Author: Veronique Belmar
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1449073476
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 143
Book Description
Tree of Immortality reveals how the supernatural is ready to claim the souls of children and adults. Three young people go into a barn only to find themselves in grave danger after falling asleep. On waking, the children find it pitch black outside. They have no torch or lantern to find their way home. They hear a voice and see a dazzling light. Then, a man in shining armour appears. One day, while Jimmy, Peter, and Mary are playing near the riverbank, they are mesmerised and gobsmacked. The children see the sea's reflection in the river and people standing on the sea. Three small trees are planted near the riverside. One of the trees grows gigantic overnight. Jimmy, Peter, and Mary decide to be gluttonous, during which time a bad angel sends his children to pay them a visit. Jimmy, Peter, and Mary cannot discern the cunningness of Joan, Charles, Membo, and Dian. The cunning children seize the opportunity, inviting Peter, Mary, and Jimmy to their house party so that the bad angel can claim their souls. Jesus comes from heaven and takes the good children and adults away from the bad angel. On His return to heaven, the heavenly gates are asked to be lifted up so that the King of glory can come in. In reply, the gates ask, "Who is the King of glory?" In turn, Jesus replies, "I am the King of glory!" Then, the gates swing back on their hinges to let Jesus, the good angels, the children, and the adults enter. Later, Jesus gives the children and adults the fruits and leaves from the Tree of Immortality, and they become immortal. After a thousand years in heaven, the enemies of Jesus raise from the dead. God's wrath is kindled and his enemies destroyed.
Prophets in the Quran
Author: Brannon M. Wheeler
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 9780826449573
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 408
Book Description
What was the name of Noah's son who did not survive the Flood? Why do Pharaoh and Haman build the Tower of Babel? For what reasons does Moses travel to the ends of the Earth? Who is the 'Horned-One' who holds back Gog and Magog until the Day of Judgement? These are some of the questions answered in the oral sources and Quran commentaries on the stories of the prophets as they are understood by Muslims. Designed as an introduction to the Quran with particular emphasis on parallels with Biblical tradition, this book provides a concise but detailed overview of Muslim prophets from Adam to Muhammad. Each of the chapters is organized around a particular prophet, including an English translation of the relevant verses of the Quran and a wide selection of classical, medieval and modern Muslim commentaries on those verses. Quran commentaries include references to Sunni and Shi'i sources from Spain, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. An extensive glossary provides an annotated list of all scholarly transmitters and cited texts with suggestions for further reading.This is an excellent book for undergraduate courses, and students in divinity and seminary programmes. Comparisons between the Quran and Bible, and among Jewish, Christian and Islamic exegesis are highlighted. Oral sources, references adapted from apocryphal and pseudepigraphical works, and inter-religious dialogue are all evident throughout these stories of the prophets. This material shows how the Quran and its interpretation are integral to a fuller and more discerning understanding of the Bible and its place in the history of Western religion.
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 9780826449573
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 408
Book Description
What was the name of Noah's son who did not survive the Flood? Why do Pharaoh and Haman build the Tower of Babel? For what reasons does Moses travel to the ends of the Earth? Who is the 'Horned-One' who holds back Gog and Magog until the Day of Judgement? These are some of the questions answered in the oral sources and Quran commentaries on the stories of the prophets as they are understood by Muslims. Designed as an introduction to the Quran with particular emphasis on parallels with Biblical tradition, this book provides a concise but detailed overview of Muslim prophets from Adam to Muhammad. Each of the chapters is organized around a particular prophet, including an English translation of the relevant verses of the Quran and a wide selection of classical, medieval and modern Muslim commentaries on those verses. Quran commentaries include references to Sunni and Shi'i sources from Spain, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. An extensive glossary provides an annotated list of all scholarly transmitters and cited texts with suggestions for further reading.This is an excellent book for undergraduate courses, and students in divinity and seminary programmes. Comparisons between the Quran and Bible, and among Jewish, Christian and Islamic exegesis are highlighted. Oral sources, references adapted from apocryphal and pseudepigraphical works, and inter-religious dialogue are all evident throughout these stories of the prophets. This material shows how the Quran and its interpretation are integral to a fuller and more discerning understanding of the Bible and its place in the history of Western religion.
The Tree of Life
Author: Douglas Estes
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004423753
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 489
Book Description
The tree of life is an iconic visual symbol at the edge of religious thought over the last several millennia. As a show of its significance, the tree bookends the Christian canon; yet scholarship has paid it minimal attention in the modern era. In The Tree of Life a team of scholars explore the origin, development, meaning, reception, and theology of this consequential yet obscure symbol. The fourteen essays trek from the origins of the tree in the texts and material culture of the ancient Near East, to its notable roles in biblical literature, to its expansion by early church fathers and Gnostics, to its rebirth in medieval art and culture, and to its place in modern theological thought.
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004423753
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 489
Book Description
The tree of life is an iconic visual symbol at the edge of religious thought over the last several millennia. As a show of its significance, the tree bookends the Christian canon; yet scholarship has paid it minimal attention in the modern era. In The Tree of Life a team of scholars explore the origin, development, meaning, reception, and theology of this consequential yet obscure symbol. The fourteen essays trek from the origins of the tree in the texts and material culture of the ancient Near East, to its notable roles in biblical literature, to its expansion by early church fathers and Gnostics, to its rebirth in medieval art and culture, and to its place in modern theological thought.
The Second Tree
Author: Elaine Dewar
Publisher: Vintage Canada
ISBN: 0307368912
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 662
Book Description
The Second Tree documents a biological revolution that will change the way you think about the material world, your own life and even the inevitability of your own death Genetic scientists are busily pushing back the boundaries of the humanly possible, climbing the branches of a tree of life that has been grafted by man, not God. Elaine Dewar chronicles the lives, the discoveries, and the feuds among modern biologists, exploring how they have crafted the tools to alter human evolution. She travels the globe on the trail of Charles Darwin and his intellectual descendants, telling the story of James D. Watson and his partner Francis Crick, who first described DNA; of Frederick Sanger, who invented how to sequence genes and won two Nobel prizes; of the computer scientists who put the human genome on the World Wide Web. She visits companies that are trying to turn cloned sheep into pharmacies on the hoof, to resurrect prize cows from the grave, to transplant human genes into mice — ultimately attempting to give us immortality in pieces while trying to keep investors happy. As these tales spill out, we find out how biologists learn by doing: tearing mice and worms and flies and human eggs apart, twinning disparate animal cells and genes together — creating clones and chimeras as outlandish as any sphinx. In public, research biologists often express their good intentions about curing the big diseases. In private, many of them are compelled by furious struggles to be rich, famous and first. Dewar lays bare the motives, conflicts and fears of the men and women whose job it is to trespass the boundaries of what laypeople consider ethical and sacred.
Publisher: Vintage Canada
ISBN: 0307368912
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 662
Book Description
The Second Tree documents a biological revolution that will change the way you think about the material world, your own life and even the inevitability of your own death Genetic scientists are busily pushing back the boundaries of the humanly possible, climbing the branches of a tree of life that has been grafted by man, not God. Elaine Dewar chronicles the lives, the discoveries, and the feuds among modern biologists, exploring how they have crafted the tools to alter human evolution. She travels the globe on the trail of Charles Darwin and his intellectual descendants, telling the story of James D. Watson and his partner Francis Crick, who first described DNA; of Frederick Sanger, who invented how to sequence genes and won two Nobel prizes; of the computer scientists who put the human genome on the World Wide Web. She visits companies that are trying to turn cloned sheep into pharmacies on the hoof, to resurrect prize cows from the grave, to transplant human genes into mice — ultimately attempting to give us immortality in pieces while trying to keep investors happy. As these tales spill out, we find out how biologists learn by doing: tearing mice and worms and flies and human eggs apart, twinning disparate animal cells and genes together — creating clones and chimeras as outlandish as any sphinx. In public, research biologists often express their good intentions about curing the big diseases. In private, many of them are compelled by furious struggles to be rich, famous and first. Dewar lays bare the motives, conflicts and fears of the men and women whose job it is to trespass the boundaries of what laypeople consider ethical and sacred.
THE TREE OF LIFE: The Kabbalah of Immortality
Author: Elias Rubenstein
Publisher: Hermetic World
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 281
Book Description
The Wisdom of Kabbalah offers amazing keys to achieve fulfillment at all levels. Elias Rubenstein leads you on an interesting journey to the secret tree of life. Find the answers to the most important questions of life and discover the exciting mystery of the Bible.
Publisher: Hermetic World
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 281
Book Description
The Wisdom of Kabbalah offers amazing keys to achieve fulfillment at all levels. Elias Rubenstein leads you on an interesting journey to the secret tree of life. Find the answers to the most important questions of life and discover the exciting mystery of the Bible.
Gospelbound
Author: Collin Hansen
Publisher: Multnomah
ISBN: 0593193571
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Book Description
A profound exploration of how to hold on to hope when our unchanging faith collides with a changing culture, from two respected Christian storytellers and thought leaders. “Offers neither spin control nor image maintenance for the evangelical tribe, but genuine hope.”—Russell Moore, president of ERLC As the pressures of health warnings, economic turmoil, and partisan politics continue to rise, the influence of gospel-focused Christians seems to be waning. In the public square and popular opinion, we are losing our voice right when it’s needed most for Christ’s glory and the common good. But there’s another story unfolding too—if you know where to look. In Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra counter these growing fears with a robust message of resolute hope for anyone hungry for good news. Join them in exploring profound stories of Christians who are quietly changing the world in the name of Jesus—from the wild world of digital media to the stories of ancient saints and unsung contemporary activists on the frontiers of justice and mercy. Discover how, in these dark times, the light of Jesus shines even brighter. You haven’t heard the whole story. And that’s good news.
Publisher: Multnomah
ISBN: 0593193571
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Book Description
A profound exploration of how to hold on to hope when our unchanging faith collides with a changing culture, from two respected Christian storytellers and thought leaders. “Offers neither spin control nor image maintenance for the evangelical tribe, but genuine hope.”—Russell Moore, president of ERLC As the pressures of health warnings, economic turmoil, and partisan politics continue to rise, the influence of gospel-focused Christians seems to be waning. In the public square and popular opinion, we are losing our voice right when it’s needed most for Christ’s glory and the common good. But there’s another story unfolding too—if you know where to look. In Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra counter these growing fears with a robust message of resolute hope for anyone hungry for good news. Join them in exploring profound stories of Christians who are quietly changing the world in the name of Jesus—from the wild world of digital media to the stories of ancient saints and unsung contemporary activists on the frontiers of justice and mercy. Discover how, in these dark times, the light of Jesus shines even brighter. You haven’t heard the whole story. And that’s good news.
Home at the Tree of Life
Author: Elena Gabor
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780988311404
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
Home at the Tree of Life is a groundbreaking book that sheds light on the mysteries of consciousness, life and death, and the underlying causes of many physical and mental conditions. It presents four people's extraordinary journeys of self-discovery and healing from severe disorders (depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, insomnia) attained without prescription medication. Dr. Gabor's pioneering techniques for exploring the subconscious and superconscious levels of the mind helped her clients open new and unexpected doors into the fascinating realms of past lives and the afterlife, and to gain access to the universe where all souls are originated from (referred to as Home in this book) and to the Source of Life. In this book you will find answers to questions such as: Who are we? Why don't we remember where we came from? What is our purpose on Earth? What are diseases and how can we heal ourselves? Why is there suffering on Earth? What happens during sleep? Where do we go after the physical death, what does that universe look like and what do we do there? What is the difference between soul and spirit? Who are Spiritual Guides and what is their purpose? Who or what is The Source or God and how can we access God? Where does the increased number of souls come from? What is the future of our planet? "This is a brilliant book. Not only is it a therapeutic work that is infinitely helpful in showing you how to heal and remove significant life obstacles, but it is also a book of cosmic wisdom, the proportions of which give you answers to the most important issues of human existence." -Marilyn Gordon, B.C.Ht and author of Realize your Greatness "Dr. Gabor's book is one of the most honest books on healing, reincarnation and the afterlife." -Theodoros Kousouli, D.C., C.Ht. "This enlightening book is an inspiration to all who seek eternal truth and purpose. If you enjoyed the books written by psychiatrist Brian Weiss, M.D. and psychologist Michael Newton, Ph.D. you will love this book!" -John Sanders, Psy.D.t, C.Ht.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780988311404
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
Home at the Tree of Life is a groundbreaking book that sheds light on the mysteries of consciousness, life and death, and the underlying causes of many physical and mental conditions. It presents four people's extraordinary journeys of self-discovery and healing from severe disorders (depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, insomnia) attained without prescription medication. Dr. Gabor's pioneering techniques for exploring the subconscious and superconscious levels of the mind helped her clients open new and unexpected doors into the fascinating realms of past lives and the afterlife, and to gain access to the universe where all souls are originated from (referred to as Home in this book) and to the Source of Life. In this book you will find answers to questions such as: Who are we? Why don't we remember where we came from? What is our purpose on Earth? What are diseases and how can we heal ourselves? Why is there suffering on Earth? What happens during sleep? Where do we go after the physical death, what does that universe look like and what do we do there? What is the difference between soul and spirit? Who are Spiritual Guides and what is their purpose? Who or what is The Source or God and how can we access God? Where does the increased number of souls come from? What is the future of our planet? "This is a brilliant book. Not only is it a therapeutic work that is infinitely helpful in showing you how to heal and remove significant life obstacles, but it is also a book of cosmic wisdom, the proportions of which give you answers to the most important issues of human existence." -Marilyn Gordon, B.C.Ht and author of Realize your Greatness "Dr. Gabor's book is one of the most honest books on healing, reincarnation and the afterlife." -Theodoros Kousouli, D.C., C.Ht. "This enlightening book is an inspiration to all who seek eternal truth and purpose. If you enjoyed the books written by psychiatrist Brian Weiss, M.D. and psychologist Michael Newton, Ph.D. you will love this book!" -John Sanders, Psy.D.t, C.Ht.
The Tree of Life and the Holy Grail
Author: Sylvia Francke
Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing
ISBN: 1912230690
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 112
Book Description
Recent works of fiction and popular history have promoted the idea that the Holy Grail symbolizes a physical bloodline resulting from the union of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. This, supposedly, is the 'secret' that esoteric movements have kept tirelessly for the past 2,000 years. From her groundbreaking research, Sylvia Francke exposes this notion to be a blatant misinterpretation of the mystery traditions that preceded and ran parallel to the birth of Christianity. She traces the ancient spiritual paths of knowledge from the Cathars, the Knights Templar and the enigmatic Rosicrucians, to the work of Rudolf Steiner in the twentieth century. Here, she concludes, is true Grail knowledge: the Tree of Life and the Holy Grail itself explained in their metaphysical context. From her research she suggests a solution to the riddle of the sudden wealth and strange behaviour of Bérenger Saunière, the mysterious priest of Rennes-le-Château in southern France. True Grail knowledge, she concludes, has nothing to do with bloodlines or worldly status, but is an ancient lifeline to the spiritual origins of creation. Its energetic forces ray up from the earth and down from the constellations and planets while interacting with individual human beings. It holds the key to the fulfilment of mankind's quest, a step to the next phase of human evolution... The recent explosion of interest in an alternative history of Christianity - the shadow Grail - prompted Sylvia Francke to revise The Tree of Life and the Holy Grail, first published in 1996. The result is a completely reworked and expanded book that constitutes a powerful and convincing refutation of distorted esoteric truths.
Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing
ISBN: 1912230690
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 112
Book Description
Recent works of fiction and popular history have promoted the idea that the Holy Grail symbolizes a physical bloodline resulting from the union of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. This, supposedly, is the 'secret' that esoteric movements have kept tirelessly for the past 2,000 years. From her groundbreaking research, Sylvia Francke exposes this notion to be a blatant misinterpretation of the mystery traditions that preceded and ran parallel to the birth of Christianity. She traces the ancient spiritual paths of knowledge from the Cathars, the Knights Templar and the enigmatic Rosicrucians, to the work of Rudolf Steiner in the twentieth century. Here, she concludes, is true Grail knowledge: the Tree of Life and the Holy Grail itself explained in their metaphysical context. From her research she suggests a solution to the riddle of the sudden wealth and strange behaviour of Bérenger Saunière, the mysterious priest of Rennes-le-Château in southern France. True Grail knowledge, she concludes, has nothing to do with bloodlines or worldly status, but is an ancient lifeline to the spiritual origins of creation. Its energetic forces ray up from the earth and down from the constellations and planets while interacting with individual human beings. It holds the key to the fulfilment of mankind's quest, a step to the next phase of human evolution... The recent explosion of interest in an alternative history of Christianity - the shadow Grail - prompted Sylvia Francke to revise The Tree of Life and the Holy Grail, first published in 1996. The result is a completely reworked and expanded book that constitutes a powerful and convincing refutation of distorted esoteric truths.
Tree of Life, Mythical Archetype
Author: Gregory R. Haynes
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780982403457
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 347
Book Description
The oldest scriptures at the heart of every major religion make reference to a mysterious tree at the center of the world. Its fruits, guarded by an evil serpent, confer immortality. A nearby stream of water divides into four rivers flowing into the four cardinal directions. The vicinity of this tree is said to be the birthplace of the first human ancestors. This legend is the oldest, most widely dispersed, and most mysterious religious idea known to mankind. The Tree also appears with other symbols on artifacts found at the ancient city of Troy and on the oldest examples of Greek ceramic art. The decipherment of these Bronze Age symbols, described for the first time in this book, leads to the discovery of an archaic theme pervading much of world mythology. An understanding of this archetype, and of the natural phenomenon that inspired it, unlocks many of the mythological enigmas that for centuries have eluded interpretation.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780982403457
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 347
Book Description
The oldest scriptures at the heart of every major religion make reference to a mysterious tree at the center of the world. Its fruits, guarded by an evil serpent, confer immortality. A nearby stream of water divides into four rivers flowing into the four cardinal directions. The vicinity of this tree is said to be the birthplace of the first human ancestors. This legend is the oldest, most widely dispersed, and most mysterious religious idea known to mankind. The Tree also appears with other symbols on artifacts found at the ancient city of Troy and on the oldest examples of Greek ceramic art. The decipherment of these Bronze Age symbols, described for the first time in this book, leads to the discovery of an archaic theme pervading much of world mythology. An understanding of this archetype, and of the natural phenomenon that inspired it, unlocks many of the mythological enigmas that for centuries have eluded interpretation.
The Tree of Life and Arboreal Aesthetics in Early Modern Literature
Author: Victoria Bladen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000454819
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
The Tree of Life and Arboreal Aesthetics in Early Modern Literature explores the vital motif of the tree of life and what it meant to early modern writers who drew from its long histories in biblical, classical and folkloric contexts, giving rise to a language of trees, an arboreal aesthetics. An ancient symbol of immortality, the tree of life was appropriated by Christian ideology and iconography to express ideas about Christ; however, the concept also migrated beyond religious doctrine. Ideas circulating around the tree of life enabled writers to imagine and articulate ideas of death and rebirth, loss and regeneration, the condition of the political state and personal states of the soul through arboreal metaphors and imagery. The motif could be used to sacralise landscapes, such as the garden, orchard or country estate, blurring the lines between contemporary green spaces and the spiritual and poetic imaginary. Located within the field of environmental humanities, and intersecting with ecocriticism and critical plant studies, this volume outlines a comprehensive history of the tree of life and offers interdisciplinary readings of focus texts by Shakespeare, George Herbert, Henry Vaughan, Aemilia Lanyer, Andrew Marvell and Ralph Austen. It includes consideration of related ideas and motifs, such as the tree of Jesse and the Green Man, illuminating the rich histories and meanings that emerge when an understanding of the tree of life and arboreal aesthetics are brought to the analysis of early modern literary texts and their representations of green spaces, both physical and metaphysical.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000454819
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
The Tree of Life and Arboreal Aesthetics in Early Modern Literature explores the vital motif of the tree of life and what it meant to early modern writers who drew from its long histories in biblical, classical and folkloric contexts, giving rise to a language of trees, an arboreal aesthetics. An ancient symbol of immortality, the tree of life was appropriated by Christian ideology and iconography to express ideas about Christ; however, the concept also migrated beyond religious doctrine. Ideas circulating around the tree of life enabled writers to imagine and articulate ideas of death and rebirth, loss and regeneration, the condition of the political state and personal states of the soul through arboreal metaphors and imagery. The motif could be used to sacralise landscapes, such as the garden, orchard or country estate, blurring the lines between contemporary green spaces and the spiritual and poetic imaginary. Located within the field of environmental humanities, and intersecting with ecocriticism and critical plant studies, this volume outlines a comprehensive history of the tree of life and offers interdisciplinary readings of focus texts by Shakespeare, George Herbert, Henry Vaughan, Aemilia Lanyer, Andrew Marvell and Ralph Austen. It includes consideration of related ideas and motifs, such as the tree of Jesse and the Green Man, illuminating the rich histories and meanings that emerge when an understanding of the tree of life and arboreal aesthetics are brought to the analysis of early modern literary texts and their representations of green spaces, both physical and metaphysical.
The Beginning of Wisdom
Author: Leon Kass
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743242998
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 722
Book Description
Imagine that you could really understand the Bible...that you could read, analyze, and discuss the book of Genesis not as a compositional mystery, a cultural relic, or a linguistic puzzle palace, or even as religious doctrine, but as a philosophical classic, precisely in the same way that a truth-seeking reader would study Plato or Nietzsche. Imagine that you could be led in your study by one of America's preeminent intellectuals and that he would help you to an understanding of the book that is deeper than you'd ever dreamed possible, that he would reveal line by line, verse by verse the incredible riches of this illuminating text -- one of the very few that actually deserve to be called seminal. Imagine that you could get, from Genesis, the beginning of wisdom. The Beginning of Wisdom is a hugely learned book that, like Genesis itself, falls naturally into two sections. The first shows how the universal history described in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, from creation to the tower of Babel, conveys, in the words of Leon Kass, "a coherent anthropology" -- a general teaching about human nature -- that "rivals anything produced by the great philosophers." Serving also as a mirror for the reader's self-discovery, these stories offer profound insights into the problematic character of human reason, speech, freedom, sexual desire, the love of the beautiful, pride, shame, anger, guilt, and death. Something as seemingly innocuous as the monotonous recounting of the ten generations from Adam to Noah yields a powerful lesson in the way in which humanity encounters its own mortality. In the story of the tower of Babel are deep understandings of the ambiguous power of speech, reason, and the arts; the hazards of unity and aloneness; the meaning of the city and its quest for self-sufficiency; and man's desire for fame, immortality, and apotheosis -- and the disasters these necessarily cause. Against this background of human failure, Part Two of The Beginning of Wisdom explores the struggles to launch a new human way, informed by the special Abrahamic covenant with the divine, that might address the problems and avoid the disasters of humankind's natural propensities. Close, eloquent, and brilliant readings of the lives and educations of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's sons reveal eternal wisdom about marriage, parenting, brotherhood, education, justice, political and moral leadership, and of course the ultimate question: How to live a good life? Connecting the two "parts" is the book's overarching philosophical and pedagogical structure: how understanding the dangers and accepting the limits of human powers can open the door to a superior way of life, not only for a solitary man of virtue but for an entire community -- a life devoted to righteousness and holiness. This extraordinary book finally shows Genesis as a coherent whole, beginning with the creation of the natural world and ending with the creation of a nation that hearkens to the awe-inspiring summons to godliness. A unique and ambitious commentary, a remarkably readable literary exegesis and philosophical companion, The Beginning of Wisdom is one of the most important books in decades on perhaps the most important -- and surely the most frequently read -- book of all time.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743242998
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 722
Book Description
Imagine that you could really understand the Bible...that you could read, analyze, and discuss the book of Genesis not as a compositional mystery, a cultural relic, or a linguistic puzzle palace, or even as religious doctrine, but as a philosophical classic, precisely in the same way that a truth-seeking reader would study Plato or Nietzsche. Imagine that you could be led in your study by one of America's preeminent intellectuals and that he would help you to an understanding of the book that is deeper than you'd ever dreamed possible, that he would reveal line by line, verse by verse the incredible riches of this illuminating text -- one of the very few that actually deserve to be called seminal. Imagine that you could get, from Genesis, the beginning of wisdom. The Beginning of Wisdom is a hugely learned book that, like Genesis itself, falls naturally into two sections. The first shows how the universal history described in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, from creation to the tower of Babel, conveys, in the words of Leon Kass, "a coherent anthropology" -- a general teaching about human nature -- that "rivals anything produced by the great philosophers." Serving also as a mirror for the reader's self-discovery, these stories offer profound insights into the problematic character of human reason, speech, freedom, sexual desire, the love of the beautiful, pride, shame, anger, guilt, and death. Something as seemingly innocuous as the monotonous recounting of the ten generations from Adam to Noah yields a powerful lesson in the way in which humanity encounters its own mortality. In the story of the tower of Babel are deep understandings of the ambiguous power of speech, reason, and the arts; the hazards of unity and aloneness; the meaning of the city and its quest for self-sufficiency; and man's desire for fame, immortality, and apotheosis -- and the disasters these necessarily cause. Against this background of human failure, Part Two of The Beginning of Wisdom explores the struggles to launch a new human way, informed by the special Abrahamic covenant with the divine, that might address the problems and avoid the disasters of humankind's natural propensities. Close, eloquent, and brilliant readings of the lives and educations of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's sons reveal eternal wisdom about marriage, parenting, brotherhood, education, justice, political and moral leadership, and of course the ultimate question: How to live a good life? Connecting the two "parts" is the book's overarching philosophical and pedagogical structure: how understanding the dangers and accepting the limits of human powers can open the door to a superior way of life, not only for a solitary man of virtue but for an entire community -- a life devoted to righteousness and holiness. This extraordinary book finally shows Genesis as a coherent whole, beginning with the creation of the natural world and ending with the creation of a nation that hearkens to the awe-inspiring summons to godliness. A unique and ambitious commentary, a remarkably readable literary exegesis and philosophical companion, The Beginning of Wisdom is one of the most important books in decades on perhaps the most important -- and surely the most frequently read -- book of all time.