Pagans and Christians, Glory and Piety | Episode LXXI

The things of God belong to a heavenly kingdom. But politics is taken up with what is earthly. Surely, therefore, Christians should keep politics at a distance as much as possible. Right? Even while defending the life of contemplation and retreat from the earthly, Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni Bocaccio laud Christian involvement in public life. Petrarch goes so far as to dream of a Julius Caesar reborn in medieval Europe and baptized a Christian, who goes on to conquer Egypt from the Muslims and present her as a gift - this time not to Cleopatra - but to Christ.

James Hankins's Virtue Politics: https://amzn.to/3UiQpp3

Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780199535699

C.S. Lewis's The Four Loves: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780062565396

Calvert Watkins's How to Kill a Dragon: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780195144130

New Humanists episode on Leonardo Bruni: https://newhumanists.buzzsprout.com/1791279/14460440-mediocrity-versus-glory-in-the-renaissance-episode-lxii

Sallust's Catilinarian Conspiracy: https://amzn.to/4chKY1C

Henry David Thoreau's Walden: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780460876353

Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780385486804

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Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com