The Magdalene in the Reformation

Title: The Magdalene in the Reformation

Author: Margaret Arnold

Publisher: The Belknap Press, 2018 (First)

ISBN: 9780674979994

Pages: 300

Mary Magdalene’s legacy is a contested one between the clergy, laity and the common public. She has been accorded the status of a saint by the church. Her cult continues to motivate nuns of the Catholic Church and fires up the imagination of the lay followers as evidenced by the immensely successful thriller The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown whose central theme revolves around a chase for the Holy Grail with strong links to the Magdalene. The New Testament states that the resurrected Christ made his first appearance to her and instructed to carry the good news to his own apostles. In this sense, she is called Apostola Apostolarum (Apostle of the Apostles). After the resurrection, she was believed to have crossed the sea over to France and carried out evangelisation there. In the time of the Reformation in which the Western Church was split into two, the Lutherans opposed the moral degradation in the church and the apotheosis of the saints. However, the members of each of the faith traditions that emerged from the age of reform considered Mary Magdalene an ideal for women and for people of faith in general. This book describes the impact of Mary Magdalene in the turbulent times of Reformation and how her legacy contributed to the development of women's emancipation. Margaret Arnold is associate rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Medford, Massachusetts. She received her PhD in religious and theological studies from Boston University.

Arnold follows development of the life and message of the Magdalene in some detail. She appears in all four gospels. She was a Galilean follower of Jesus whom he had healed of seven demons and who thereafter supported his ministry. She was present at the Crucifixion and was the first witness of his rising from the dead. In addition to the above, her role was made coincident with Mary of Bethany who anointed Christ with costly unguent and the sexual sinner who repented before Christ. The Magdalene cult had developed a rich legend over the course of 1500 years of the Christian tradition even though clearly descriptive material about her is lacking in the New Testament. Mediaeval theologians’ focus was on her conversion from sexual sin to a piety of extreme penitence and devotion to the sacraments.

Recognition of Mary Magdalene’s later life provided and impetus to Christian tradition of Europe. Papal recognition of Vezelay Abbey in Burgundy as the site of her relics dates from 1050 CE. By 1279, the shrine of Mary Magdalene at Saint-Baume was elevated to this status and Vezelay declined. In this sense, the saint commanded a larger devotion from believers than warranted by her clout in the biblical narratives. She was made the patroness of convents and homes for reformed prostitutes, beginning in the twelfth century. The Magdalene was supposed to have converted the pagans in France, but there was a touch of paganism that came to be associated with her legend. Moreover, the saint was a relatively accessible figure for common women in contrast to Virgin Mary who enjoyed a quasi-divine status in Catholic theology with such lofty ideas such as Immaculate Conception and Assumption associated with her.

This book is not a primary reference on Reformation. It just assumes that it took place and does not pose to elucidate the major points of contention between it and Catholicism. The differences are then explained in the perspective of factors related to the Magdalene. The principal aim of Reformation theologians was the re-interpretation of biblical texts to express the evangelical gospel – the message of salvation by faith alone. This attack on the importance of clergy in the papal system opened up a chasm between the two beliefs that could never be reconciled. Luther advanced a theology of the priesthood of all believers. Choice of Mary Magdalene as the first preacher of the resurrection served Luther’s aim of promoting active evangelism by the laity. Luther’s frequent comparison of the Magdalene to Peter in his sermons reassured his followers that they are equal recipients of grace. It also served the purpose of undermining the traditional primacy of Peter among the saints and provided a subtle attack on papal authority.

Arnold fails to utilise the chance of tracing out the birth of women empowerment in the civilized world. She has identified some rudiments of the early movements, but leaves it in a half-baked way without drawing definite conclusions or inferences. A fillip to women's education was provided by the stress given by Reformation leaders on the use of local languages for liturgical purposes in place of the monopoly of Latin. The sixteenth century marked an increase in women's access to the Bible, newly available in vernacular translation and in comparatively affordable print editions that made their way into homes and schools. Even though the physical constraints had eased somewhat, the mental restrictions imposed by the traditionally male-dominated society that quoted a few verses of the New Testament to buttress their argument, remained in place. Saint Paul declared in his epistle to the Corinthians that “women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak. If they want to enquire about something, they should ask their own husbands athome; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church (1 Cor 14:34-35). Women had been forbidden to read the scriptures aloud in male hearing, an offense for which some had been arrested. Early scholars of the Reformation didn't relent much. Luther concluded that women may speak only where there is no man in authority over them, that is, unmarried women in their own homes!

True reformation trumps over what is said and done till that point in its fight for an idea whose time had arrived. The book presents the thread of women empowerment passing through many movements and schools of thought. Apart from Luther and Calvin, later scholars laid a foundation in Protestantism for the public ministry of women, based on Mary Magdalene’s preaching of the good news of Christ’s resurrection to the apostles themselves. The next generation saw lessening anxiety in society on women's preaching and greater appreciation for the role of women in defending reform, as it came under increasing attack. This provided a spur to early modern Catholic women, both lay and religious, to take up the subject of the Magdalene, writing about her life and expressing their devotion in prayer, music and visual art. The book contains some interesting portrayals of the saint produced in this period. However, aristocratic women’s loyalty was not clear cut. They were less politically fraught than those of their male counterparts, except in the case of monarchs like Mary I or Elizabeth I. Evangelical societies involving women teaching and preaching helped make new vocations for women acceptable to their society. Arnold lists out the dramatic productions and musical compositions of this genre. Women sometimes actually performed as the saint herself, speaking their own words with her authority.

This book is a product of extensive and fine research of literary material produced in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The author skilfully explores the text of medieval compositions, especially by female authors and its reception and influence in their immediate Catholic and Protestant contexts. The text is slightly thick for the taste of ordinary readers. The conclusion included at the end of the text neatly summarises all arguments and points made in the main narrative body. The book’s cover, showing a portrait of Mary Magdalene made by the Italian Renaissance painter Piere di Cosmo circa 1501 CE captivates the attention of readers for the elegant beauty envisioned in the sleek figure of the saint.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star

The Third Pillar

Title: The Third Pillar – How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind

Author: Raghuram G Rajan

Publisher: HarperCollins India, 2019 (First)

ISBN: 9789353028398

Pages: 435

After a decade since the economic recession of 2007-08, the world economy is worried by trade wars and the prospect of slowdown in leading developing economies. A wholesome analysis of the development and future path of the world economy is hence warranted by circumstances. And there is nobody better suited to do it than Raghuram Rajan who is a financial bigwig serving the IMF and US academia. This engineer-turned-economist attempt a survey of human societies by identifying the three pillars on which every modern society rests. These are state, markets and community. All three have equal importance and the intricate balance between them is to be preserved if the society is to stave off breakdown. Of these, the community, which is the third pillar stands neglected in the larger scheme of things today. This huge book is Rajan’s diagnosis of what is wrong and his prescriptions for turning around.

Rajan presents a delightfully condensed version of the development of the three pillars of society. With the advent of the dark ages in Europe, trade diminished and centralised authority degenerated into numerous feudal manors and weak monarchs who linked them. As trade collapsed, exchange of money on a regular basis was no longer required and the church tightened the scriptural prohibition of usury. Centuries went by in this stagnant way. By the fourteenth century, trade picked up again with new routes opened up by the crusades. Moreover, the Black Death eliminated up to a third of the population. This in fact improved the fate of the survivors when real wages surged because of the manpower shortage. Money was essential for trade and the church liberalized usury restrictions or turned itself into a moneylender. Development of gunpowder and military technology made it economically unviable for small states to wage wars. This limitation forced them to consolidate by merger and acquisition of feudal units. Kings became powerful who kept the feudal lords under a tight leash. In principle, kings had unlimited power for taxing and appropriation of resources from his subjects. This was the pinnacle of state power. However, the monarchs found that some restrictions on their despotic power would be better in the long run. Parliaments came into being and taxation was slapped on the people only if accepted by the parliament which represented them. This limited monarchy assured the people of protection of their wealth and property if taxes were paid regularly and without arrears. This obviated the need for private militias and the monopoly of violence came to be rested on the state. By the late-eighteenth century, states assumed the fundamental characteristics we see in them today.

The development of the second pillar – markets – is a little more recent as the book suggests. Trade was a part of the lives of kingdoms and feudal lords, but the ideas of free competition and laissez faire appeared only in the eighteenth century. Capitalism and socialism saw markets as a tool to pave the way to their own ideological paradises. The socialist movement in Europe produced its communist offspring in 1917 in the Soviet Union. The markets were firmly under state control, and to be more precise, under party control. The great depression of 1929 was the greatest threat to capitalist order while Communism was still alive. The stock market crash and the recession which followed wiped away the livelihood and prosperity of millions in the Western world. The liberal governments had to reluctantly put in place measures to restrain competition in the market to ensure more equitable distribution of wealth. The theoretical background of the socialist tendencies of newly independent countries in the 1940s, especially India, is thus the 1929 recession. The post-World War boom helped mask the rising inefficiency of the system.

Rajan identifies many reasons for the definite shift away from state control of markets in the 1980s. After three decades of impressive performance, growth slowed in the 1970s. The oil embargo put in place by Arab states in protest against the pro-Israel stand of the West crippled economies in many quarters of the globe. A semblance of welfare state was standard fare in many countries that assumed a steady economic growth for the sustenance of the program. When growth withered, widespread social unrest followed. Clever politicians like China's Deng Xiaoping correctly identified that the time had come to free markets once again. Barriers to trade and procedural obstacles to entry of new businesses were scrapped in many parts of the world. India followed suit in 1991, twelve years after China made a start and it elicits no wonder to note that the size of China's economy at present is five times that of India. Capitalism had a sturdy road ahead through which its bandwagon rolled steadily forward. The essence of modern capitalism is the continued accumulation of wealth, not because of the pleasures it can by, or the material needs it can satisfy, but for its own sake. It was John Calvin who first provided moral legitimacy to capitalism in a world where avarice was a sin.

Almost half of the book is dedicated to define the third pillar, that is, community and to elucidate the ways to revive failing ones. Community contributes to our sense of who we are. A richer range of transactions can be undertaken within the community than would be possible if everything had to be contractual and strictly enforced by the law. The unfettered globalisation of the 1980s upset rural communities in the developed world. As companies crossed borders in search of cheap labour, production shifted to developing countries. Many semi-urban localities in the US witnessed closure of production facilities that couldn't withstand price competition with products coming from Asian countries. Civic infrastructure and cultural facilities broke down in those communities. The US maintained its lead in high technology and services which were very high up in the value chain. Members of the failed communities were not able to take up opportunities in this sector as their educational credentials were lower. Cheap foreign labour again cut them down in the form of highly qualified immigrants. This led to the growth of popular nationalism and the author levels some prescient warnings and arguments for not going down the way pointed out by the populists.

The latter half of the book is full of monotonous homilies on the way markets, state and community shall interact and exert mutual influence. The discussion is addressed towards the contemporary issues faced by developed economies. A few paragraphs that handle the hurdles on the forward path of India and China is surprisingly uninspiring irrespective of the author’s service as the Governor of India's Central Bank for three years and as an economic advisor to its finance minister. Rajan proposes inclusive localism as a panacea for all the problems faced by a developed country. This is essentially an inclusive nation that decentralizes many decisions to the local, physically proximate community. This concept has a strong correlation to the concept of Gandhiji’s Gram Swaraj (rule by village councils), though the book takes special care not to introduce Gandhi or other advocates of devolution of power even remotely. The book is structured in a textbook style with lots of headings and subheadings arranged in a hierarchical way.

Much of the book concerns with the idea of assigning a more prominent role for communities. Some are just musings or can even be intelligent speculation and nothing more. Many ideas flow out from sheer common sense and some others are mere platitudes such as statements like ‘the problem with too much easy money is that it tends to get wasted’ (p.346). It provides a very good description of American schooling which can be excelled only by pedagogical publications. Educators would find it very appealing. The sad part is the apathy shown to India and her growing concerns on the economic front. The fact that Rajan has mentally gone back to his American life is evident from his self-introduction in which he claims himself to be a professor of the University of Chicago, chief economist and head of research at IMF and adds as if an afterthought his stint as the administrator of India's Central Bank.

Population diversity is what Rajan prophesizes for developed economies as their populations age and prefers to reduce fertility rates. Many of the jobs will have to be undertaken by immigrants from developing countries. The population of the rich countries have no option other than prepare timely for the cultural shock of large scale immigration especially in culturally homogenous countries such as Japan. However, the treatment sometimes hints that it is the developed countries’ untransmutable destiny with an ominous ‘or else’ hovering in the air. The author’s suggestion that keeping out migrants might create a wider security problem if stateless youths, with little to lose, may take up arms and vent their anger against the unsympathetic world (p. 294) is plain blackmail. Moreover, he keeps silent on the jihadi proclivities of Asian immigrants which is the prime reason why local communities despise the entire immigrants.

The book is recommended.

Rating: 2 Star

Einstein’s War

Title: Einstein’s War – How Relativity Conquered Nationalism and Shook the World

Author: Matthew Stanley

Publisher: Viking Penguin, 2019 (First)

ISBN: 9780241376584

Pages: 390

Einstein’s famous equation E = mc² so revolutionized science that researchers turned to nuclear fission as a kind of weapon. Even though Einstein's contribution in the theory, development and explosion of the first two nuclear bombs is negligible, the public perceives him as the genius who influenced the outcome of World War II. This makes the readers think about the Second World War upon seeing the book’s title. Interestingly, this is not the case. The book deals with World War I when Einstein published his theory on general relativity in wartime Germany and how Arthur Eddington, a pacifist British scientist, arranged an expedition around the world to verify the theory coming from an enemy country. It sings the paean of the international spirit of science transcending national boundaries and soaring above parochial politics of the ruling classes. It also serves as a warning note by narrating the experiences of several other scientists who fell for the prevailing public opinion and invented devices to inflict gruesome death on enemy soldiers and civilians. Matthew Stanley is a professor of the history of science at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. He has published two academic books and this is his first trade book. Judging by the quality of research and presentation, we can be fairly certain that we’d see more of the author in the coming years.

As it claims, the book is all about watching the development of relativity brick by brick, from thought experiments to radical concepts to experimental confirmation. It follows a dual track narrative, explaining the life and work of Albert Einstein and Arthur Eddington in alternating chapters and sections. Eddington’s role is paramount in defining the genius of Einstein. He worked against all odds in a British setting. Being a Quaker, he refused to fight in the Great War. This was at a time when the casualty figures of the war was so great that the British government mopped up all men of fighting age irrespective of their talent, education or natural bent. This indiscriminate conscription wasted the lives of many promising scientists in the killing fields of continental Europe. Relativity was a complicated, abstract theory beyond the ken of most people including scientists. Eddington untiringly studied the theory, braving wartime censoring of information coming from enemy territory and developed textbooks for general use. He also conducted speeches to elucidate the theory to ordinary folk and built a support base for efforts to verify the predictions of the theory. Einstein predicted that gravity deflected the path of light as if it had mass. The precise value over which the deviation would take place was also estimated by theory. Eddington arranged two teams which travelled to Brazil and Africa to observe the total solar eclipse of 1919 and to measure the actual deflection. A shift of 1.75 arc seconds was expected, corresponding to 1/60 of an mm on photographic plates and this was observed by the team. It tallied with Relativity’s prediction and Einstein's fame was made. The author affirms that without Eddington, Einstein would not have become such an intellectual giant as he eventually turned out to be.

This book exposes the mutual distrust and hatred developed between the scientists of Britain and Germany during the Great War. Intense nationalism clouded the judgement of intellectuals, forcing some of them to condone war crimes perpetrated by their national armies. Scientific journals omitted contributions by the ‘Other’. Even great scientists succumbed to blind nationalism. British scientist Chadwick was working under Geiger in Germany. When Geiger knew of the arrest of Chadwick during wartime as a preventive measure, he replied that Chadwick was atoning for the sins of the English. Fritz Haber, who revolutionized agriculture with the invention of nitrogen fixing and artificial fertilizers, turned to industrial production of chlorine and mustard gas for poisoning the enemy. Haber was so taken in with appearances that he wore his military uniform, complete with rank, to the lab every day. Stanley provides many other examples of how militant nationalism upset the society’s wisdom gained through centuries of adaptation.

The author has provided some nice anecdotes and funny quotes often associated with Einstein. It is believed that he was not good at mathematics. Stanley remarks that this belief gives comfort to generations of frustrated high school algebra students, but Einstein’s remark was just in comparison to the company he kept. He was brilliant in mathematics, but when he associated on a daily basis with the world's most talented mathematicians, his inadequacy found expression in the self-mocking quip. The deepest truth of the universe needed to be accessed by abstract mathematics, not by empirical experience. Proficiency in mathematics is an absolute necessity in such cases.

Einstein was a genius of the first rate. But that does not mean that he was a good human being or even a good citizen. He spurned nationalism and clung on to his Swiss citizenship to evade military duties. He had earlier renounced his German citizenship when he obtained a job in the Swiss patent office. He had no moral or cultural affiliation to his homeland. This was polished with fine arguments on the internationalism of science. However, this did not hinder him from associating with Zionism later in his life. Einstein rejoiced when Germany was defeated in the war and asked Max Planck to cheer himself up on the abdication of the German Kaiser. Plank’s reply to Einstein was arresting. He said “I feel something that you admittedly will not be able to understand at all… namely, a reverence for and an unshatterable solidarity with the state to which I belong about which I am proud of – and especially so in its misfortune – and which is embodied in the person of the monarch”. A tinge of remorse must have been generated in Einstein's mind on reading this reply.

The book contains flashes of the great scientist’s biography which makes the readers reflect on the stunted growth of human emotions in him. Einstein met his first wife Mileva quite early in his life and never even saw the first child born out of the relationship after she was adopted by his wife's family. The matrimony did not last long after he began an illicit affair with his own cousin Elsa. As the first wife was not legally divorced, he couldn't marry again. He was niggardly when the time finally came to pay alimony. The 8000 francs that was settled upon was conditional on receiving his Nobel Prize money. Einstein soon developed so passionate a bond with his lover’s grown-up daughter that he left the decision of whom to marry to be decided between the mother and daughter. This volume is extraordinarily candid in unveiling all aspects of the lives of its protagonists, even though they often fail to live up to their stature in their personal lives. Eddington refused to join the war effort on account of religious beliefs which forbade it. This was also a case of a reputed scientist blindly following religion.

The book is a pleasure to read and appreciates the scientific principles involved. Abstract concepts are lucidly explained and do not cause a problem to any. The research for this book is made only from secondary sources but the author has carefully categorized and arranged the facts so that they appear fresh. The message it gives to the world is relevant even after a century of the events described in it. The flag of internationalism it holds up should be a pointer to today's world.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 4 Star