A Humanist Bible?

According to Jewish tradition, the Torah was delivered to Moses by God on Mount Sinai thousands of years ago. A.C. Grayling's The Good Book claims humbler origins. That text was given to us by an English philosophy professor this past summer.

Christopher Hitchens’s Jewish Problem  Benjamin Kerstein,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  The "new atheists" are particularly hostile to Judaism. A case in point is Hitchens, who for years has indulged freely in some of the most barbarous and defamatory stereotypes about the Jewish people.  SAVE

Let’s Abolish Religion! . . . or Not  Elizabeth Weingarten,  Slate.  Grayling and Darwin descendant Matthew Chapman face off against Rabbi David Wolpe and Evangelical commentator Dinesh D'Souza.  SAVE

The (God-Free) Good Life  Nina Rastogi,  Slate.  Grayling recommends five titles for their perspectives "on how to live a satisfying and morally good life."  SAVE

Secular U.  Mathew N. Schmalz,  Washington Post.  What might Grayling's "atheist university" look like? Like a conservative Catholic or Evangelical Christian institution, perhaps.  SAVE

The Bible and the Good Life  Aryeh Tepper,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  Arguing with God is one thing. Where is the evidence that the Bible is a philosophical text?  SAVE

Toward a Jewish Humanism  Shai Held,  Haaretz.  The moral philosophy embraced by a religious-Zionist leader in the mid-20th century is in urgent need of revival.  SAVE

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"Jerusalem," William Blake.

The Holy Land of England

The King James Bible, along with the Book of Common Prayer, Shakespeare, and Milton, transformed the English language, introducing a vibrant lexicon that is used to this day.  It also fused biblical mythology with concepts of English national identity.

Holy Writ  Edward Rothstein,  New York Times.  Transforming the English language, the King James Version also permanently shaped English and Western ideas about human nature, freedom, and responsibility.  SAVE

Trading Routes and Construction  The Map as History.  Animated maps showing the worldwide expansion of British rule, step by step.  SAVE

Cataracts, Hips, Knees, and Tonsils  Oliver Wright,  Independent.  These are among the surgeries being rationed to save money for the National Health Service.  SAVE

God's Secretaries  Adam Nicolson,  HarperCollins.  How great English prose emerged from the era of the Gunpowder Plot and the plague.  SAVE

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Yoram Hazony.

The Bible and the Good Life

What manner of work is the Hebrew Bible? The 17th-century freethinker Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza had an answer. As part of his war to emancipate philosophy from the influence of religion, he reduced the biblical message to, in effect, one word: obedience.

The Biblical Century  Yoram Hazony,  Jerusalem Letters.  In the universities, the door is open for a real change in the standing of the Hebrew Bible, and of Judaism more generally.  SAVE

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Louis Jacobs.

The Reluctant Renegade

Since its founding, Conservative Judaism in the U.S. has defined itself in sharp contrast to Reform, pursuing a more religiously centrist and Zionist middle course. Its UK parallel, Masorti ("traditional") Judaism, was born as a secession movement from Orthodoxy—inspired by theologian Louis Jacobs.

Between Maimonides and Jacobs  Neil Gillman,  Conservative Judaism.  No other contemporary theologian has explored the issue of revelation as thoroughly or systematically.  SAVE

Ask the Rabbi  louisjacobs.org.  In the last year of his life, Jacobs answers questions on law, community, and fundamentalism with his characteristic humor and humanity. (Video; 2006)  SAVE

Against Capitulation  Michael Harris,  Jewish Quarterly.  From a modern Orthodox perspective, it is Jacobs himself who fails adequately to respond to the challenge of biblical criticism.  SAVE

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