THE GIFTS OF THE JEWS : HINGES AND HISTORY : How a Tribe of Desert Nomands Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels

New York, NY: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 1998. First Edition, 11th Printing . Hardcover. Near Fine/Fine. BRAND NEW Copy w/a whisper of staining to lower corners of first 5 pgs. .Bi-color boards/Fine. DJ/Fine. Intellectual history of ancient Jewish thought and its far reaching influences. Scholar Thomas Cahill (1940 - ) studied scripture at Union Theological Seminary, and then spent 2 years as a Visiting Scholar at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America studying Hebrew and the Hebrew Bible. Volume recreates how ideas of a small band of ancient people influence today. Early religions & philosophies largely viewed life as part of an endless cycle of birth & death. Then ancient nomadic Jews began to see time differently ... that time has a beginning & an end; that life is a narrative & a record with it's triumphant conclusion in the future. This philosphical approach led to seeing men & women as individuals with unique destinies, hopes for the future, belief in progress, and making Western civilization possible. Cahill narrates this momentous change through Biblical figures such as Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the Pharaoh, Joshua, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Told with compelling stories, insights and humor, their symbolic significance shines through. When God orders Abraham to "Go forth," the concept of an unknown future takes hold, linear history takes form, Western civilization is born, and thousands of years later, makes possible the Declaration of Independence which reaffirms hopef, belief in progress and that tomorrow can be better than today. 291 pgs in 7 chapters: Introduction: The Jews Are It; I, The Temple in the Moonlight: The Primeval Religious Experience; II. The Journey in the Dark: The Unaccountable Innovation; III. Egypt: From Slavery to Freedom; IV. Sinai: From Death to Life; V. Canaan: From Tribe to Nation; VI. Babylon: From Many to One; VII. From Then Till Now: and VII, The Jews Are Still It, followed by appendices.