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 | | Where God Was Born: A Journey by Land to the Roots of Religion by Bruce Feiler ISBN-10: 9780060574871 ISBN-10: 0-06-057487-9 ISBN-13: 9780060574871 ISBN-13: 978-0-06-057487-1 Hardcover 2005-09-01 William Morrow Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description At a time when America debates its values and the world braces for religious war, Bruce Feiler, author of the New York Times bestsellers Walking the Bible and Abraham, travels ten thousand miles through the heart of the Middle East—Israel, Iraq, and Iran—and examines the question: Is religion tearing us apart ... or can it bring us together? Where God Was Born combines the adventure of a wartime chronicle, the excitement of an archaeological detective story, and the insight of personal spiritual exploration. Taking readers to biblical sites not seen by Westerners for decades, Feiler's journey uncovers little-known details about the common roots of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and affirms the importance of the Bible in today's world. In his intimate, accessible style, Feiler invites readers on a never-in-a-lifetime experience:
In Where God Was Born, Feiler discovers that at the birth of Western religion, all faiths drew from one another and were open to coexistence. Feiler's bold realization is that the Bible argues for interfaith harmony. It cannot be ceded to one side in the debate over values. Feiler urges moderates to take back the Bible and use its powerful voice as a beacon of shared ideals. In his most ambitious work to date, Bruce Feiler has written a brave, uplifting story that stirs the deepest chords of our time. Where God Was Born offers a rare, universal vision of God that can inspire different faiths to an allegiance of hope. | ||
Amazon.com Review Bruce Feiler's latest book combines now familiar elements into his own peculiar, delightful alchemy. Any particular page may be found effortlessly weaving together strands of theology, biblical exegesis, physical exploration, history and personal reflection as Feiler continues his journey of discovery, looking at the common roots of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The Middle East has become a more dangerous place since the writing of his first book in this vein, Walking the Bible. But Feiler is impelled to answer his continued call, even when a flak jacket is necessary. He explores tunnels under Jerusalem. Goes to where David may have slain Goliath. Even looks for the Garden of Eden in Iraq while acknowledging that "the garden would never be found." It is this externalization of searches typically only made in the heart that fascinates us and brings power to Feiler's narrative. In one of the more compelling sections of the book, a meditation on Jonah, Feiler makes a persuasive argument that "God cares only that you conduct yourself in a moral way… And what might come across as preaching in another context is instead organic; Feiler's ideas seem to grow as much out of his travel and present-day experience as they do from Scripture and history. Of particular interest is his writing on King Cyrus II. He travels to Persepolis, in modern-day Iran, and finds an ancient precedent for religious tolerance in this king who helped the Jews build the Second Temple. Feiler provokes us to reflect that if the Bible itself can sing the praises of a king who accepted the various religions of those he ruled, perhaps there is hope we can find room for more tolerance in our own time. Highly recommended.--Ed Dobeas | ||
Reviews | ||
Where God Was Born This was a fascinating and educational book. I learned so much from reading it and although the author referred many times to the Hebrew Bible, I found the King James version very similar to the scriptures he quoted. The main thing however; was his ability to describe all the biblical sites he visited. I bought the book from Amazon.com at a great price because I wanted to make notations and underline. The book is well worth any price. | ||
Slight of Hand.... I'll approach this from the standpoint of writer and engineer because a number of people have already amply tackled the Biblical aspect. If you read this book, read it carefully and with a critical eye. There were far too many times when the author implied "if A then B" when the result was by no means justified. Secondly, there were too many occasions where he took the end result and worked backwards to show how the forces colluded to achieve the result, much in the same way modern conspiracy theorists like to show that existing conditions are the carefully laid plot of someone's nearly improbable actions. I doubt that ancient man gave his existence nearly as much anthropological consideration as Feiler seems to have thought they had. I enjoyed parts of the journey because I used to live in the area, and it brought back memories, but beyond that there were too many anomalies to draw real historical information or philosophical learning from. | ||
Great physical & spiritual walk, but in the end reverts to the secular Bruce does an amazing job of making the Bible and its lands and history real. While he doesn't fall prey to the all too often use of analysis to subtley, but irrevovably trash religion and God, he does in the end lean to the secular, all the while proclaiming his Jewishness. Despite his spiritual longings, he seems to think Judaism is flexible and what you make of it--rather than a pilgrimage to find ultimate truth--a concept he runs from. In the end it seems his greatest joy is that no matter where he goes, he effectively has a built in network of cultural chums to hang with. In short his Jewishness feels more ethnic than religious--a conclusion that I can only hope he did not intend. A greater criticism is that all too often he sees "fundamentalism", regardless of the faith as a level, morally regrettable and destructive playing field. There is no sense of disproportion. Christian fundamentals are seen in the same light as Muslim, ignoring that even disagreeable Christians don't coerce their flocks into repression and worse, weapons of terror and death. Still the book is highly readable, providing insights and a deeper understanding that I simply didn't expect. So despite my misgivings, my greater disappointment is that Bruce is unlikely to continue this journey into the foundations of Christianity. I can only hope I find another author of his caliber to do the same for my faith. | ||
where god was born Very much second best to his earlier book, walking the bible. seems like the author thought he had to write another book on the same topic, which is too bad. | ||
If You Want to Understand the Bible Very informative. The Lord has blessed Bruce Feiler. I've read his other books Walking the Bible, and Abraham, and it was difficult to put them down. | ||