The Gifts of the Jews
On Thursday I finished reading a book by Thomas Cahill called The Gifts of the Jews.
Before I say anything else, I’ll say this: YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK.
Especially for those of you out there with an interest in Christian history and the development of the context in which it was born (i.e., first century judea).
Especially for those of you who, like me, take note the major differences in perceptions between now, 2000 years ago, 3000 years ago, and 4000 years ago. For those of you who have gotten the hint that ancient peoples didn’t look at life or at humanity at all the way that we do now. It sure is easy to talk about Moses or Avraham (yes, spelled correctly) and pretend that their social, philosophical, and religious contexts were at all similar to ours now- our concepts of individualism, monotheism, freedom, and history, just to name a few. The development of the Hebrew faith was intertwined with the development of these concepts and many many more.
“Judaism is the origin of the processive worldview, the worldview to which all Western people subscribe, a worldview that has now taken hold in many (and, to some extent, all) non-Western societies.”
This applies to ALL Western context, Christian and non.
Capitalism and communism are both bastard children of the Bible, for both are processive faiths, modeled on biblical faith and demanding of their adherents that they always hold in their hearts a belief in the future and keep before their eyes the vision of a better tomorrow, whether that tomorrow contains a larger gross domestic product or a workers’ paradise. Neither ideology could have risen in the cyclical East, in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, or Shinto… Democracy, in contrast, grows directly out of the Israelite vision of individuals, subjects of value because they are images of God, each with a unique and personal destiny. There is no way that it could ever have been “self evident that all men are created equal” without the intervention of the Jews.
Especially in the Christian world view, few things would benefit us more than understanding (truly) the context of the times in which the scriptures were written. Understanding context better enables us to find the character and intent of God throughout history. It better enables us to understand the experiences and lives of the patriarchs. Not only do the ideas help us better understand history, (understanding the difference between cyclical and linear world views) they help us understand our lives and emotional/psychological/social tendencies today. For example, do you view the world as a cycle of bad things that happen over and over, always have, always will? Or does your heart look forward, towards the future, and towards freedom from the pain and tragedy of today?
The parallels exist, and they have this annoying (not really annoying, i’m being sarcastic) tendency to pop up everywhere, and I mean everywhere I look. Every book on anthropology, ever study of culture and history I read I find the similarities and parallels of behavior between my life and my experiences and theirs.
I’d love to talk more about what this book is about, but don’t have the time at the moment. If this direction of study interests you, I’d also recommend a book that takes the study further, called The Victory of Reason by Rodney Stark. Stark takes up about where Cahill leaves off, discussing the further development of capitalism, freedom, and individualism in the past 1000 years. I talked some about this book in this post last year.
I’ll be discussing more. This study of culture for me is a journey, and it doesn’t stop at just this book. Stay tuned..
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I read it several years ago. Good book!
i would like to read this!
latin america (considered the West isnt it) also has a strong thread of cyclical belief in their culture. time is not linear but rather circular.
also, communism has risen in the Eastern countries as well, like China and North Korea. Was Confucious discussed in that book at all? It is often argued that confucian thought facilitates capitalism (Japan for example).
Bro, you know that you and I see eye-to-eye on this particular subject. I’ll make the effort to take a look at the book for sure, man. I’m busy reading an old book I found at Poor Richard’s about the influences of 13th century French artwork. As soon as I wrap that sucka up, bring on the Jews!
Sigrid, I’m not so much talking about the West as I am talking about Western Culture – the culture that has been developing due to the Judeo-Christian worldview for the past couple thousand years.
You’re right, they do talk of Confucianism as a very rational religion, but the beginning levels of rationality do not necessarily imply a destination. (I.E.- a linear world view with a beginning and an end) Trends toward rationality is only the beginning. You could say that Confucianism welcomed modern advances, but this is a far cry from developing them itself.
You must keep in mind that countries like China and North Korea developed Communism not as islands in the world of culture, but arguably due to the influence from western developed cultures. Karl Marx was German. Lenin was Russian.
Japan is a great example of a country who’s cyclical and extremely traditional culture resisted for years and years the onset of western culture. It was due to assimilation with modern capitalism that Japan became the industrial power that it became starting in the 1800’s.
Especially concerning your point about Latin America, you’ll have to be more specific in terms of what culture it is you say is overall cyclical. Do you mean living in Brazil, Columbia, or Peru today you would have a highly cyclical world view? I doubt it. And in fact in third world countries you can often find a mix of world views, due to what our modern (and condescending) culture would consider to be uncivilized. The civilized part is the trends in the culture to pick up economic thought and other things we call modern. The uncivilized is the old traditions and old way of life of the people in question. I’m only speaking here on how our (so-called, and according to us) modern civilized people views these cultures.
The point is that the development towards “civilization” and modern world views has never been something developed by other cultures. It has been assimilated, yes, but developed from scratch? No.
[...] Perhaps I’ll take a stab in another post here in a day or two about the positive effects of capitalism. And in defense of capitalism, there are those who suggest that its implementation was only able to develop in a Christian world-view, but then again I hear murmurs of the same about communism. [...]