to achieve through war, and why they stayed at war."
World War 1 serves as a sound warning of the dangers of religious culture wars and the idolatry of nationalism. It illustrates how quickly the world can change and the great capacity for evil that resides within us.
The war permanently changed the political, religious, and economic landscape not only of Europe, but the world.
"Religion is essential to understanding the war, to understanding why people went to war, what they hoped to achieve through war, and why they stayed at war."
World War 1 serves as a sound warning of the dangers of religious culture wars and the idolatry of nationalism. It illustrates how quickly the world can change and the great capacity for evil that resides within us.
The war permanently changed the political, religious, and economic landscape not only of Europe, but the world.
davehershey's review against another edition
4.0
For the last year I have been listening to Hardcore History’s podcast on World War I. It has been fascinating and educational. I never realized how absolutely awful World War I was, nor do I think I took seriously how much the world changed. Really, our modern world was born in World War I. Most of all, I now know that the worst place in history I can imagine being is a trench during WWI.
I was pleasantly surprised that during this same time one of my favorite authors, Philip Jenkins, published a book on the religious aspects of World War I – The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade. Jenkins has made his name by writing on global Christianity and the history of Christianity outside the west. A few of those same themes appear here, as it was during and after World War I that Christianity began to explode in places like Africa. One of the reasons for this was the breaking of colonialism that began at this time.
Jenkins book is a page-turner, illustrating how all sides invoked God as they went to war. He talks about the Germans, English and French and then moves on to talk about the Jews, Muslims and Christians in colonial lands. Most impressive is that he does not stop at the end of WWI but traces the story through to WWII and beyond. The events of World War I continue to have aftershocks today. If you are interested in history and religion and how both play into contemporary events, check out Jenkins’ book.
I was pleasantly surprised that during this same time one of my favorite authors, Philip Jenkins, published a book on the religious aspects of World War I – The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade. Jenkins has made his name by writing on global Christianity and the history of Christianity outside the west. A few of those same themes appear here, as it was during and after World War I that Christianity began to explode in places like Africa. One of the reasons for this was the breaking of colonialism that began at this time.
Jenkins book is a page-turner, illustrating how all sides invoked God as they went to war. He talks about the Germans, English and French and then moves on to talk about the Jews, Muslims and Christians in colonial lands. Most impressive is that he does not stop at the end of WWI but traces the story through to WWII and beyond. The events of World War I continue to have aftershocks today. If you are interested in history and religion and how both play into contemporary events, check out Jenkins’ book.
ivantable's review against another edition
4.0
I wrote this review for my school's monthly magazine.
This past summer marked the 100th anniversary of First World War (1914-1918), a war often forgotten and little understood. Philip Jenkins, professor of history at Baylor University, retells the story afresh in The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade. Jenkins argues that we cannot understand the war apart from understanding its religious and spiritual aspects. "The war took place in a world in which religious faith was still the norm," he writes. Elsewhere he writes that "[r]eligion is essential to understanding the war, to understanding why people went to war, what they hoped to achieve through war, and why they stayed at war."
Jenkins does not recount the war in its entirety, but instead chooses to highlight several events and examples of the prevailing religious rhetoric. For example, he examines the national "messianic" visions of nations such as Germany and Russia and the calls-to-arms in America presented in crusading terms. In one chapter we read about the genocide of Armenians on the Eastern Front while in a different chapter he argues that the war set in motion a more activist radicalization of Islam.
Some readers will find his presentation disjointed, missing a unifying theme; others will appreciate the various selections that serve as snapshots into the religious dimensions of the war. All readers, however, will come away with a better understanding of the "Great and Holy War" and grasp how it irrevocably changed the world, even into our own present day.
This past summer marked the 100th anniversary of First World War (1914-1918), a war often forgotten and little understood. Philip Jenkins, professor of history at Baylor University, retells the story afresh in The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade. Jenkins argues that we cannot understand the war apart from understanding its religious and spiritual aspects. "The war took place in a world in which religious faith was still the norm," he writes. Elsewhere he writes that "[r]eligion is essential to understanding the war, to understanding why people went to war, what they hoped to achieve through war, and why they stayed at war."
Jenkins does not recount the war in its entirety, but instead chooses to highlight several events and examples of the prevailing religious rhetoric. For example, he examines the national "messianic" visions of nations such as Germany and Russia and the calls-to-arms in America presented in crusading terms. In one chapter we read about the genocide of Armenians on the Eastern Front while in a different chapter he argues that the war set in motion a more activist radicalization of Islam.
Some readers will find his presentation disjointed, missing a unifying theme; others will appreciate the various selections that serve as snapshots into the religious dimensions of the war. All readers, however, will come away with a better understanding of the "Great and Holy War" and grasp how it irrevocably changed the world, even into our own present day.
blackoxford's review against another edition
3.0
Love Is Hate
According to Philip Jenkins, religion probably didn’t cause the Great War with its 10 million dead, four destroyed empires, and a continuing legacy of international instability, but it certainly prepared for and sustained it. As a consequence, religion itself, particularly Christianity - Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic - was fundamentally transformed even if it took several generations to understand what that transformation entailed. Christianity revealed itself to be as subject to corruptive manipulation and profound evil as any other human institution. It is not an exaggeration to say that this revelation inspired several new (and often contradictory) theological drives.
Christendom, however one chooses to define that conceptual entity, had been badly damaged by the Protestant Reformation but Christianity continued to dominate European culture in its various national forms. The French Revolution and its aftermath further undermined the Church by demonstrating its intimate connection with national power. But it was the Great War which proved beyond doubt that the spirit of Christianity had become, if it was not always, one of extreme national violence. As Jenkins summarizes the situation: “Christians in all combatant nations—including the United States—entered wholeheartedly into the spirit of cosmic war. None found any difficulty in using fundamental tenets of the faith as warrants to justify war and mass destruction.”
Somewhat surprisingly, the blatant and almost universal encouragement of the Christian churches to engage in the war from 1914 onwards did not immediately cause a reduction in mainstream church membership. But the experience of both the war and the inherent contradictions in Christian teaching had two highly consequential effects that were masked by this apparent stability: The rapid growth of parallel spiritual movements both within and without Christianity; and an equally rapid development of alternative institutional theologies. The effects of these movements would only become apparent from the 1960’s to the present day.
The immediate ‘beneficiaries’ of the trauma of the Great War were those previously relatively marginal sects and cults - Pentecostals, charismatics, and non-charismatic Evangelicals. Unsurprisingly perhaps, since these have a minimal reliance on formal doctrine and therefore can be perceived as a reaction against the intellectual Christianity which had so avidly promoted the disaster. Other groups with some distance from the established churches - Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and various occult and spiritualist cults, for example - also grew rapidly. The prevailing religious sentiment according to Jenkins was one of apocalypticism, that is, of the approach if not imminence of the Final Judgment. This feeling would become a dominant force in the dispensationalism and its political manifestation in the latter third of the century.*
The war also catalysed a fundamental re-direction of Christian theological thought, particularly ecclesiology, the religious theory of the Church itself. The Swiss, Karl Barth, arguably the most influential European religious thinker of the 20th century, constructed his so-called dialectical theology as a direct attack on the existing ‘liberal’ theological arguments for war and the widespread support for it among clerical leaders on all sides (See: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2629364008). The Catholic Church was somewhat slower off the mark, but it too permitted and eventually fostered the creation of a rather radical practical theology of the relationship between religion and the world. The most dramatic result of this new thinking by scholars like Yves Congar, Henri de Lubac, among many others was the Second Vatican Council which effectively ‘re-institutionalized’ the Church.
Jenkins’s study does not claim to be a detailed sociological analysis of the Great War. Nor does it attempt to trace the specific emotional or intellectual threads which emerged from the conflict. It is therefore more suggestive than definitive. Nonetheless his overall conclusions are significant. Clearly Christianity was not destroyed in either an institutional or personal sense; but it became something that no one anticipated: “Europe’s Christianity survived the Great War, but in ways that would have startled and often horrified the church leaders of the previous centuries. The war sparked a religious and cultural revolution within the faith”
Jenkins also recognizes what might be called the extreme vulnerability of Christianity to not just the power of the state but also to virtually unlimited self-rationalization. He makes it clear that this is not a temporary condition: “As we examine the mainstream assumptions of the greatest churches at the time, we repeatedly see just how close to the surface of the Christian and biblical tradition such patterns of state alliance and militancy actually lie, and how easily ideas of the church militarist emerge in times of crisis. A study of history, up to and including the twentieth century, must make us question any attempts to dismiss such uses of Christianity as a crude distortion of the faith.”
Living as we do now in the Age of Trump and Putin it is obvious that the danger posed by Christian involvement in politics is not limited to the issue of war. Christianity, if anything, has become more tribal since the Great War. But it has become no less emotionally powerful and intellectually self-serving.
*Jenkins published in 2014, thus to early to include an account of the Evangelical/Trump phenomenon or the Orthodox/Putin alliance.
According to Philip Jenkins, religion probably didn’t cause the Great War with its 10 million dead, four destroyed empires, and a continuing legacy of international instability, but it certainly prepared for and sustained it. As a consequence, religion itself, particularly Christianity - Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic - was fundamentally transformed even if it took several generations to understand what that transformation entailed. Christianity revealed itself to be as subject to corruptive manipulation and profound evil as any other human institution. It is not an exaggeration to say that this revelation inspired several new (and often contradictory) theological drives.
Christendom, however one chooses to define that conceptual entity, had been badly damaged by the Protestant Reformation but Christianity continued to dominate European culture in its various national forms. The French Revolution and its aftermath further undermined the Church by demonstrating its intimate connection with national power. But it was the Great War which proved beyond doubt that the spirit of Christianity had become, if it was not always, one of extreme national violence. As Jenkins summarizes the situation: “Christians in all combatant nations—including the United States—entered wholeheartedly into the spirit of cosmic war. None found any difficulty in using fundamental tenets of the faith as warrants to justify war and mass destruction.”
Somewhat surprisingly, the blatant and almost universal encouragement of the Christian churches to engage in the war from 1914 onwards did not immediately cause a reduction in mainstream church membership. But the experience of both the war and the inherent contradictions in Christian teaching had two highly consequential effects that were masked by this apparent stability: The rapid growth of parallel spiritual movements both within and without Christianity; and an equally rapid development of alternative institutional theologies. The effects of these movements would only become apparent from the 1960’s to the present day.
The immediate ‘beneficiaries’ of the trauma of the Great War were those previously relatively marginal sects and cults - Pentecostals, charismatics, and non-charismatic Evangelicals. Unsurprisingly perhaps, since these have a minimal reliance on formal doctrine and therefore can be perceived as a reaction against the intellectual Christianity which had so avidly promoted the disaster. Other groups with some distance from the established churches - Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and various occult and spiritualist cults, for example - also grew rapidly. The prevailing religious sentiment according to Jenkins was one of apocalypticism, that is, of the approach if not imminence of the Final Judgment. This feeling would become a dominant force in the dispensationalism and its political manifestation in the latter third of the century.*
The war also catalysed a fundamental re-direction of Christian theological thought, particularly ecclesiology, the religious theory of the Church itself. The Swiss, Karl Barth, arguably the most influential European religious thinker of the 20th century, constructed his so-called dialectical theology as a direct attack on the existing ‘liberal’ theological arguments for war and the widespread support for it among clerical leaders on all sides (See: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2629364008). The Catholic Church was somewhat slower off the mark, but it too permitted and eventually fostered the creation of a rather radical practical theology of the relationship between religion and the world. The most dramatic result of this new thinking by scholars like Yves Congar, Henri de Lubac, among many others was the Second Vatican Council which effectively ‘re-institutionalized’ the Church.
Jenkins’s study does not claim to be a detailed sociological analysis of the Great War. Nor does it attempt to trace the specific emotional or intellectual threads which emerged from the conflict. It is therefore more suggestive than definitive. Nonetheless his overall conclusions are significant. Clearly Christianity was not destroyed in either an institutional or personal sense; but it became something that no one anticipated: “Europe’s Christianity survived the Great War, but in ways that would have startled and often horrified the church leaders of the previous centuries. The war sparked a religious and cultural revolution within the faith”
Jenkins also recognizes what might be called the extreme vulnerability of Christianity to not just the power of the state but also to virtually unlimited self-rationalization. He makes it clear that this is not a temporary condition: “As we examine the mainstream assumptions of the greatest churches at the time, we repeatedly see just how close to the surface of the Christian and biblical tradition such patterns of state alliance and militancy actually lie, and how easily ideas of the church militarist emerge in times of crisis. A study of history, up to and including the twentieth century, must make us question any attempts to dismiss such uses of Christianity as a crude distortion of the faith.”
Living as we do now in the Age of Trump and Putin it is obvious that the danger posed by Christian involvement in politics is not limited to the issue of war. Christianity, if anything, has become more tribal since the Great War. But it has become no less emotionally powerful and intellectually self-serving.
*Jenkins published in 2014, thus to early to include an account of the Evangelical/Trump phenomenon or the Orthodox/Putin alliance.
raben_76325's review against another edition
3.0
When we are studying modern history, we often find that the urgency of the cold war, the horror of the second world war, the space race, the great depression and so many factors take up much of our study energy and time. In comparison, we often forget entirely about World War I. So, why was it fought, where was it fought and what are the implications for us are things that many people are not seeking the answers to.
Because it is forgotten and overlooked, I have found myself recently interested in it. There are four years that the world discovered the horrors of war. These years have made an indelible impact on modern history because it is out of this war that we find the growth of Communism, the rise of Nazism the roots of the Cold War.
Entering enter the fray of discussions on how the war became a world changer is Philip Jenkins. However, Jenkins takes an unusual perspective as he causes us to look at the religious aspects of the war. Jenkins never shies away from discussing the horrors of war, but he also takes a look at how the war affects religious life and how religious life affects the war.
The book is roughly divided into two halves. The first half deals with the war itself. In this we see each side's demonization of the other side. We see German pastors writing hymns to encourage national pride and the destruction of the enemy. We see the vilification of the Germans as well as their association of their leaders with the "antichrist." We see the rise of dispensationalism, mysticism and the occult.
We also see how the liberalism of many protestant groups at this time encouraged the growth of political issues to inform and shape our spiritual lives. Because of this there is a demonization of the other side that automatically create an us/them mentality. It's uncomfortable to read because I see so much of the us/them mentality reflected in the demonization of each side of the political sphere by the other side today.
The second half of the book deals with the aftermath of the war. We see the rejection of religion in Russia and the Russian Revolution. We see the effects of the war on Germany as Nazism begins its steady rise. We see the establishment of the Balfour Declaration, and the seeds of the eventual county of Israel. We see the affect of the war on the entire globe as many entities throughout the world saw themselves in conflict with each other because the European nation that controlled them was at war with the European nation that controlled the country next to them.
I learned a lot from this book, but I often found it unclear and hard to follow. Jenkins does not really tell a story, and although he is loosely chronological, he tends to circle back to the same events and ideas over and over again topically. I am glad for what I learned in this book, and I found the juxtaposition of existentialism and mysticism as well as the growth of apocalyptic thought to be quite interesting. However, if I were reading a book on this topic again, I would like to see a clearer sense of story and timeline throughout the book.
Because it is forgotten and overlooked, I have found myself recently interested in it. There are four years that the world discovered the horrors of war. These years have made an indelible impact on modern history because it is out of this war that we find the growth of Communism, the rise of Nazism the roots of the Cold War.
Entering enter the fray of discussions on how the war became a world changer is Philip Jenkins. However, Jenkins takes an unusual perspective as he causes us to look at the religious aspects of the war. Jenkins never shies away from discussing the horrors of war, but he also takes a look at how the war affects religious life and how religious life affects the war.
The book is roughly divided into two halves. The first half deals with the war itself. In this we see each side's demonization of the other side. We see German pastors writing hymns to encourage national pride and the destruction of the enemy. We see the vilification of the Germans as well as their association of their leaders with the "antichrist." We see the rise of dispensationalism, mysticism and the occult.
We also see how the liberalism of many protestant groups at this time encouraged the growth of political issues to inform and shape our spiritual lives. Because of this there is a demonization of the other side that automatically create an us/them mentality. It's uncomfortable to read because I see so much of the us/them mentality reflected in the demonization of each side of the political sphere by the other side today.
The second half of the book deals with the aftermath of the war. We see the rejection of religion in Russia and the Russian Revolution. We see the effects of the war on Germany as Nazism begins its steady rise. We see the establishment of the Balfour Declaration, and the seeds of the eventual county of Israel. We see the affect of the war on the entire globe as many entities throughout the world saw themselves in conflict with each other because the European nation that controlled them was at war with the European nation that controlled the country next to them.
I learned a lot from this book, but I often found it unclear and hard to follow. Jenkins does not really tell a story, and although he is loosely chronological, he tends to circle back to the same events and ideas over and over again topically. I am glad for what I learned in this book, and I found the juxtaposition of existentialism and mysticism as well as the growth of apocalyptic thought to be quite interesting. However, if I were reading a book on this topic again, I would like to see a clearer sense of story and timeline throughout the book.
beejai's review against another edition
4.0
This book in many ways is actually two separate but similar works combined. The first half deals directly with WWI. With a surplus of quotes and references, he shows how various religious figures used scripture and spiritual talk to justify their participation in the war and how God was on their side and against their enemies. Here Jenkins works chronologically forward stopping at each major country (Russia, Germany, France, GB, USA, and sometimes others) along the way. Part of me wanted to believe that he is cherry picking his sources and showing only one side of the coin. Surely there were plenty of other spiritual voices that were offering a much more moderate voice. But another part of me can remember the sickening abundance of patriotic nationalism wrapped up as spirituality in more current conflicts or even such social media viruses as the issue of kneeling during the national anthem. If people today can bend and warp scripture to conform to their own political agendas or personal biases today then surely they were doing the same one hundred years ago.
The second part of the book then deals with the consequences of the war in general and specifically the consequences, short and long term, of the religious rhetoric that each side blatantly bandied about. I firmly believe that no single event changed and then shaped our modern world as drastically as this war and Philip Jenkins only scratches the surface on one aspect of how this is so.
Both parts of this book are an excellent read and something everyone with an interest on how current events, our modern world map, and geopolitical conflicts have come to be what they are today. My largest complaint is that a largely disproportionate section of this was spent on Christianity. As horrible as the conflict between soldier and soldier in the European conflicts was and as disgusting as the justifications pastors and political leaders gave for it, it pales in comparison to the jihad waged in the attempt to eradicate an entire people group. The 1.5-2 million noncombatants massacred in their homes and the millions of others forcefully uprooted deserved far more airtime than Jenkins gave it.
The second part of the book then deals with the consequences of the war in general and specifically the consequences, short and long term, of the religious rhetoric that each side blatantly bandied about. I firmly believe that no single event changed and then shaped our modern world as drastically as this war and Philip Jenkins only scratches the surface on one aspect of how this is so.
Both parts of this book are an excellent read and something everyone with an interest on how current events, our modern world map, and geopolitical conflicts have come to be what they are today. My largest complaint is that a largely disproportionate section of this was spent on Christianity. As horrible as the conflict between soldier and soldier in the European conflicts was and as disgusting as the justifications pastors and political leaders gave for it, it pales in comparison to the jihad waged in the attempt to eradicate an entire people group. The 1.5-2 million noncombatants massacred in their homes and the millions of others forcefully uprooted deserved far more airtime than Jenkins gave it.
northeastbookworm's review
5.0
On the 28th of June 1914 in the Bosnian capitol of Sarajevo a young Serb, Gavrilo Princip, fired a pistol at The Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, killing them both. His actions lit a long time primed fuse that led to war. A war that, according to some scholars, did not end until 1945. A war that changed not only Europe, but the entire world as well. A war that is still with us, even today.
Philip Jenkins has written an excellent book on the role that religion played in World War I. Both sides invoked the name of God in championing their cause, both used biblical analogies and loaded medieval words to describe the other. Jenkins goes into detail to describe how and why this was done. With this being the centennial year there are already several very good books on the causes for and the stages of the war. In order to understand some of the emotional and spiritual motivation for the war, make room for this very good book.
Philip Jenkins has written an excellent book on the role that religion played in World War I. Both sides invoked the name of God in championing their cause, both used biblical analogies and loaded medieval words to describe the other. Jenkins goes into detail to describe how and why this was done. With this being the centennial year there are already several very good books on the causes for and the stages of the war. In order to understand some of the emotional and spiritual motivation for the war, make room for this very good book.
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