Rating: 
Summary: Good / Period
Review: Cahill wrote a solid, readable book. This book makes the time before, during and after the birth and death of Jesus Christ tangible to the reader of his work. In this book Cahill sets up the cultural setting (important in any latent look at history) before Jesus Christ's birth, the time of the Roman Empire. The time during Christ's life is described in a way that certainly gave me a different perspective on that time period. The time after Christ does a fine job of documenting how Christ impacted the world. No matter what you believe this book is done well, and is fairly balanced. A good read. B+ Joseph Dworak
Rating: 
Summary: Not History, but Theology
Review: Thomas Cahill capably describes the cultural backdrop at the advent of Jesus of Nazareth. However, a thorough investigation of how Jesus' life affected the course of Western history is not to be found in this volume. Expecting a thorough treatment of the trendline of history before & after Jesus' life, one is dismayed to find that the bulk of the book is spent developing Cahill's own peculiar Christian theology. We have here a Jesus who is real and gritty enough to satisfy believer and skeptic, but a Jesus who is known as Teacher, rather than profound miracle-working Messiah of Jew and Gentile alike. This is the kinder, gentler Jesus who castigates ONLY the religious while embracing mainly the politically and economically disenfranchised. Not Jesus the spotless Sacrifical lamb, but one who through suffering ushers in the theology of redemptive suffering. Those who suffer the most among us must join in the universal redemption, and all, the believer and unbeliever alike, constitute the body of the suffering Cosmic Christ. Cahill's treatment of Paul is at once sympathetic and filtered. This Paul is a careful theologian. Paul does not see Jesus as divine, but as the holy instructor. He does not rail against extremist Jews who like himself chose to persecute Jesus' followers from town to town. Only John is singled out as so anti-Jewish. Rather Paul is seen as one who developed a Christology short of divine, while John goes overboard and sees Jesus as both God and man, which Cahill finds problematic and unnecessary. Apparently it is John who is responsible for twenty centuries of Jewish persecution at the hands of "christians", which Cahill asserts but does not support. On the whole, a stimulating read but neither great history nor defensible theology.
Rating: 
Summary: Can't buy mine used ( trashed).
Review: If you were attracted to "Desire" by it's title and a genuine interest in the historical aspect of the world of Jesus, the Christ, please look elsewhere. Any irreverant college student could do this with a History of Civilization text, thinking he might be funny or perhaps even somewhat esoteric and at least partially intellectual. This attempt to paint great minds of the past in an intriguing yet entertaining fashion is an obvious flimflam for unsuspecting fools searching for some measure of truth hidden in the garbage. If you were interested in a modern analysis of the innermost shameful regrets and thoughts of ancient figures in a modern context, then you're on the right track if you fall for this spurious, shallow treatise on a subject so vital that Satan himself would love to have you squander your eternity for such sacrilege. If you're searching for truth, I'd suggest you start with the Old Testament and realize there was no conceivable or possible manner any human could have accomplished the fulfillment of the enormous volume of messianic prophecy, lived the blameless life, accomplished the fantastic miracles, or provided the priceless sacrifice for all humanity than did the Mesias, the Branch, the Holy one of Israel, Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace, the Horn of Israel, seed of David, the Light, Way, Truth, Light, Lamb of God, Vine, Bridegroom, Word, Savior, Redeemer, the I AM of eternity past and future. Then really read the New Testament and realize the authenic and incomparable source of true wisdom and knowledge of Jesus, whose importance and trustworthy attributes Cahill "somehow" managed to miss.
Rating: 
Summary: Desire of the common reader...
Review: In my opinion Cahill got it right. By 'it' I mean the voice and tone with which to discuss Jesus. Many of the critics of this book blame it for not being sufficiently 'academic.' Well, I applaud Cahill for choosing to write a book that can speak to the comman man or woman. I have never felt that the Hinges of History series were meant to be scholarly works arguing controversial positions. They are meant to be engaging and entertaining books that speak to all of western civilization. I feel that they are meant to BEGIN to wake us up to the depth of history that has shaped who we are, and to put in context the ideas, such as Christianity, that have such a profound impact on us today. After all, nearly 2000 years after the start of Christianity, how many Christians can say they really understand the origins of their faith or the world in which Jesus preached? Desire of the Everlasting Hills does an excellent job of painting a picture of Jesus and his worlds and the origins of the early church. To those critics who say that Cahill doesn't say enough about the early church: You are either blind or very unimaginative. Do you want a history of organized religion? There wasn't one. Cahill's presentation of theology is the history of early Christianity, which was decentralized and personal. Once THE Church comes onto the scene then the impact of Jesus as a person fades. In the end, Cahill's book is about Jesus and his individual impact on the world, not the impact of the institutions founded in his name. Cahill's relaxed use of footnotes and citation are a blessing to the common reader. Faith is a very personal idea, and to clutter it with the trappings of an uptight and suspicious academia is to kill it outright. Go back to your ivory towers. Cahill's goal is not to explain the word of God, but to give the reader a sense of the times, a feeling of the mood in this outpost of the Roman world at the time of Jesus. This goal he achieves with unmitigated success. I have seen reviews that say not to read this book if you are a Christian, and not to read it if you aren't a Christian. These people I feel, sadly, missed the point. Most are offended with Cahill's treatment of Jesus or his presentation of theology. Whether you believe Jesus was the Son of God or not, Cahill has to explain him and what he and the people around him believed in order to press upon the reader that Jesus was a man unlike the world saw before or since. It was ultimately this uniqueness that changed the way the world viewed morality, religion, and mankinds place on Earth. Central to this uniqueness was Jesus' faith. I never felt that Cahill's discussion of theology was an attempt to convert the reader, merely to explain Jesus' attempts at conversion. How do you emphasize a man's uniqueness while trying to place his life into a historical context? I do not know, but Cahill does it well. Those who cannot see that either cannot let themselves go enough to accept Jesus' uniqueness or the fact that he really did walk among us in a very brutal and gritty time. To anyone with the slightest bit of imagination and open mindedness, this book will speak volumes and open your eyes to a better understanding of yesterday and today. Cahill deals with a mighty task in a light and amusing fashion that rivets the reader and enthralls him. His detractors either can not let go of their biases long enough to hear Cahill speak, or are not able to come to grips with Cahill's non-academic goal: to spread understanding, rather than theory. Read Cahill's book for what it is and let it move you.
Rating:
Summary: Some interesting observations; poor research
Review: Someone who knew of my interest in history gave me this book. They hoped that I would enjoy it. Unfortunately, I have to say that I was not impressed. Cahill's goal in the book is to evaluate the cultural impact that Jesus has had on Western culture. Surely, this sounds promising. However, the bulk of the text is concerned with providing the reader with background on Jesus and summarizing the New Testament; more chapters evaluating the impact of the Church and the like would have been more interesting. To briefly explain the title of the book, it is based on Genesis 49:26 and Cahill understands it to mean: "What could be the meaning of this phrase...? Is not the desire of the everlasting hills that they be saved from their everlastingness, that something new happen, that the everlasting cycle of human cruelty, of man's inhumanity to man, be brought to an end?" (page 8). Cahill begins with a few chapters that cover political and social developments that occurred before Jesus' time. This includes the conquest of Alexander the Great, the subsequent fragmentation of his empire, the rise of the Romans and what all this meant for the Jews living in Israel. I found this section boring because it was almost completely review for me. For a novice who knows little or nothing of ancient history, these chapters may be of some interest. Yet, the part on the inter-testament period (i.e. 300/400 BC to 1 AD) was somewhat interesting. The last chapters on Jesus' impact are of some interest. The rest of the book summarizes the content of the Gospels, Paul's letters and Revelation. Though Cahill presents a fairly liberal understanding of Jesus, he does maintain some balance. For example, he acknowledges on page 74 that John Dominic Crossan's controversial ideas about Jesus are in the scholarly minority and that Crossan's and other extreme liberals often base their ideas on weak evidence. One of the most interesting parts of the entire book is the way Cahill interprets Revelation. His approach is to identify the various metaphorical references of Revelation to historical figures such as Nero. This interpretation stands in stark contrasts to the wild, bizarre "end days" that have been so popular of late. Cahill's method of documenting his sources leaves much to be desired. Frequently, he will write something like, "[s]ome scholars have seen this abrupt ending as proof that Jesus was not 'raised' and that Mark is merely recounting a wild rumor." (page 110; note that Cahill goes to say that this idea is quite wild indeed), but my problem with this is that there is no footnote, no explanation of who exactly these scholars are and in what publication have they asserted these views. The book does have a 12 page section "Notes and Sources" where Cahill vaguely discusses some of the sources he used and their usefulness, this method lacks rigor. Where exactly did the significant ideas he discusses come from? Though the casual reader will probably not be bothered by this, but I expect rigor footnotes, bibliography from authors, especially when they are dealing with Jesus, a person who never fails to ignite controversy. All throughout, Cahill emphasizes the humanity of Jesus and how he cared for the poor, the powerless and so forth. While this is an important aspect to understanding Jesus' teachings, it is equally important to understand his divinity which Cahill only discusses a few times. For example, Cahill says that many people find the Gospel of John difficult to accept because it has the, "... the exaggerated God-Man... [and] not only the sure source of the exalted doctrines of later Christianity... but also a spirit of touchy exclusivity." (Page 272) The "exclusivity" that Cahill refers to (e.g. see John 14:6) is part and parcel of Christianity and it is not found in John alone (e.g. see Hebrews 8: 6-7, 13), likewise the same can be said of Jesus' divinity (Mark for example has a strong Christology. Cahill is very uncomfortable with Jesus/Christianity being exclusive and he starts the book with a quote (from a Jewish-Christian dialogue at Fordham University, also reprinted on pg. 333): "The challenge that the Jewishness of Jesus brings to Christianity must develop a non-supersessionist theology that validates the Christian message and the Christian promise for Christians without at the same time de-legitimatising the Judaism for Jews. Christians must find a way to maintain Christianity's identity and sense of purpose without at the same denying Judaism a reason for its continued existence...The challenge that the Jewishness of Jesus brings to Judaism is that Jews must develop a theology... that validates the Jewish way without at the same time de-legitimizing the Christian message and Christian promise for Christians..." The problem with this is that it violates the New Testament (see John 14:6, Hebrews 8:6-7, 13 etc) and that it is illogical. For a more in-depth discussion of religious pluralism, see my review of "Dissonant Voices," by Harold A. Netland. Other people have mentioned Cahill's "How the Irish saved civilization" as being a better book than this one; I may review it at some point in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Puts you there, with all gritty details
Review: Much more atmospheric than "How the Irish...", at least seems so in comparison since the time period he covers is so much earlier. Because of this, there is much more speculation, so it doesn't seem to pack as much historically authoritative wallop. But there is good history here, and presented in Cahill's trademark easily accessible style. This is a great thing, since now that I am out of school, this sort of reading is done for pleasure, so too much rigor is a disincentive. Makes me want to re-read the New Testament with these new insights and empathies. By the way, if you are considering the book-on-tape version, I give high marks to the voice-narrator as well.
Rating:
Summary: Only of interest to Christians.
Review: I enjoyed both _How the Irish Saved Civilization_ and _The Gift of the Jews_ and expected this to be more of the same--- a history of the early Christian church with perhaps a few easily overlooked "personal" comments in it, just as _How the Irish Saved Civilization_ had the odd sentence, of no interest to anyone but Cahill, about his "Irish heritage". I was sadly disappointed. This book is nothing but an explication of the New Testament as interpreted by Cahill. It's nothing but one discussion after another about what this parable "really" means, or how what Jesus did at this point is so cool and ought to be known by the world. If you're not a Christian the two things that stand out are
(a) it's easy to make any document mean anything you like if you're allowed to say "Well sure the words mean this, but that's unacceptable to me, so obviously they're metaphorical and must mean that".
(b) just like hearing parents natter on about their kids you have never met, reading excruciating detail about matters you cannot take seriously is boring beyond belief. I'd hoped for a real history book that described the early church and did not get it. Moreover, Cahill's next "hinge of history" better be a damn sight more interesting than this one if he ever expects me to buy another of his books.
Rating:
Summary: What a great book
Review: This book is incredible! I loved the way Cahill's thoughts are presented in a smooth, flowing manner. It's as if he's an old bard, telling a tale of ancient times... But what I found most appealing about this book is the wealth of historical and political information. Cahill shows how various kings and conquerers influenced world politics and the Jewish people, and how they set the stage for Jesus' life and times in first century Judea. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Middle East historical study. And even though Cahill writes from a religiously neutral position, I believe that for the serious bible student, this is a "must have."
Rating:
Summary: An inspirational and entertaining read
Review: This book was given to me as a gift, so I didn't know what to expect. Here's what Cahill does: * He explains the historical/social context in which Jesus lived
* He strips Jesus of all the glory/splendor/divinity that organized Christianity has championed, and writes about him as his followers saw him when they first encountered him
* He studies the impact of this Jesus in light of today's cynical world, and basically concludes that the glory/splendor/divinity with which religions dress up Jesus is proper and valid. More books on Jesus need to take this approach: To not START with the idea that Jesus is God, but to examine his story objectively, as a scholar would, and then arrive at the same inescapable conclusion. It substantiates your faith, celebrates it, and gives it greater integrity and security. To do all this and be deliciously entertaining as well. It's funny, fascinating, chilling, and inspirational (especially his reporting on the Sant Egidio community). What a writer! I only wish he used scholarly footnotes to validate some of his surprising claims (eg, the synoptic authors would've thought it blasphemous to equate Jesus with God).
Rating: 
Summary: Cahill version of Bible
Review: I found the book to be annoying and had a hard time finishing it. It felt like World History 101 sprinkled with some of Cahill's own personal bible translations. Jesus speaking of the "S____hole?" Hello, hello, Cahill, you say that's the literal translation?? For all the pretentious sophistry, I never got the sense that Cahill has a clue what Jesus and the atonement, or Judiasm for that matter, are really all about. If you want to learn what the New Testament has to say, pull out your old fashion King James version and read and ponder for yourself.
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