Kass delivers another thought-provoking volume about a seminal work of Scripture.
Expansive commentary on the book of Exodus.
Humanist scholar Kass, who has spent much of his life studying the Hebrew Bible, follows up The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (2003) with this exploration of Exodus. In these massively important scriptural passages, Kass sees a primary document about “people formation, freedom and order, law and morality, the leader and the led.” The story follows the Hebrew slaves as they are led out of Egypt, under the leadership of Moses, to Mount Sinai, where they received the law that, in many ways, formed the basis of Judaism as we know it. As such, Exodus is not merely a foundational book of history and ethics, but also a work of political philosophy. Indeed, Kass argues that the text must be read “philosophically,” meaning with a view toward gaining wisdom, as one would read any other prominent work of antiquity. His commentary, therefore, is not an academic study exploring the text line by line, nor a religious investigation seeking divine revelation. Instead, Kass meticulously examines the text with the goal of discovering new truths; these may or may not be religious, but they have lessons for any society as it develops. Throughout, the author uncovers intriguingly political angles to age-old biblical tales. For instance, as Moses and Aaron first approach Pharaoh with their demands, Kass sees the encounter as a moment of failed diplomacy. Kass also offers lesser-known or even radical interpretations of Scripture. For instance, he reads the story of the golden calf not as a simple example of disobedience but as a moment orchestrated by God, allowing an opportunity for collective sin. “The Israelites’ first true act of national freedom,” he writes, “was their disobedient demand that Aaron make them gods.” This act, writes Kass, helped shape a formally servile peoples’ sense of freedom of will.
Kass delivers another thought-provoking volume about a seminal work of Scripture.Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-300-25303-0
Page Count: 752
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this highly learned yet accessible book, Robinson offers believers fresh insight into a well-studied text.
A deeply thoughtful exploration of the first book of the Bible.
In this illuminating work of biblical analysis, Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Robinson, whose Gilead series contains a variety of Christian themes, takes readers on a dedicated layperson’s journey through the Book of Genesis. The author meanders delightfully through the text, ruminating on one tale after another while searching for themes and mining for universal truths. Robinson approaches Genesis with a reverence and level of faith uncommon to modern mainstream writers, yet she’s also equipped with the appropriate tools for cogent criticism. Throughout this luminous exegesis, which will appeal to all practicing Christians, the author discusses overarching themes in Genesis. First is the benevolence of God. Robinson points out that “to say that God is the good creator of a good creation” sets the God of Genesis in opposition to the gods of other ancient creation stories, who range from indifferent to evil. This goodness carries through the entirety of Genesis, demonstrated through grace. “Grace tempers judgment,” writes the author, noting that despite well-deserved instances of wrath or punishment, God relents time after time. Another overarching theme is the interplay between God’s providence and humanity’s independence. Across the Book of Genesis, otherwise ordinary people make decisions that will affect the future in significant ways, yet events are consistently steered by God’s omnipotence. For instance, Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, and that action has reverberated throughout the history of all Jewish people. Robinson indirectly asks readers to consider where the line is between the actions of God and the actions of creation. “He chose to let us be,” she concludes, “to let time yield what it will—within the vast latitude granted by providence.”
In this highly learned yet accessible book, Robinson offers believers fresh insight into a well-studied text.Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780374299408
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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