Book Review: The Gifts of the Jews

I just recently finished a very interesting book and wanted to share a few insights from it. The complete title is, The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels. The book is written by Thomas Cahill who also authored, How the Irish Saved Civilization, which is another fine read as well.

One note about Cahill, he is not a Jew (though he has studied extensively at Jewish Theological Seminary), nor is he a Christian, and he is not a believer in the one true living God (However, I don't think he is an atheist...he's more of an agnostic). I mention those facts because what he uncovers about the Jewish people is really quite remarkable and in many ways strengthens the case for God's work in this world. If what he says is true, then there are two options regarding the history of the Jews: 1) The history of the Jews is an amazing coincidence that has greatly impacted most of the world's population; 2) or there is an author or director of life here on planet earth who has a very specific plan unfolding.

Here are a few ideas that really stood out to me:

• Wandering desert nomads, not highly skilled, educated, or sophisticated created a counter culture.
• The Jewish people did something amazing in their approach to religion--they were monotheistic. No one else was. This is a huge point. How does a people group step out of polytheism and enter into monotheism? Not only that, their belief in YHWH was vastly different from all the other gods of all the other cultures. YHWH was personal, relational, loving, and protective.
  
• The Jewish people introduced a linear approach to life. All the pagan cultures of the day were cyclical in their thinking and purpose, meaning essentially that life was meaningless. The Jews believed that YHWH was leading them to a destination. His involvement in their lives showed that they were on a journey moving towards an end goal.
• Sex. The pagan religions relied on sex as a form of worship and manipulating their gods to engage in their lives. YHWH called his people away from sexual immorality! That is a huge and difficult shift unless YHWH had revealed himself to them in some way...which he did.
  

Those are just a few of the observations I made. All in all it's a good read especially if you are interested in receiving a non-Jewish/Christian prespective on the history of the Jews.