A bitter pill for ultra-Orthodox Jews; others will find the intellectual adventure quite thrilling.
A highly detailed textual analysis of the Old Testament.
In his extremely impressive debut work, West draws on a vast array of scriptural, literary, historical and archaeological sources in an attempt to determine the exact nature and composition of the traditional five books of Moses. West, raised an Orthodox Jew in England, came to doubt the fundamentalist Jewish view that the Torah, as it was presented to Moses, was divinely inspired by God. While studying law in London as an undergraduate, West was exposed to the Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis, otherwise known as the Documentary Hypothesis, a 19th-century scholarly challenge to the fundamentalist view. The challenge holds that the various texts of the Torah were as amenable to study as any other ancient literature. This readable book is a stunningly comprehensive example of that challenge in action. West characterizes his work as “a personal appraisal” of the sources of the Hebrew Bible, but the scholarship and wide reading on display are worthy of comparison to the works of Everett Fox and Robert Alter. West takes his readers through a long list of contested biblical subjects, from the historicity of such legendary Torah figures as Abraham, Joseph and Moses to the story of the Exodus and the foundation of the Israelites as a nation. West picks apart and scrutinizes the various background texts threaded through the lumped-together Torah we have today. Evidence of textual revision is considered in great detail; in particular, a chapter on the biblical Flood in its literary and historical context is a textbook example of how this kind of inquiry should be done. West’s final chapter, “The Bible in its Setting,” offers a matter-of-fact summation of the case against the Torah having been a product of divine revelation—a “pious fraud,” he calls it.
A bitter pill for ultra-Orthodox Jews; others will find the intellectual adventure quite thrilling.Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2014
ISBN: 978-1481997195
Page Count: 534
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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