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 | | Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine by Harold Bloom ISBN-10: 9781594482212 ISBN-10: 1-59448-221-7 ISBN-13: 9781594482212 ISBN-13: 978-1-59448-221-2 Paperback 2007-03-06 Riverhead Trade Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description The most controversial, explosive, and important book yet from the renowned author and critic. Harold Bloom uses his unsurpassed skills to examine the character of Jesus: the inconsistencies, the contradictions, and the Gospels' flaws of logic. He also explores the character of Yahweh, who Bloom argues has more in common with Mark's Jesus than he does with God the Father of the Christian and rabbinic Jewish traditions. In fact, Bloom asserts, the Hebrew Bible of the Jews and the Christian Old Testament are very different books with very different purposes. At a time when religion has taken center stage in the political arena, Bloom's controversial examination of the incompatible Judeo-Christian traditions will make readers rethink everything they take for granted about what they believe is a shared heritage. | ||
Amazon.com Review Bloom’s occasional forays into religious criticism are particularly interesting, given his lifelong passion for poetry and his contributions to the study of literature. And while discussions of religion itself are in play here, it is the characters of Jesus and Yahweh that inhabit the pages, and Bloom’s literary critic more than his moonlighting theologian examining them. And what of that analysis? Bloom has an obvious affinity for Yahweh over Jesus (even though Jesus gets first billing in the book’s title.) But to ascribe that preference to his Jewish roots is perhaps too easy. A close reading reveals more. Bloom finds that Yahweh, with his covenants, tempers, resolutions, and even occasional forays into the physical where he fights, eats and walks in the cool of the Garden presents a more interesting character than the rather enigmatic Jesus who only comes truly alive for him in Mark’s gospel, and even more so beyond the canonical scriptures in the Gospel of Thomas. And though in sensibility and identification Bloom hews closer to Yahweh, he acknowledges the place Jesus and his followers have made in the world, through an application of his own theory of the anxiety of influence, noting that "The New Testament frequently is a strong misreading of the Hebrew Bible, and certainly it has persuaded multitudes." Provocative statements like these abound, but Bloom is no provocateur. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his meditations on the names divine, it is hard not to respect his vigorous intellect and bracing candor as he explores their power.--Ed Dobeas | ||
Reviews | ||
Interesting insights into the mind of Harold Bloom Here Harold Bloom puts his highly respected literary mind to work sharing what he gleans of the character of three literary figures - Jesus of Nazareth, Yahweh of the J author and Jesus Christ the Messiah. Like a good scholar, he carefully describes his primary sources - the "J" author of the Tanakh (female in his opinion), the Gospel of Mark and the Gnosis Gospel of Thomas. He likewise describes his limitations, for example, a failure to understand Hinduism and Buddhism, and therefore, a failure to recognize that which is common across all religions. His limitations are also indicated by occasional factual errors, for example, stating that Catholic prayers are rarely to the Father. Similarly he defines "theology" to suit his own purposes to support his claim that Yahweh is not a theological God. (Constrast the traditional: theology "from Gk. theologia 'an account of the gods'"). Thus the book can rightly be called a literary analysis of that portion of the literary tradition of Yahweh/Jesus/Christ of personal interest to Bloom in which words come to mean what he declares them to mean. Within this context he provides an insightful view of Yahweh/Jesus/Christ as literary characters, often comparing and contrasting with Shakespearean characters from "Hamlet" and "King Lear". His analysis is provocative and, at times, brilliant. Consider this a must read for individuals with an interest in the Bible as literature - the scope may be narrow but the analysis is deep. | ||
A meticulous writer with colorful insight Uninformed reviewers are claiming that the author has lost track. But those who are familiar with his previous books and writings see it differently. Because the theme itself is elusive and delicate, the author brilliantly reshaped the approach accordingly. His perceptions might be -convergently- colorful, but the analyses are convincing. Mr. Bloom is a meticulous writer. And this current book reflects deep knowledge of the gospels. In summary, I highly recommend this book to both the scholar and the student. My rating is five stars. | ||
A bit of literary review and much Jewish Angst Mr. Bloom has rented out his brain to Freud. Pity he has not spent as much energy studing the many volumes of Jung. He may find something enlightening. Instead he is like a dog chasing its tail, thinking that the tail is something other. I knew when I was a 10 year old girl, sitting in a Southern Baptist Church, reading the great stories in the "Old Testament" and the words attributed to Jesus of Nazereth, that there was no reconciliation of the two books. I saw the danger in trying to justify Christian works with the words and deeds of that old curmudgeon of the Old Testament. Why does he consider Jehovah, Yaweh, God, the Lord, or whomever, any more real than Gitchi Manitou, or the Great White Buffalo? This learned man cannot understand Buddhism??? I don't believe that. I understand it quite well and I am not quite so learned as Bloom. For your own sake, read Jung...no; study Jung. It is more difficult than Buddhism, so you will really have to use your brain. | ||
Mainly for Bloom Fans I really only recommend for those who have found Bloom's previous work rewarding. The book is his rumination on the "characters" of Jesus and Yahweh from a literary, cultural and religious perspective. The main reason for my caveat is that this book seemed sloppily tossed off in stream of consciousness mode. This made it a somewhat exasperating read for me even though I find Bloom to be an insightful thinker. For those that don't know, Bloom is a prominent literary critic with a fairly unique perspective. His initial renown was for his Anxiety of Influence, which outlined his approach to criticism. I particularly enjoyed his take on The Western Canon in a subsequent book. He has expanded his attention to wider cultural and religious criticism in other books, and indeed it rings true that he would have long been ruminating on the relationship between Christianity and Judaism as the ultimate example of the "Anxiety" (fyi, Bloom is writing from a culturally but not particularly religious Jewish point of view). I was interested to find from this book that Bloom finds the Jesus of the Gospel of Mark in particular to be a compellingly "uncanny" character to rival the Yahweh of the "J" thread of what Christians call the "Old Testament". | ||
AN ATHEIST INCOGNITO Professor Bloom perhaps is one of the top 5 literary critics in the U.S.,but in religion, he is a "magnificent failure" [ actual words he uses to describe St.Augustine!]. Though we still read St.Augustine 1,578 years after his passing, Bloom will not fare so well. Such a mess this book is, the evidence that a securalist-turned-atheist used the word "Jesus" to sell the book is overwhelming. Bloom is never dull, but he can be wrong. Buy a book by St. Augustine instead! | ||