Tag Archives: Judaism

An Officer and a Spy

Posted on February 1, 2014 by smellincoffee

An Officer and a Spy© 2013 Robert Harris496 pages    In the late 19th century, the Dreyfuss Affair shook France when one Captain Alfred Dreyfuss, accused of selling French military secrets to the Germany General Staff.  Declared guilty, publicly disgraced, … Continue reading →

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Black Rednecks and White Liberals

Posted on December 22, 2013 by smellincoffee

Blacks Rednecks and White Liberals© 2005 Thomas Sowell360 pages Thomas Sowell’s provocatively-titled Black Rednecks and White Liberals casts a critical eye toward  conventional understandings of race, class, and history, collecting a half-dozen extensive essays in one volume. Although each essay … Continue reading →

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Things that Matter

Posted on December 21, 2013 by smellincoffee

Things that Matter: Three Decades of Passion, Pastimes, and Politics© 2013 Charles Krauthammer400 pages Things that Matter collects articles spanning at three decades, largely culled from The New Republic, giving voice to psychologist-turned-cultural observer and journalist Charles Krauthammer as he … Continue reading →

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The Origin of Satan

Posted on October 26, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Origin of Satan: How Christianity Demonized Jews, Pagans, and Heretics© 1996 Elaine Pagels240 pages Although Christianity sprang from Judaism, the two religions have sharply different conceptions of Satan. Christians view him as the prince of evil, the enemy of … Continue reading →

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Mudhouse Sabbath

Posted on September 22, 2012 by smellincoffee

Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Discipline © 2008 Laura Winner162 pages Increasingly, Christian religious scholars are examining Jesus in the context of his Jewish roots. While the works I’m familiar with have done this primarily to understand his … Continue reading →

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The Misunderstood Jew

Posted on January 19, 2012 by smellincoffee

The Misunderstood Jew: the Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus© 2007 Amy-Jill Levine250 pages  Amy-Jill Levine is a Jew for Jesus. No, not that kind of Jew — she’s happily Orthodox, thank you very much. But she grew … Continue reading →

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God is Not One

Posted on June 24, 2011 by smellincoffee

God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Rule the World and Why Their Differences Matter © 2010 Stephen Prothero 400 pages Despite the promises of modernity to drive religion out of the human mind, the New York City … Continue reading →

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The Book of Wisdom

Posted on April 20, 2011 by smellincoffee

The Book of Wisdom, or The Wisdom of Solomonfrom the New English Bible, © 1970 Cambridge and Oxford University Press Christian personification of Wisdom My favorite book in the Judeo-Christian bible is that of Ecclesiastes,  in which a man known as ‘the preacher’ … Continue reading →

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The Evolution of God

Posted on January 9, 2011 by smellincoffee

The Evolution of God© 2009 Robert Wright576 pages Evolutionary psychologist Robert Wright uses the concepts of natural morality and the ‘moral imagination’ to  understand the growth and (arguably) increasing maturity of the three Abrahamic religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. … Continue reading →

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A History of God

Posted on September 5, 2009 by smellincoffee

A History of God: the 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam © 1993 Karen Armstrong 460 pages I checked this out in early 2006 but quickly lost interest after encountering the Sumerian mythology that Armstrong introduces the book with. … Continue reading →

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