More’s masterpiece, Utopia, is a masterpiece precisely because of its prescient nature: five-hundred years ago, he already envisaged into existence the kind of “polite” civil religion of later centuries wherein religion would be stripped of its supernatural clothing for the sake of peace. Immediately after ascending the throne, More’s imaginary King Utopus legally declared that “every man might cultivate the religion of his choice, and might even proselytize for it, provided he did so quietly, modestly, rationally, and without bitterness toward others.” Whereas More himself does not advocate or encourage any such stripping, he is certainly sympathetic, nonetheless, with the argument of the great Erasmus, who came before him, that religion must be the cause of peace, not war.
THOMAS MORE’S UTOPIA
| ISBN |
978-614-475-004-9
|
| Language |
English |
| Group of Authors |
Edward Alam, Kamal Abouchedid, Richard Woods, Robert Cheaib, Gregory M. Reichberg, Dany Ghsoub, Joseph Raphael Yacoub, Eugene Richard Sensenig. |
| Edition |
2019 |