“Julian recognized that the strength of the orthodox Church rested to a great extent on the imperial discrimination in its favour. According… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“If Paul brought the first generation of Christians the useful skills of a trained theologian, Origen was the first great philosopher to… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“How could the Christian Church, apparently quite willingly, accommodate this weird megalomaniac [Constantine] in it's theocratic system? Was there a conscious bargain?… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“If the decline of Christianity created the modern political zealot - and his crimes - so the evaporation of religious faith among… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
In the last generation, with public Christianity in headlong retreat, we have caught our first, distant view of a de-Christianized world ,… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“This was all very well: Columbanus's success indicates the appeal of his mission. But his activities, for the first time, brought the… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“Partly by accident, partly by instinct, partly by deliberate contrivance, he was the first intellectual systematically to exploit the guilt of the privileged. And… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“The Salem [witch] trials…can be seen as an example of the propensity of the American people to be convulsed by spasms of self-righteous rage… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“Much of Sartre’s time in the 1960s was spent travelling in China and the Third World, a term invented by the geographer Alfred Sauvy… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“He [Augustine] admitted: 'I am the sort of man who writes because he has made progress, and who makes progress by writing.' ” — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
The most intimidating world leader was Lyndon Johnson, who became U.S. President when John Kennedy was assassinated. He exulted in this power and liked… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“Marx wrote about finance and industry all his life but he only knew two people connected with financial and industrial processes. One was his… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“When we are dealing with concepts like freedom and equality, it is essential to use words accurately and in good faith. So the eighth… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
Margaret Thatcher had more impact on the world than any woman ruler since Catherine the Great of Russia. Not only did she turn around… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
Wisdom lies not in possessing knowledge - which quickly becomes outdated - but in perpetually seeking it. — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
The planet Earth, though not threatened with destruction by man-made global warming, is by no means indestructible. There are many unpredictable events within our… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“As Khrushchev put it, “He prodded the capitalist world with the tip of his bayonet.” He himself put it, “If I see a door… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image