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A review by jdintr
The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade by Philip Jenkins
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.