The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 7 March 2000
by Thomas Cahill
Thomas Cahill has set out to write a series of books (seven planned) in which he describes crucial events in history that operate as "hinges"; moments in time when all of human history is affected. In this, his third book in the series, he relates the story of Jesus as seen in a historical context. He opens with history as far back as Alexander's invasions of the Middle East, and develops his tale of Jesus through the eyes of his apostles, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul. This book has much of the engaging personal and conversational style of How the Irish Saved Civilization, but is also more developed. Cahill attempts to place the writings of the apostles in the context of their time. As he does so, he illuminates much of the character of the Bible, some of its contradictions, and some of the misinterpretations that continue two thousand years later. Given the popular style of the history, though, Cahill leaves out much scholarly detail, and the reader, perhaps, wishing for more. He does not describe the details of the life of Jesus, but only how people saw his teachings at the time and how the church grew in its very earliest years. There is much more out there to glean from the historical record than the author touches on. He also explicitly states some goals for this book. Cahill tries to explain the possible misinterpretations of gospel that have resulted in the common subjugation of women; he also sets out to reconcile the Jewish origins of Christianity as if making a peace between the two; and he also sets out the core of Jesus' compassionate teaching as he sees it. This book seems to be a good beginning for the first two questions, but the conclusions were vague. On that last issue, though, Cahill effectively focuses on compassion and love as the core revolutionary teaching of the early Christian church. As a reader who was not brought up with any religious background, perhaps I was more open to Cahill's arguments and I learned quite a bit. My wife was more skeptical. Nevertheless, expect here a quite entertaining retelling of the gospels, some tantalizing history, but not a rigorous examination of the story.
Also by Cahill: [How the Irish Saved Civilization]