|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
From Amazon
From Library Journal
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Somewhat more than five millennia ago, a human hand first carved a written word, and so initiated history, mankind's recorded story. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
New insights into an old, old story,
By
This review is from: The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels (Paperback)
Thomas Cahill's "The Gift of the Jews" is a book I borrowed from the library - then realized I just had to have a copy, so I could read it over and over. Cahill combines theology and history to describe the events and ideas that underlie western civilization, that is, the adventures of the Jewish people given in the Old Testament and the thoughts they express there, in a wonderfully readable style. He gives life to people like Abraham (Avraham) and Moses (Moshe). He offers theological insights that are certainly worth pondering, such as his interpretation of the tetragrammaton, the Name of God, as "I am the breath of life". He ends with a challenge worthy of the greatest of the Jewish prophets: children still die of poverty in our world, and "without justice, there is no God." I consider this a book that should be read by all people interested in western history, in theology, or in the shape of our current civilization and what we are going to do with it next.
5.0 out of 5 stars
In the beginning...,
By FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME)
This review is from: The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels (Paperback)
Thomas Cahill's second outing as author of the hinge-histories is a worthy follow-up, if a bit more simplistic. This book was a very easy read for me, both in content and in style, and I think the general reader will enjoy this book, too. I am used to, in my seminary training, to having weighty tomes to journey through -- this was a refreshing walk in a park. Unlike his previous subject about the Irish, this book covers a subject on which almost everyone has an opinion, so Cahill's interpretations on the Hebrew Scriptures and history (Old Testament times) will undoubtedly not satisfy everyone. He does a very good job, though, of steering clear of interpretive controversies. He presents this history as a history of what is important in its legacy for us -- no sense in asking questions such as 'Were these really the first monotheists?' &c., because it is a fact that our cultural tendency toward monotheism in the West derives from this band of people. This is the people from whom much of our Western sensibility is derived. 'This gift of the Commandments allows us to live in the present, in the here and now. What I have done in the past is past mending; what I will do in the future is a worry not worth a candle, for there is no way I can know what will happen next. But in this moment--and only in htis moment--I am in control.' The very idea of regulations, justice, and communal living (beyond the whims of the powerful), and of self-discipline exerted from within, rather than from without, derives largely in our society from these writings. Again, it is not worth haggling over who had the earliest codification of regulations and civil laws--those did not get handed down to us as a living, working text. These texts were, in many respects, the informing texts behind much of Western civilisation. He covers the history well, neither discounting the Biblical authority nor assuming that seeming contradictions in archaeological evidence is either right or wrong. Cahill begins with the pre-history of the Jews, talking about the societal, political and geographic realities that would have influenced the ancient Sumerian named Avram, who set out for the land of Canaan. Cahill examines the period in Egypt as being pivotal for societal development, the era of the judges and kings as experimentations with polity, and the diasporic period as one of deepening identity in the face of massive external pressure and, in the end, threat of extermination. This book is a good sequel, and an important work for the non-historian and non-theologian into some aspects of the history of the Jews that are otherwise often overlooked. 'The Jews gave us the Outlook and the Inside--our outlook and our inner life. We can hardly get up in the morning or cross the street without being Jewish. We dream Jewish dreams and hope Jewish hopes. Most of our best words, in fact--new, adventure, surprise; unique, individual, person, vocation; time, history, future; freedom, progress, spirit; faith, hope, justice--are the gifts of the Jews.'
4.0 out of 5 stars
An intriguing read,
By
This review is from: The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels (Paperback)
This is the first Cahill book I have ever read, however his insights and many of his conlcusions are very thought provoking. This is an excellent read for students of Christianity and a fantastic one for those studying the history of religion.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Ancient > Early Civilization
- Books > History > Jewish
- Books > Nonfiction > Philosophy > Eastern
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > Judaism > History of Religion
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
|
