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skylarkochava's review
3.0
I really don't understand what the author intended to do here. Show that the Jews of the Biblical era (or those when the Bible was codified?) taught the world to think in individualistic terms? Or preach about the ridiculous irony that such a deep thought could be couched in such primitive, silly beliefs? I don't know, but I sure didn't enjoy it, and he didn't prove the first case very well. I thought this would be a totally different book, and I'm really disappointed.
tikitechie's review against another edition
5.0
As a bit of a lapsed Catholic, this book really spoke to me. As the title describes, the book deftly discusses the various contributions that Jews have made to the western worldview through a very high level overview of the Bible. Along the way, it addresses many of the issues I had with the Bible. I'm a skeptic, but I was really drawn into this one. I'll definitely recommend it to family and friends.
mattneely's review
4.0
elegaic, yes, but more of a stretch to stay with him than in the Irish hinge.
caffeinatedsquirrel's review
2.0
Needlessly verbose. At one point, one sentence lasted 7 lines. There comes a point where the use of imagery becomes distracting and deflects from the topic, and unfortunately that line was crossed nearly every other page. I nearly DNFed this several times over.
akingston5's review
"Rather, in the prescriptions of Jewish law we cannot but note a presumption that all people, even slaves, are human and that all human lives are sacred. The constant bias is in favor not of the powerful and their possessions but of the powerless and their poverty; and there is even a frequent enjoinder to sympathy: “A sojourner you are not to oppress: you yourselves know (well) the feelings of the sojourner, for sojourners were you in the land of Egypt.” This bias toward the underdog is unique not only in ancient law but in the whole history of law. However faint our sense of justice may be, insofar as it operates at all it is still a Jewish sense of justice."
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I really loved Cahill's "How the Irish Saved Civilization" so I picked this up as well. I don't think it's as strong and feels a bit dry in places, but I do think there are lots of good things here to think about, in particular his articulation of justice.
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I really loved Cahill's "How the Irish Saved Civilization" so I picked this up as well. I don't think it's as strong and feels a bit dry in places, but I do think there are lots of good things here to think about, in particular his articulation of justice.