Godless Continent

The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God, by George Weigel (Basic, 224 pp., $23)

IN his Oration on the Dignity of Man, Renaissance sage Pico della Mirandola declared that “whatever seeds each man cultivates will grow to maturity and bear in him their own fruit.” Elaborating, he provides us with an index by which to measure European man’s predicaments and prospects: “If [these seeds] be vegetative, he will be like a plant. If sensitive, he will become brutish. If rational, he will grow into a heavenly being. If intellectual, he will be an angel and the son of God.” Five centuries after Pico, George Weigel offers a bleak report on contemporary Europe’s germinations in his new book The Cube and the Cathedral. In effect, he worries that Europe as a whole is indifferently slipping into vegetable life, while its elites clear away any visions of angels that would interfere with their cultivation of an elegantly Godless Continent.

About the Author

Randy Boyagoda

Mr. Boyagoda, a novelist, is a professor of English at the University of Toronto, where he is also the principal of St. Michael’s College.

Featured Tags

The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God, by George Weigel (Basic, 224 pp., $23)

IN his Oration on the Dignity of Man, Renaissance sage Pico della Mirandola declared that “whatever seeds each man cultivates will grow to maturity and bear in him their own fruit.” Elaborating, he provides us with an index by which to measure European man’s predicaments and prospects: “If [these seeds] be vegetative, he will be like a plant. If sensitive, he will become brutish. If rational, he will grow into a heavenly being. If intellectual, he will be an angel and the son of God.” Five centuries after Pico, George Weigel offers a bleak report on contemporary Europe’s germinations in his new book The Cube and the Cathedral. In effect, he worries that Europe as a whole is indifferently slipping into vegetable life, while its elites clear away any visions of angels that would interfere with their cultivation of an elegantly Godless Continent.