1. The Gifts of the Jews
    Thomas Cahill
    Random House Inc / 1999 / Trade Paperback
    Our Price$17.10 Retail Price$19.00 Save 10% ($1.90)
    4.0 out of 5 stars for The Gifts of the Jews. View reviews of this product. 2 Reviews
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    Stock No: WW2493
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  1. Cindie Postell
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    September 15, 2010
    Cindie Postell
    This review was written for Gifts of the Jews.
    This is a wonderful book for understanding just what the impact of the decisions of the patriarch of israel made on the way we think today. It goes beyond the understanding you gain from Hebrew 101 to how the people lived life and practiced faith.I have used it in a Women's Group and most are finding it very revealing.
  2. David Gough
    Alexandria, VA
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: male
    3 Stars Out Of 5
    A story half-told
    June 8, 2013
    David Gough
    Alexandria, VA
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: male
    Quality: 3
    Value: 3
    Meets Expectations: 3
    I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I purchased a copy of Thomas Cahill's "The Gifts of the Jews." Having read and enjoyed his "How the Irish Saved Civilization," I was hoping for more than I found in this one. The positive side of the book is that it is very well written and flows in an interesting and entertaining manner. In a style that blends humor with the academic, it relates the story of the Jewish people from pre-Abrahamic days through the end of the Old Testament. It is, in a sense, it is an Old Testament theology presented with a theologically-liberal bias. Cahill captures much of the ethical teaching of the Old Testament while claiming that most of the stories are mythical, thereby missing their true point. Numerous passages are quoted, but very few with references or annotation. I found this to be an annoying weakness to the book. Although he provides much food for thought, the fact that he does not believe the Scriptures to have been inspired (and, therefore, not inerrant) seriously weakens his credibility with evangelical readers. In fact, he takes a pretty harsh slap at those individuals near the end of the book when he writes, "It is no longer possible to believe that every word of the Bible was inspired by God. Fundamentalists still do, but they can keep up self-delusion only by scrupulously avoiding all forms of scientific inquiry." In other words, he believes they are not as smart as he is! Being confronted with such a charge, Cahill puts me in mind of a Bart Ehrman...although I believe I would find Cahill to be a much more interesting dinner companion. The author can be crude at times and is also guilty of assuming what has no basis except in his own thought. But the most serious criticism of the book is his omission of any serious discussion concerning the messianic hope of the Jews, which was realized by those who welcomed the first advent Jesus Christ. Cahill makes no outward claim to being a "Christian," at least in the historic and traditional sense of the word, so his failure to recognize that everything contained in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms pointed to Jesus (cf. Luke 24:44) is at least understandable (but not forgivable). The liberal sources cited at the end of the book reveal the school of theological thought he comes from. I would not recommend this book to many, and I am more than a little dismayed at an earlier reviewer who found it helpful for a group Bible study.
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