Desire of the Everlasting Hills : The World Before and After Jesus

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Summary: For Those Who Believe............For Those Who Do Not
Review: "For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, no explanation is possible." John LaFarge This is the third in a series, which is great for readers, and I am going to get volume two, as I never knew "How The Irish Saved Civilization" was the first volume. The first volume was wonderful, and yes I may lack a degree of objectivity due to my last name. However if measured by it's popularity alone, it is a book that was enjoyed by many. I was a bit skeptical when I read the title due to its sweeping nature; I thought it was a bit of Irish Hyperbole, which is many things, but rare tis not. I cannot comment on the second book yet, but I liked this volume at least as much as the first if not more. Mr. Cahill has the ability to tread forcefully and authoritatively on thin ice, thin ice defined here is religion as a topic. It takes a deft mind and one filled with knowledge and sensitivity to comment, much less write a book, without alienating someone, or worse hurting someone. If this feat is possible, I believe Mr. Cahill has come as close as a person can to doing so. He brings writings and their authors to life, especially with Paul, and by doing so, the subject of their writings Christ. I thought he did a tremendous job of demonstrating how certain prayers and stories evolved, and how Ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic are not interchangeable, and that those who bear the responsibility for translating original texts, have to be extraordinarily good, omit any editorial, and still deal with single words that can change interpretations no matter how careful a translation is. English is a long trip from the original writings, and he demonstrates this without passing judgment. The potential for meanings to become open to question, when they may have been established as a given, is delicate at the least, he shows the History, makes his case, and does so with care. In many instances, even with the linguistic twists, the essence of the meaning is there, and he is to be given a great deal of credit for his scholarship, demonstrated through his explanations. He brings in humor but does so respectfully. In describing the talking statue and its role in the Apocalypse, as a "publicity department for the beast.......... spin doctor... and media consultant", as an image that "encourages mass adoration (long before television or fanzines were thought of)." he makes the reading approachable. He makes the men and women that were the earliest reporters/recorders of Christ, people that can be understood, not just frescoes on ceilings, walls, or paintings on massive canvas. An excellent book, by a talented Author, that should appeal to most if not all. There are no preconditions required to read, learn, and enjoy this man's writing. Just as being Irish was not required for volume one.

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Summary: Very good at times, but overall disappointing
Review: After his enthralling and splendid first book in this series, How the Irish Saved Civilization, I could not wait for more. However, in the second book, The Gift of the Jews, Cahill had a fantastically rich and important story to tell, but his writing did not match up to his first effort. I really am sorry to say that the decline inthe quality of the second book continues here. Again, Cahill's topic is of unsurpassing importance but his writing does not meet expectations. I still think he is a very talented writer, but I think in these last two books he is having trouble in deciding exactly what he wants to say

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Summary: Thank God for this author and this book!
Review: Cahill's "Desire of the Everlasting Hills" is great reading! Images and ideas linger long after the book is finished. Most insightful, to this reader, is the gentle reminder that Christianity was but one sect of Judaism--And, that, still today, Christians and Jews have much in common.

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Summary: Beauty and Mastery
Review: I am stunned by the beauty of this book and by the mastery of this non-specialist. Cahill understands the work of New Testament scholars and presents the best of the best of that work in language that entertains and enlightens. I expect to give this book to several of my friends who are especially well-educated and keenly interested in the ways that Judaism and Christianity shape selves.

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Summary: 2nd best
Review: Cahill is a fine writer but I thought Philip Yancey's "The Jesus I Never Knew" actually achieved what Cahill attempted and failed at here.

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Summary: Political and Social Culture of Jesus' Times
Review: This book is a history lesson written by someone who is initmately familiar with the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The book adds depth to the study of the life of Jesus Christ. We have the Gospels and the writings of the Apostle Paul to describe the life of Jesus. We have the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament heroic figues. Thomas Cahill gives us a learned retrospective of two millenia comparing the different mindsets of the writers of the New Testament books. Deeper understandings of the commonalities of the Christian and Jewish religions emerge. The person of Jesus Christ is better understood given an understanding of the Roman and Hellenistic thought that colored the writings we now call the New Testament. The Jewishness of Jesus is deeply felt. This book is a serious and scholarly work, yet it is unpretentious. The writer is passionate at times in explaining that Jesus came to minister to the poor, disinfranchised, the lame, and the powerless. The leadership of the organized Churches could bear reading this work. All of us could, believer and agnostic alike.

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Summary: Cahill continues his excellent biblical commentary
Review: Thomas Cahill introduced readers to the Old Testament of the Bible and the world of the ancient Middle East in "The Gifts of the Jews." He continues this examination in "Desire of the Everlasting Hills," which is subtitled "The world before and after Jesus." But it is, in fact, Cahill's commentary on the New Testament. Book by book and author by author, he offers an insightful look at the background and contexts that shaped the New Testament. In turn, he looks at how the New Testament shaped later Christian societies.

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Summary: Better than you'd think
Review: I think that my fellow reviewers have been much harsher on Cahill than they need be. What Cahill does--which is popular history in the best sense of the word--is very admirable, and the fact that he brings so much gusto and personal opinion to this account of Jesus is par for the course. I mean, which would you prefer--yet another dryly academic treatise on Jesus that summarized all the facts in 800 pages and showed little or no emotion (so that you don't even know if the author is religious or not), or something much more colorful, but that does away with the tight and uncomfortable trappings of scholarly tomes? If you prefer the former, I can only recommend that you learn German, since you can then devote the rest of your life wading through such awfully boring (please pardon my choice of word) stuff as, say, the maddeningly trivial dating of a certain event related in the Bible. But if you choose the latter, then I can say that I don't quite know too many books like Cahill's: concise, engrossing, interesting, and, yes, always fun. If the book does nothing else but engages the reader's interest, then I think it has achieved a noble purpose. Whether you agree with Cahill's opinions or not is of course something else entirely. But then, do you always have to agree with an author's opinion to enjoy his or her book or to benefit from reading it?

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Summary: One Man's Opinions
Review: I have to agree with the words of other reviewers who say that Cahill presents his own suppositions as facts. If you are not well-founded in Bible teaching, you could easily be convinced that what he says is "gospel", when it clearly is not. He does give a refreshing picture of history before Christ comes on the scene, and this may be his strong point....that is, painting history in strokes that brings it to life. After reading this book, I feel alot more informed about Alexander and his father. But, as a devout Catholic/Christian, and a student of Scripture for 25 years, I found it irritating that he would pick and choose isolated bits of scripture to illustrate a very subjective point of his own, while choosing to ignore points that would have disproved his personal theories. As long as you don't swallow his mental meaderings, entertaining though they may be, as Truth, you can enjoy this book for what it is...One man's opinions. I mean, it is ludicrous for him to pretend that he knows St. Paul's or St. Peter's motives for doing anything...much less, "...what Jesus REALLY meant when He said this was..."etc, etc. One must maintain a careful perspective in reading this treatment of Holy Texts. If the reader can do this, he/she will go unharmed.

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Summary: The dumbing down of history has its new patron saint.
Review: This is an example of the worst kind of history now being written--an embarrassing "personal" commentary on selected historical evidence with a biased and highly editorial slant. The author is much too prominent in the flow of the narrative, as if a reader cares what he was thinking or what are his feelings on various data. One can't help asking over and over again while reading: where did he get that fact? How did he come to that conclusion? what makes him think we care how HE feels? This is a highly irresponsible piece of "scholarship." For example: how does he know what the exact physical attributes of SS Peter and Paul? Has he considered the arrogance, offensiveness, or superior air of his comment that "there can be little doubt that Mary was not the Ever Virgin of of subsequent popular piety?" (p.97) or how about his juvenile interjections, present throughout the text, like his suggestion of how the Jews would have reacted to Jesus' command not to look on on woman with lust ("Earth to Jesus: Hello!") (p. 83) The dumbing down of history has its new patron saint.