Gibbon's Christianity

Hugh Liebert provides a profound reassessment of Edward Gibbon in Gibbon's Christianity, Volume 1. While Gibbon is often labeled an infidel historian, this work explores his complex relationship with religious doctrine. Rather than simple opposition, Gibbon approached Christianity as a significant philosophical and historical puzzle. By examining private journals, correspondence, and unfinished memoirs, Liebert illustrates how the author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire confronted the spiritual shifts that shaped modern Europe.

This scholarly study falls within the realms of historiography, church history, and religion. Liebert analyzes how Gibbon adapted his explanations of the Roman republic to account for the rise of a new spiritual republic. This volume offers deep insight into the early church and the intellectual context of eighteenth-century studies. It serves as a vital resource for readers interested in the history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and the evolution of Christian thought.