(1938) PENGUIN DICTIONARY OF SAINTS

Exactly what it says on the tin, except that it originated from the Dictionary of Saints by British Catholic author Donald Attwater in 1938, hence the date for my honorable mention. It was apparently revised as the Penguin Dictionary of Saints in various editions since.

Saints are one of the most prolific elements of Christian folklore, particularly within Catholicism. The most fundamental saints are those within the New Testament, notably the apostles and other figures directly associated with Jesus in the Gospels – although one of the most fundamental, St Paul, was never directly associated with Jesus as a person rather than through visions. Indeed, the writers of the books of the New Testament (as attributed or nominated) have also all been sainted.

Beyond the Bible (as there are Christian saints drawn from the Old Testament as well as the New), there is a plethora of saints, ranging from mythic to historic figures. Saints of course overlap with martyrs – those killed for their faith – and both overlap with relics.

Saints are so prolific that I’ve always been reminded of the observation of John Ralston Saul that for a religion that is identified as monotheistic, Christianity has moved through the trinity of its godhead with a potential fourth divine figure in Mary to the twelve apostles and such a plethora of saints that it rivals the polytheism of Hinduism. (To which Saul might well have added a comparison to the classical paganism that probably inspired the proliferation of saints, at least in part, what with its various levels of gods through to demi-hemi-semi-gods).

RATING: 4 STARS****

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