Crucible of Faith: The Ancient Revolution That Made Our Modern Religious World
Philip Jenkins
Religion, philosophy, history
Crucible of Faith is well outside my usual reading areas. My religious education is nil. I am, however, interested in the history of ideas, and, well . . . why not give it a try? And on balance, the verdict is pretty good. Crucible of Faith wasn't such a gripping read that I'd recommend it far and wide (unlike some other books I could name), but it was good enough to keep me reading.
Jenkins's thesis is that a vast chunk of what we consider "mainstream Judeo-Christian thought" only developed comparatively late in Jewish history--c. 250 - 50 BC--as the result of a period of intense conceptual ferment, owing in large part to the Jews' sudden immersion into the cosmopolitan intellectual life of the Hellenic period. Such concepts as the vast hierarchy of named angels, life after death, the emergence of Satan as a major figure, dualism and its discontents, Gnosticism, and apocalyptic writing were innovative, not traditional. I have no firm opinion on whether he's right or wrong, but he does a good job arguing the case.
What's especially strong is Jenkins's argument that Judaism was radically altered by forced engagement with a philosophical ecosystem that was both widespread and much more sophisticated: Greek philosophy, especially Platonism. This I find plausible. Imagine an Aristotle or an Eratosthenes smiling indulgently at this rustic collection of folktales and wonder stories that the Jews called "scripture." How it must have rankled! There's evidence, it seems, for strong and sometimes violent conflicts within Judaism--between Hellenizers and ethnic nationalists, as well as among various sects. It seems a pity that the Hellenizers lost out, but that's just me.
Some of Crucible of Faith is less accessible. The digressions into Biblical historiography, for example, are mainly of interest to specialists. Also, it must be said, I'm sufficiently ignorant of the basic texts that some of the arguments more or less rolled off of me. Overall, though, this was a successful experiment in expanding my own philosophical boundaries.
My reading doesn't include a lot of companion books, but The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve might be a good crossover.
A good companion book would be The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture by Yoram Hazony, whose view is that the Jewish scriptures (which in Hebrew are presented in a different order to the Christian Old Testament) were put into their current form by the prophet Jeremiah and his disciples as a conscious act of Hebrew nationalism (where "nationalism", for the Jews, meant essentially the same thing as religion.)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds entirely consistent. Crucible of Faith explicitly contrasts Jewish religious nationalism with a more cosmopolitan, Hellenized philosophy. That's why, for example, a whole series of High Priests also had Greek names. The famous Herod is another example.
DeleteNeedless to say, I'm rather more sympathetic to the cosmopolitan.