One of the major strengths of a political and technological system is its ability to absorb into itself and to direct toward social purposes the aspirations and abilities of diverse groups and peoples. Empire, as opposed to despotism, traffics in the relentless proclivity of societal man to find contentment in the culture's values and personal advancement within the society's political, social, and economic structures. To paraphrase an old political maxim, a man who can be rewarded by the social system can be ruled by it. In this proclivity of societal man to make a place for himself in the social structures lay one of the major dangers to the church of Tertullian's day. Tertullian's attempt to lay the foundations for a divine community which could withstand the “pull” of society's “success” or “status” ethic on Christians is the focus of this article. It goes without saying that Tertullian's understanding of the essentially unique and separate character of the Christian community was also formulated against the heretics' theological “push,” but I would like to concentrate on the social problem in keeping with the theme of the meeting.

Modern scholars are well aware of the role played by Petrus Iohannis Olivi in the so-called spiritual Franciscan movement. They are equally aware that his adherence to that movement was partly inspired by a theology of history which attributed eschatological significance to the Franciscan order, a theology of history based at least in part upon the views of Joachim of Fiore. On the other hand, in the last few decades Olivi's role in the development of Scholastic thought has been appreciated by an increasing number of scholars. While few scholars portray him as the equal of Bonaventure, Aquinas, Scotus, or Ockham, many are willing to place him among the handful of medieval thinkers who stand just outside that charmed circle.

“Why are these fools awaiting the end of the world?” This remark, said to have been made by Pope Boniface VIII during the perusal of a Joachite treatise, typifies what must have been the reaction of many thirteenth century popes to the eschatological groups of the time. With some notable exceptions, the popes of the century were men from a single mold: lawyers, administrators, dynasty builders—men trained to expand the interests of the best organized and most efficient government in Europe, the church. Though it would be a serious error to see the concerns of these men as purely political, for religion and politics were mingled in the thirteenth century in inextricable fashion, there was a practicality and a sense of reality to the lawyer popes that shines through Boniface's impatient outburst at the visionary mutterings and interminable squabbles of those who thought the end was near.

Only four decades ago one of the present leading medievalists in this country was not allowed to write a dissertation in the area of Catharism. In turning down the request, the director referred to the paucity of sources for undertaking such a study. In view of the materials currently available one nearly finds it unbelievable that such a delimited area of research has been given so much attention in the interim, in the manuscript finds, translation work, and multifold secondary source interpretations which have touched on everything from sex to song to diet! And whenever a topic in the field of history edges out biblical studies, contemporary theology, and the latest witless fad in religion in Time (the whole religion section, no less), perhaps it can be said that that topic has indeed arrived. Sparkling brilliance has been added to Catharism in the studies of the likes of Runciman, Söderberg, Borst, Dondaine, Manselli, Roché Nelli, Russell, and Wakefield. And yet, as is obvious, there are still unanswered questions and the necessity for continuing scholarship which will engage even more facets of Catharism.

With Marx's assertion that social existence determines the consciousness of men rather than the reverse, the ancient debate concerning freedom and necessity entered a new phase. Yet another dimension was added when Freud discovered the unconscious powers of the psyche. Subsequently, although thought has vacillated between the sociological and the psychological modes of analysis, both have underscored the deterministic sources of human behavior. Meanwhile, as if this were not enough, the assimilation of human behavior to nature, and thus also to the empirical methods of science and technology, has assured the total triumph of determinism.

When Moses entreated Pharoah to let his people go the children of Israel were aware of differences between themselves and others in the land. The ensuing drama which included some stern “supernatural” interventions finally convinced Pharaoh that here indeed was a group of people that was different and not about to become a constituent of the core culture. The theme of “stranger and pilgrim” became a motif for the Jewish people; later a prophet named Jesus and his followers recognized themselves as strangers and pilgrims and experienced considerable hostility at the hands of the dominant society.

These lines might well have been written by a denizen of the contemporary counter culture, though he might have respected “Divinity” only by eliminating it for “Government.” The lines can suggest various things. First, that there is an analogy to be made between the Renaissance and the contemporary world. Secondly, that a rejection of conventional learning—we discuss it under the rubric of irrelevance—can be a prelude to a revival of the occult. Thirdly, the utilization of this text can intimate that, for present purposes, the author may owe more to Herodotus than he does to Ranke, that is, more to history as art than to history as science. That, too, may be a sign of the times.

My subject is the religion of the black American and my thesis is twofold: that the black man's religion is a religion of soul and that the soul of the black man's religion is his music. My concentration is on the spirituals. The paragraphs that follow are in part an abstract of my paper and in part a bibliographical essay indicating some studies or interpretations on which I draw or to which I am indebted.

What passes in the world for life and health, is nevertheless a palpable counterfeit. It is at best but a long disease, having sooner or later the same inevitable ghastly termination, death.

Forget all past history as forming a standard of hope and expectations.… We must doggedly reject the inferences of past experience.… There is no fanaticism in this position; because in respect to the circumstances which make and govern experience, the world has nothing in common with us.

The Ranter counter culture was a phenomenon of Puritan England. It was a movement among lower-class people numbering several thousands—we do not know exactly how many—widely distributed in London and rural England. In describing this phenomenon as a movement, however, one must be cautious since this was not a movement towards a goal: it was a movement of repulsion away from English society as represented by the Puritans. It implied a rejection of the Puritan Establishment—its ethics, its values, and its goals.

The literature of the current generation treating the Jacksonian period of American history suggests persuasively that although the citizenry of that time enjoyed widespread consensus about many important matters, many remained about which there was profound disagreement. American life abounded in antithetical and unresolved issues: tensions between pastoral and urbane, the unrequited yearning for a simpler way of life in a time when Americans were beginning to embrace more complex modes of economic, political, and social life; the conflict between an exuberant, secular American optimism about the promise of life and the often hysterical anxiety of the religious over a ripeness of sin and the approaching destruction of the wicked and the end of the world. And the slavery dilemma began to shake American society in the 1830–1850 generation. The idea of counter culture in early nineteenth century America should be considered against the background of such cultural tensions.