WordWealth: irenic

i·ren·ic , adj.

The departure is the subject of ''The Bible Unearthed,'' a fascinating book written by two Jewish archaeologists, Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman. With an irenic spirit they join the debate, at times ugly and vicious, about the historicity of the Bible (by which they mean the Hebrew Scriptures, also known as the Old Testament). To this battle they bring an arsenal of scholarly research, field experience and well-chosen words artfully used. They also claim a ''new'' archaeological perspective, but it may be somewhat less than new. Parts of the proposal have been available for decades. Yet their particular thesis, as well as the impressive development of it, can only lead the reader to think anew. —— Phyllis Trible, 'God's Ghostwriters'; New York Times, Feb 4, 2001

Indeed, for Cozzi -- as for several scholars -- the Interdict controversy of 1606-7 became the emblematic struggle that defined the Venetian Republic as tolerant and open, free from the tyranny of the Counter Reformation Church, animated by an aristocracy steeped in the values of civic humanism and evangelism, and committed to commerce and an irenic diplomacy. —— John Martin (Editor) and Dennis Romano (Editor), Venice Reconsidered

Taylor was always irenic by temperament and desire, and his sensitivity to others enabled him to bring together and work with people of very diverse views. —— 'The Right Rev John Taylor'; Times (London), Feb 1, 2001