What is it about a ragtag group of nomads that has both inspired and outraged civilizations for four millenia? In the second book of his Hinges of History series, Thomas Cahill digs into the larger themes that separate the Jewish peoples from the people around them, and shows how the evolution of a culture, a collection of religious writings, and the history of worship created an unimaginable entity that is present in three of the world’s major religions and most of its modern political structure.
There is possibly no one more qualified to attempt such a feat than Thomas Cahill. His credentials as a theologian are impeccable, and his work as a scholar and translator is both rigorous and sensitive. But it is his gift for finding the humanity in the philosophies that he examines that makes his writing approachable and enlightening. The result is a popular work of history that can withstand the examination of scholars.
So what is the gift of the Jews? Purely and simply, it is identity. The identity of the individual, the identity of a society that recognizes individualism, and the identity of a deity that calls for respect towards those individuals. Prior to Abram’s walk with YHWH, Cahill writes, a single person had no distinct role in the world – he or she was born, served the gods of planting and harvest for a span of years, and died. The cycle of the world turned on such fatalistic seasons, and no one had anything to look forward to or to look back on. Like cogs in a wheel, they furnished the motion that ground within the great machine of early civilization. And like cogs, they were forever interchangeable and anonymous.
Then along comes Avram, a wealthy man from the city of Ur in the Mesopotamian culture of the Chaldeans. He is picked out and told to set out on a journey that has not yet ended. And so the patriarch of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam steps out of the impersonal machine and into a covenant that has repercussions throughout the ages of the world.
Regardless of your spiritual identity, you have been marked by this gift. It manifests itself in myriad ways – from the idea that it is both possible and necessary to know that you have ancestors to the idea that “…governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” You may not believe in a God, you may not follow one of the three major monotheistic traditions, or you may believe that your path is the only true one, but if you’ve ever voted, gone to court, protested, or desired change in your surroundings, you have this idea, this gift, to thank.
Cahill is not writing to proselytize, although he makes his own belief in God plain. His intent is to lead the reader through the evolution of ideas that we take for granted, showing us how they came to be. From Avram through the minor prophets, Cahill examines the Old Testament and places markers along the way to show us how that path was recorded even when it was not followed. But he does it with a light touch, even with an occasional leavening of humor which makes this an immensely enjoyable read.
Check the WRL Catalog for The Gifts of the Jews
