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Title: The God of Old: Inside the Lost World of the Bible by James Kugel ISBN: 0743235843 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: March, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4
Rating: 3
Summary: God is This Also!? This is God, Save Your $$$
Comment: I have to differ my with esteemed colleagues. I have not read Kugel previously. I cannot find the book to be held in such high regard. This is one example: "Bibliographical and Other Notes" is 52 pages of the book. The Notes are arranged by page number. The reader does not know that there is Note for an individual page; the text does not indicate that. There is no separate Bibliography. The reader has to dig it out of the Notes.
The author refers to his work as the "Project." Well, if the Notes and the Hebrew Bible are removed, then the reader has about 125-165 pages of solid material.
The books intends to acquaint the reader with a different view of God. God changes in the Hebrew Bible. The author points out these changes. Perhaps, the reader's view of God has not considered alternative views. The author gives the reader a God that is not omniscient nor omnipotent, for a good part of the Hebrew Bible.
I guess I have to read some other Kugel works. But I do not share my fellow reviewers opinion of this work. The book is organized thusly: 1 The Project; 2 The Moment of Confusion; 3 Not Searching for God; 4 No Graven Images; 5 The Cry of the Victim; 6 The Soul's Journey; 7 The Last Look; Bibliographical and Other Notes; Scriptual Index; Subject Index.
Rating: 5
Summary: Wonderful, insightful, and very clear
Comment: James Kugel assured his place as a giant of biblical studies with his opus, The Bible as it Was, which examined various secondary texts to understand the way Israelites read the Bible during the Second Temple Period. Here, Kugel examines a subject that, in his own words, is far thinner. Looking at the Bible, particularly the Five Books of the Torah, he tries to gain insight into how Israel perceived G-d in the Biblical period. He does not disappoint. Examining the occasions when individuals encountered the divine or His messengers, Kugel builds a persuasive case that ancient Israelites understanding of the divine stands as remarkable different from what modern readers seek to project backwards through time.
Some may take offense at some of Kugel's assertions, that the ancient Israelites saw G-d as corporeal and did not embrace monotheism as early as modern interpreters argue. However, the modern quirk projecting back modern concepts as far back as possible, while a comforting fiction, bellies our attempts to truly understand our ancestors. The development of Monotheism, easily one of the greatest and most impactful achievements of human history, should not be taken for granted as something that came in a preverbal flash.
Kugel does a wonderful job presenting complex material in an accessible format. His sensitivity to the potentially controversial thesis he espouses only further coxes the reader along for this fascinating journey. People interested in this subject should also read Kugel's other work and consider reading the works of Bill Dever and Baruch Halperin, both also excellent.
Rating: 4
Summary: Interesting and easy to read
Comment: I really liked this book. Kugel is smart, interesting, original and unafraid to take risks. I know very little about the Bible, but had no trouble understanding his ideas. Conversely, I am quite sure I would have gotten just as much out of it even if I were an expert on the Old Testament.
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Title: The Bible As It Was (Belknap) by James L. Kugel ISBN: 0674069412 Publisher: Belknap Pr Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: God's Secretaries : The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson ISBN: 0060185163 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 29 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Prophets: Who They Were, What They Are by Norman Podhoretz ISBN: 0743219279 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 29 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible As It Was at the Start of the Common Era by James L. Kugel ISBN: 0674791517 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $84.50 |
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Title: The Great Poems of the Bible: A Reader's Companion With New Translations by James L. Kugel ISBN: 068485774X Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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