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James O'Donnell
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BIOGRAPHY

University Librarian, Arizona State University Libraries. Former Provost, Georgetown University. Author of Augustine: A New Biography, Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace, and others.

Primary Contributions (3)
Justus of Ghent: Saint Augustine
St. Augustine ; feast day August 28) was the bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430, one of the Latin Fathers of the Church and perhaps the most significant Christian thinker after St. Paul. Augustine’s adaptation of classical thought to Christian teaching created a theological system of great power and…
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Publications (3)
Pagans: The End of Traditional Religion and the Rise of Christianity
Pagans: The End of Traditional Religion and the Rise of Christianity (March 2016)
By James J. O'Donnell
A provocative and contrarian religious history that charts the rise of Christianity from the point of view of traditional” religion from the religious scholar and critically acclaimed author of Augustine.\nPagans explores the rise of Christianity from a surprising and unique viewpoint: that of the people who witnessed their ways of life destroyed by what seemed then a powerful religious cult. These “pagans” were actually pious Greeks, Romans, Syrians, and Gauls who observed the traditions...
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Augustine: A New Biography
Augustine: A New Biography (April 2006)
By James J. O'Donnell
Saint Augustine -- the celebrated theologian who served as Bishop of Hippo from 396 C.E. until his death in 430 C.E. -- is widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in the Western world. His autobiography, Confessions, remains among the most important religious writings in the Christian tradition. In this eye-opening and eminently readable biography, renowned historical scholar James J. O’Donnell picks up where Augustine himself left off to offer a fascinating,...
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Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace
Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace (May 2000)
By James J. O'Donnell
The written word has been a central bearer of culture since antiquity. But its position is now being challenged by the powerful media of electronic communication. In this penetrating and witty book James O'Donnell takes a reading on the promise and the threat of electronic technology for our literate future.\nIn Avatars of the Word O'Donnell reinterprets today's communication revolution through a series of refracted comparisons with earlier revolutionary periods: the transition from...
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