"Bestselling authors of The Last Week and The First Christmas,
Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan join once again to present a new
understanding of early Christianity -- this time to reveal a radical Paul who has
been suppressed by the church."
P"aul is second only to Jesus as the most important person in the birth of
Christianity, and yet he continues to be controversial, even among Christians.
How could the letters of Paul be used both to inspire radical grace and to
endorse systems of oppression: condoning slavery, subordinating women, condemning
homosexual behavior? Borg and Crossan use the best of biblical and historical
scholarship to explain the reasons for Paul's mixed reputation and reveal to us
what scholars have known for decades: that the later letters of Paul were
created by the early church to dilute Paul's egalitarian message and transform
him into something more 'acceptable.' They argue there are actually 'Three Pauls'
in the New Testament:
'The Radical Paul' (of the seven genuine letters),
'The Conservative Paul' (of the three disputed epistles), and
'The Reactionary Paul' (of the three inauthentic letters).
By closely examining this progression of Paul's letters -- from the authentic to
the inauthentic -- the authors show how the apostle was slowly but steadily 'deradicalized'
to fit Roman social norms in regards to slavery, patriarchy, and patronage. In
truth, Paul was an appealing apostle of Jesus whose vision of life 'in
Christ' -- one of his favored phrases -- is remarkably faithful to the message of
Jesus himself."
In The Evolution of God, Robert Wright takes us on a sweeping journey
through history, unveiling a discovery of crucial importance to the present
moment: there is a pattern in the evolution of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam,
and a ?hidden code? in their scriptures. Reading these scriptures in light of
the circumstances surrounding their creation, Wright reveals the forces that
have repeatedly moved the Abrahamic faiths away from belligerence and
intolerance to a higher moral plane. And he shows how these forces could today
let these faiths reassert their deep proclivity toward harmony and
reconciliation. What?s more, his analysis raises the prospect of a second kind
of reconciliation: the reconciliation of science and religion.
From book reviewers:
"In his brilliant new book, The Evolution of God, Robert Wright tells
the story of how God grew up. He starts with the deities of hunter-gatherer
tribes, moves to those of chiefdoms and nations, then on to the polytheism of
the early Israelites and the monotheism that followed, and then to the New
Testament and the Koran, before finishing off with the modern multinational Gods
of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Wright's tone is reasoned and careful
throughout...and it is nice to read about issues like the morality of Christ and
the meaning of jihad without getting the feeling that you are being shouted
out...Provocative and controversial." (New York Times Book ReviewPaul Bloom )
"On any list of nonfiction authors that many people may not know but should,
Robert Wright would rank high. . . . taken together, The Moral Animal,
Nonzero, and The Evolution of God represent a powerful addition to
modern thought. If biology, culture and faith all seek a better world, maybe
there is hope." (Wall Street JournalGregg Easterbrook
)
"Can religions in the modern world reconcile themselves to one another, and can
they reconcile themselves to science?" Robert Wright-journalist, philosophy
professor, and author of the acclaimed books Nonzero, and The Moral
Animal-ardently believes the answer is yes. In this meaty account, the
result of 10 years of scholarly research, he attempts to do so, drawing on
evolutionary psychology, archaeology, and game theory to trace a common pattern
in the world's monotheistic faiths. It's a thoroughly materialist account of
religion and yet is ultimately allied with one of religion's basic goals: to
provide guidance and comfort in a chaotic world." (Seed Magazine
)
Dromedary Hump, "The
Atheist Camel Chronicles: Debate Themes and Arguments for the Non-Believer (and
those who think they might be)." Read reviews or order this book
Amazon customers rate this book with five stars, the maximum rating.
Our review:
We have never reviewed or recommended a book by member of a non-human species
before. We are pleased to enthusiastically recommend this book. It is a real
gem.
Ms. Hump (or Mr. Hump; we are not sure of the gender of the author) has
produced a hilarious book of humorous and witty descriptions taken from her/his
blog. They are absolutely delightful arguments useful to Atheists, Agnostics,
Deists, -- and also for Theists who want to be prepared for challenges from
secularists. Caution: Be careful where you read this book. You may find
yourself helplessly rolling around on the floor in laughter. So check for sharp
objects underfoot in advance.
Amazon.com's review:
"It's not often one finds an opinionated camel with humor, biting wit,
cutting sarcasm, unabashed irreverence, outright blasphemy, and on-point
arguments for rational thought and against religious delusion. An advocate of
reason and common sense, the author debunks traditional believer apologetics and
challenges theist platitudes, while providing food for thought and debate fodder
for the neophyte to intermediate atheist. With more than one hundred
no-holds-barred, plain-speaking rants and essays on a variety of religious
subjects, The Atheist Camel Chronicles is the go-to book to find a burr to place
under the saddle of the holier than thou, or to glean retorts to the banal
"Truths" that religionists use to bolster their faith in the face of the
Scientific Age and 21st century reality. Sometimes funny, always hard hitting
and thought provoking, this book belongs in the library of every atheist,
agnostic and skeptic who engages in debate and discourse with the religiously
afflicted."
What makes religion so powerful? How does it weave its way into our political
system? Why do people believe and follow obvious religious charlatans? What
makes people profess deep faith even as they act in ways that betray that faith?
What makes people blind to the irrationalities of their religion yet clearly see
those of others? If these questions interest you, this book will give you the
tools to understand religion and its power in you, your family and your culture.
For thousands of years, religion has woven its way through societies and people
as if it were part and parcel to that society or person. In large measure it was
left unexplained and unchallenged, it simply existed. Those who attempted to
challenge and expose religion were often persecuted, excommunicated, shunned, or
even executed. It could be fatal to explain that which the church, priest or
imam said was unexplainable. Before the germ, viral and parasite theory of
disease, physicians had no tools to understand disease and its propagation.
Priests told people disease was a result of sin, Satan, evil spirits, etc. With
the discovery of microbial actors, scientists gained new tools to study how it
spreads. They could study infection strategies, immunity, epidemiology and much
more. Suddenly the terrible diseases of the past were understandable. The
plagues of Europe, yellow fever, small pox, pneumonia, tuberculosis, syphilis,
etc. were now removed from the divine and placed squarely in the natural world.
This book owes a great deal to Richard Dawkins concept of viruses of the mind,
but it seeks to go a step further to personalize the concept of religion as a
virus and show how these revolutionary ideas work in everyday life. The paradigm
can explain the fundamentalism of your Uncle Ned, the sexual behavior of a
fallen mega church minister, the child rearing practices of a Pentecostal
neighbor, why 19 men flew planes into the World Trade Center or what motivates a
woman to blow herself up in the crowded markets of Baghdad. Learn how religion
influences sexuality for its own purposes, how and why it protects pedophile
priests and wayward ministers and how it uses survivor guilt to propagate and
influence and how it might influence a person's IQ.
Originally written: 2008-MAR-16
Latest update and review: 2009-NOV-02
Author: B.A. Robinson
