| BIBLIOGRAPHY |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 413-441) and index. |
| Contents |
Part I: "A thousand ages in Thy sight ... ". Seeing biblically ; Joseph and his brothers ; The last wills of Jacob's sons -- Part II: Divine encounters. Adam and Eve and the undifferentiated outside ; The fog of divine beings ; Eternity in ancient temples ; Imagining prophecy ; The book of Psalms and speaking to God -- Part III. Transformations. To monotheism ... and beyond ; A sacred agreement at Sinai ; The emergence of the biblical soul ; Remembering God ; The end of prophecy? -- Part IV. In search of God. The elusive individual ; Humans in search ; Outside the Temple ; Personal religion ; Some conclusions. |
| Summary |
"A great mystery lies at the heart of the Bible. Early on, people seem to live in a world entirely foreign to our own. God appears to Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and others; God buttonholes Moses and Isaiah and Jeremiah and tells them what to say. Then comes the Great Shift, and Israelites stop seeing God or hearing the divine voice. Instead, later Israelites are 'in search of God,' reaching out to a distant, omniscient deity in prayers, as people have done ever since. What brought about this change? The answers come from ancient texts, archeology and anthropology, and even modern neuroscience. They concern the origins of the modern sense of self and the birth of a worldview that went on to shape Western civilization. James Kugel, whose strong religious faith shines through his scientific reckoning with the Bible and the ancient world, has written a masterwork that will be of interest to believers and nonbelievers alike, a profound mediation on encountering God, then and now." -- Back cover. |
| Subject |
Bible. Old Testament -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
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God (Judaism)
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Spirituality.
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Judaism.
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| Other title |
Encountering God in biblical times |
| ISBN |
9781328505927
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1328505928
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