Laughter at the Foot of the Cross

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, European, Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, General Christianity
Cover of the book Laughter at the Foot of the Cross by Michael A. Screech, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Michael A. Screech ISBN: 9780226245256
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: April 15, 2015
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Michael A. Screech
ISBN: 9780226245256
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: April 15, 2015
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

“Christian laughter is a maze: you could easily get snarled up within it.” So says Michael A. Screech in his note to readers preceding this collection of fifty-three elegant and pithy essays. As Screech reveals, the question of whether laughter is acceptable to the god of the Old and New Testaments is a dangerous one.

But we are fortunate in our guide: drawing on his immense knowledge of the classics and of humanists like Erasmus and Rabelais—who used Plato and Aristotle to interpret the Gospels—and incorporating the thoughts of Aesop, Calvin, Lucian of Samosata, Luther, Socrates, and others, Screech shows that Renaissance thinkers revived ancient ideas about what inspires laughter and whether it could ever truly be innocent. As Screech argues, in the minds of Renaissance scholars, laughter was to be taken very seriously. Indeed, in an era obsessed with heresy and reform, this most human of abilities was no laughing matter.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

“Christian laughter is a maze: you could easily get snarled up within it.” So says Michael A. Screech in his note to readers preceding this collection of fifty-three elegant and pithy essays. As Screech reveals, the question of whether laughter is acceptable to the god of the Old and New Testaments is a dangerous one.

But we are fortunate in our guide: drawing on his immense knowledge of the classics and of humanists like Erasmus and Rabelais—who used Plato and Aristotle to interpret the Gospels—and incorporating the thoughts of Aesop, Calvin, Lucian of Samosata, Luther, Socrates, and others, Screech shows that Renaissance thinkers revived ancient ideas about what inspires laughter and whether it could ever truly be innocent. As Screech argues, in the minds of Renaissance scholars, laughter was to be taken very seriously. Indeed, in an era obsessed with heresy and reform, this most human of abilities was no laughing matter.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book How to Lie with Maps, Third Edition by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book Murder by Accident by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book Making the News by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book Before Mickey by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book No Exit by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book The Evolution of Imagination by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book Greater Ethiopia by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book Pottery Analysis, Second Edition by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book The Body in the Mind by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book The Guide of the Perplexed, Volume 2 by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book Manliness and Civilization by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book Juvenescence by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book Picturing America by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book Finance in America by Michael A. Screech
Cover of the book The Hoarders by Michael A. Screech
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy