Surpassing Wonder by Donald Akenson
What Noam Chomsky did for political commentary, and Stephen Hawking did for cosmology, Donald Harman Akenson does for the Bible and its interpreters, and the resulting conclusions are just as astounding. Surpassing Wonder illuminates how the greatest cultural artifacts of our civilization are related to one another and constitute the very core of our consciousness. With biting irreverence for denominational prejudices and the pretensions of academics, Akenson renews our sense of awe before these religious works. He challenges received doctrines, arguing that the ancient Jews were indeed idol worshippers and that Saint Paul did not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth or in the virgin birth. With wit, elegance, and clarity Surpassing Wonder makes the ancient Hebrew scriptures, the Christian New Testament, and the Talmuds of the Rabbis accessible to all and shows they can be understood only in relation to each other and against their specific historical settings. Akenson argues that each of the great texts must be considered as the product of a single author and thus as a religious invention - that is, as a self-consciously formed unity rather than an anthology of disparate works. He also argues that the great inventor of the Hebrew scriptures should be credited with constructing the very concept of narrative history and thus the foundations of Western civilization. Using a rich and imagistic language that combines tractor mechanics, Winnie-the-Pooh, and architecture with analogies from astronomy, evolutionary biology, and economics, Akenson brings about nothing less than a radical reformation of how to think about the sacred texts. He restores their spiritual power through a just appreciation of the achievement of their authors while leaving readers to decide for themselves on the presence of a guiding hand. Surpassing Wonder is a penetrating study of the historian's craft and a brilliant expos of how theologians and biblical scholars abuse historical reasoning and evidence in their treatment of the sacred texts. Just as a previous reformation cast out the priestly intercessors, so Akenson casts the scholars out of the temple and lets readers in to see the texts anew. In so doing he reinvests religion with meaning for a contemporary world and shows us how Western civilization was created not by the Greeks of Athens or the patricians of Rome but by the desert worshippers of Yahweh.
"Akenson's interpretation of these classics is a promising start for anyoneHe encourages serious, holistic reading by word and example. Religious believers may be enriched by the exposition of the "surpassing wonder" of these human inventions, even if dissatisfied by the bracketing of some tenets of their respective faiths. Cultural critics may find an entree into a more mature conversation with some texts that live on in our culture. Most important, this book will guide and stimulate ordinary readers to read on." Anthony J. Saldarini in The New York Times "Even though something on the order of a million books have already been written about the Bible, Surpassing Wonder is in no way redundant. Its central arguments are powerful and unusual, and its ample endnotes and appendices alone are worth the cover price: They provide a succinct overview of just about everything anyone needs to know to pursue serious self-education in the subjects it treats, including a knockout critique of Northrop Frye's The Great Code." T.F. Rigelhoff in The Globe and Mail.
Donald Harman Akenson is Douglas Professor of Canadian and Colonial History at Queen's University.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780773517813 |
| ISBN 10 | 0773517812 |
| Title | Surpassing Wonder |
| Author | Donald Harman Akenson |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | McGill-Queen's University Press |
| Year published | 1998-08-10 |
| Number of pages | 672 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |