This provocative meditation on the turn of the millennium explores the significance that a celebration of Christ's birth can have beyond the Christian community.

Writing from the perspective of Christian philosophy, David Walsh ponders the emergence of modern civilization from the medieval Christian past, concluding that Christian theology grounds the dominant ideas of modern society. He professes the importance and promise of Christianity while rejecting the Gnosticism, advocated by Harold Bloom and others, that places the divine within the self.

Affirming Christ's place at the heart of civilization, Walsh argues that the Christian faith has relevance beyond its own boundaries for all traditions that find their common ground in reason. This contemplative book asserts that the Christian millennial jubilee has meaning for all and that it points the way toward the fullness of life in this world as well as in eternity.

David Walsh is a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America. He is the author of several books, including After Ideology: Recovering the Spiritual Foundations of Freedom (Harper/Collins, 1990, and Catholic University of America Press, 1996) and The Growth of the Liberal Soul (University of Missouri Press, 1997). He is also the editor of two of the volumes of the Collected Works of Eric Voegelin.