Cahill, Thomas frey50
The gifts of the Jews how a tribe of desert nomads changed the way everyone thinks and feels Thomas Cahill - 1st ed. - New York : Nan A. Talese c1998. - xii, 291 p. : maps ; 22 cm. - The hinges of history ; v. 2 . - .
Includes bibliographical reference and indexes.
Introduction : the Jews are it -- The temple in the moonlight : the primeval religious experience -- Egypt : from slavery to freedom -- Sinai : from death to life -- Canaan : from tribe to nation -- Babylon : from many to one -- From then till now : the Jews are still it -- Notes and sources -- The books of the Hebrew bible -- Chronology -- Acknowledgments -- Index of Biblical citations -- General index.
The Gifts of the Jews reveals the critical change that made western civilization possible. Within the matrix of ancient religions and philosophies, life was seen as part of an endless cycle of birth and death; time was like a wheel, spinning ceaselessly. Yet somehow, the ancient Jews began to see time differently. For them, time had a beginning and an end; it was a narrative, whose triumphant conclusion would come in the future. From this insight came a new conception of men and women as individuals with unique destinies--a conception that would inform the Declaration of Independence--and our hopeful belief in progress and the sense that tomorrow can be better than today. As Thomas Cahill narrates this momentous shift, he also explains the real significance of such Biblical figures as Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the Pharaoh, Joshua, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.
0385482485 (hardcover : alk. paper) 9780385482486 (hardcover : alk. paper)
9780385482486
97045139
Judaism--History--To 70 A.D.
Jews--History--To 70 A.D.
Civilization--Jewish influences.
909.04924 Cah 15
The gifts of the Jews how a tribe of desert nomads changed the way everyone thinks and feels Thomas Cahill - 1st ed. - New York : Nan A. Talese c1998. - xii, 291 p. : maps ; 22 cm. - The hinges of history ; v. 2 . - .
Includes bibliographical reference and indexes.
Introduction : the Jews are it -- The temple in the moonlight : the primeval religious experience -- Egypt : from slavery to freedom -- Sinai : from death to life -- Canaan : from tribe to nation -- Babylon : from many to one -- From then till now : the Jews are still it -- Notes and sources -- The books of the Hebrew bible -- Chronology -- Acknowledgments -- Index of Biblical citations -- General index.
The Gifts of the Jews reveals the critical change that made western civilization possible. Within the matrix of ancient religions and philosophies, life was seen as part of an endless cycle of birth and death; time was like a wheel, spinning ceaselessly. Yet somehow, the ancient Jews began to see time differently. For them, time had a beginning and an end; it was a narrative, whose triumphant conclusion would come in the future. From this insight came a new conception of men and women as individuals with unique destinies--a conception that would inform the Declaration of Independence--and our hopeful belief in progress and the sense that tomorrow can be better than today. As Thomas Cahill narrates this momentous shift, he also explains the real significance of such Biblical figures as Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the Pharaoh, Joshua, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.
0385482485 (hardcover : alk. paper) 9780385482486 (hardcover : alk. paper)
9780385482486
97045139
Judaism--History--To 70 A.D.
Jews--History--To 70 A.D.
Civilization--Jewish influences.
909.04924 Cah 15