A brave attempt to discover more than ancient texts can reliably reveal. (11 b&w photos)
A Jewish scholar challenges the received wisdom of contemporary scripture studies by contending that fragments of a Dead Sea scroll contain evidence of a suffering messiah prior to Jesus.
Knohl (Bible/Hebrew Univ.) proposes a thesis at odds with mainstream Scripture scholarship. According to what for decades has been the prevailing view, the notion of a suffering messiah was utterly foreign to first-century Judaism, so messianic claims made by Jesus in the gospels must therefore have been ascribed to him after his death by followers who picked up their ideas from non-Jewish sources. On the basis of certain Dead Sea Scroll fragments, however, Knohl argues that the notion of a suffering, redemptive messiah was indeed current in the Qumran community of Judaism prior to the time of Jesus. The fragments come from the badly torn “Thanksgivings Scroll,” which includes two hymns central to the author’s argument. The first, the “Self-Glorification Hymn,” speaks of an exalted figure who places himself on a footing with angels, but who has also known great suffering; the author argues that this figure was himself a member of the Qumran community. The second hymn, though, describes a time in which redemption and salvation are accomplished realities, and the author maintains that this blessed time had been achieved, in the community’s opinion, through the sufferings of the exalted figure in the first hymn. This mysterious redemptive sufferer, we are told, is thus the true author of “catastrophic messianism”—a Jewish conception of which Jesus was likely aware. The author’s thesis is daring; its soundness is for specialists to determine. Unfortunately, most of his study is devoted to identifying the shadowy sufferer referred to in the Scrolls, and the strain of this exertion presses his argument toward implausibility.
A brave attempt to discover more than ancient texts can reliably reveal. (11 b&w photos)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-520-21592-3
Page Count: 171
Publisher: Univ. of California
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
A timely, vividly realized reminder to slow down and harness the restorative wonders of serenity.
An exploration of the importance of clarity through calmness in an increasingly fast-paced world.
Austin-based speaker and strategist Holiday (Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue, 2018, etc.) believes in downshifting one’s life and activities in order to fully grasp the wonder of stillness. He bolsters this theory with a wide array of perspectives—some based on ancient wisdom (one of the author’s specialties), others more modern—all with the intent to direct readers toward the essential importance of stillness and its “attainable path to enlightenment and excellence, greatness and happiness, performance as well as presence.” Readers will be encouraged by Holiday’s insistence that his methods are within anyone’s grasp. He acknowledges that this rare and coveted calm is already inside each of us, but it’s been worn down by the hustle of busy lives and distractions. Recognizing that this goal requires immense personal discipline, the author draws on the representational histories of John F. Kennedy, Buddha, Tiger Woods, Fred Rogers, Leonardo da Vinci, and many other creative thinkers and scholarly, scientific texts. These examples demonstrate how others have evolved past the noise of modern life and into the solitude of productive thought and cleansing tranquility. Holiday splits his accessible, empowering, and sporadically meandering narrative into a three-part “timeless trinity of mind, body, soul—the head, the heart, the human body.” He juxtaposes Stoic philosopher Seneca’s internal reflection and wisdom against Donald Trump’s egocentric existence, with much of his time spent “in his bathrobe, ranting about the news.” Holiday stresses that while contemporary life is filled with a dizzying variety of “competing priorities and beliefs,” the frenzy can be quelled and serenity maintained through a deliberative calming of the mind and body. The author shows how “stillness is what aims the arrow,” fostering focus, internal harmony, and the kind of holistic self-examination necessary for optimal contentment and mind-body centeredness. Throughout the narrative, he promotes that concept mindfully and convincingly.
A timely, vividly realized reminder to slow down and harness the restorative wonders of serenity.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-53858-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Portfolio
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Internationally renowned because of his earlier books, among them tape Letters, Surprised by Joy, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis making religion provoking, memorable and delightful is still more latest Reflections on the Psalms. Though he protests that he writes learned about things in which he is unlearned himself, the reader is likely thank God for his wise ignorance. Here especially he throws a clear lightly or not, on many of the difficult psalms, such as those which abound with and cursing, and a self-centeredness which seems to assume' that God must be side of the psalmist. These things, which make some psalm singers pre not there, have a right and proper place, as Mr. Lewis shows us. They of Psalms more precious still. Many readers owe it to themselves to read flections if only to learn this hard but simple lesson. Urge everyone to book.
Pub Date: June 15, 1958
ISBN: 015676248X
Page Count: 166
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1958
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