|
|
Content by Pieter
Reviewer Rank: 7
Helpful Votes:
22914
|
|
Learn more about Your Profile.
|
Reviews Written by
Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Faith such as this ..., 13 Nov 2009
In this absorbing work, Burton presents a balanced view of serpent handling believers, their history and religious culture. Combining academic research and oral sources, the author charts the history of the phenomenon while examining the legal and ethical issues associated with the practice. Although it is a scholarly study, the personal interviews and numerous black and white photographs make it a riveting read. The author takes a sympathetic approach while presenting both sides of the story, from the opinions of critics to the words of the believers themselves.
Chapters 2 & 3 deal with the life of pioneer George Went Hensley and the early history of the movement from around 1908. The history is further explored in chapter 4, illumined with quotes from the church publication The Evangel. The next one is devoted to the legal history of serpent handling in Tennessee courts with reference to particular cases of arrest and prosecution. The practice has always presented a dilemma between religious freedom and protecting the lives of citizens. It seems that the authorities have consistently been divided but in general have attempted not to interfere with freedom of faith.
Three personalities are given a voice in the chapter titled Portraits, in an attempt to provide psychological insight on the serpent handler. The three individuals are Liston Pack, Charles Prince and Anna Prince, all three of whom are quoted at length.
Media criticism of these believers is examined in the Conclusion, together with psychological studies, from the negative Freudian perspective of Weston La Barre to the sympathetic conclusions of Nathan and Louise Gerrard using the Multiphasic Personality Inventory Test, and the work of Susan Gilmore and Troy Abel. The views of various theologians and contemporary fundamentalist religious leaders like Jerry Falwell are also provided.
Appendix A: The Anointment, examines the phenomenon of acting under the influence of the Holy Spirit. This section includes a report of an electroencephalograph test taken of Liston Pack by Dr Michael Woodruff, detailing the EEG patterns which occur in the mystical state.
Appendix B: The Music, describes the worship music of the serpent handling churches. It is improvisatory in nature, derived from a blend of bluegrass and country-western styles utilizing 12- and 16-bar blues progressions. Secular melodies are often employed with scriptural lyrics. The instruments include piano, organ, guitar, bass, cymbals and tambourines.
Appendix C is a chronology of the life of George Hensley from 1880 to his death in 1955, and Appendix D: Questions and Answers, attempts to answer a wide range of questions about the snakes, the poison, the fire, key scriptures, the customs of the Pentecostal Holiness churches and the number of believers which sadly seems to be in decline.
According to Kurt Rudolf in Gnosis: The Nature And History of Gnosticism, there were Gnostic sects like The Ophites (also called Ophians or Serpentinians) and the Naassenes in the early Christian era who had some unusual views of serpents but they cannot be considered as forerunners of the Signs Following churches that follow a strict interpretation of the Bible. Theologically the members include Trinitarians and Oneness (Jesus Name) believers but this difference does not seem to matter at all and the churches are non-denominational.
Although there are certain individuals in these churches who have an unhealthy obsession with snakes outside of the religious service and although some of the preachers have led less than exemplary lives, it seems to me that most of the church members are sincere in their beliefs and are godly people who try to live holy lives. I also recommend the book The Serpent Handlers by Fred Brown and Jeanne McDonald.
The book concludes with a reference section of sources in the archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University plus printed sources, legal references and a section on films, videos and records. There are 84 black and white photographs of services, the Church Of The Lord Jesus at Jolo, The Holiness Church of God In Jesus Name at Carson Springs and the former Dolley Pond Church Of God With Signs Following in Birchwood, plus prominent personalities like Lydia Elkins Hollins, organist and singer at the Jolo church whose voice resembles that of Janis Joplin.
It includes a mention of her mother Columbia Gaye Hagerman who died from a snakebite in 1961 at the age of 23. For five days Columbia suffered excruciating pain, refusing all offers of medical intervention before she passed away. An award-winning, personal account of a writer's involvement with this practice is the highly recommended Salvation on Sand Mountain by Dennis Covington.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brief introduction to the Gnostic scriptures, 1 Nov 2009
This is a brief but informative introduction to the belief systems known as Gnosticism and their differences with Ecclesiastical Christianity. Until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library in 1945 the few known Gnostic texts were mainly quotes in hostile polemics attacking Gnosticism. There was greater diversity in Christianity in the 1st and 2nd centuries than today claims Bart Ehrman in Lost Christianities. By 200 AD the proto-orthodox version of Ecclesiastical Christianity had triumphed and all other believers were persecuted and their literature destroyed.
Pagels quotes extensively from Irenaeus, Tertullian and to a lesser extent, Clement of Alexandria and Pope Clement. On the other side, she gives space to Valentinus and Marcion in addition to the unknown authors of Nag Hammadi texts like The Gospels of Mary and Philip, Apocryphon of John and Apocalypse of Peter. A major controversy was the interpretation of the Resurrection -- historical event or symbol? The Orthodox believed in a physical one whilst the Gnostics had various symbolic interpretations. This had significant implications for the development of these two streams of Christianity as a bodily Resurrection promoted a hierarchical institution whilst the symbolic promoted solitary pursuits.
Beliefs about the nature of God influence the structure of earthly authority. The chapter titled Politics of Monotheism reveals how Pope Clement demanded obedience to the institutional church which became supreme. The creation myths of a variety of Nag Hammadi texts are studied here as well as the feminine aspect of deity. Extreme diversity characterizes the Gnostic texts but three main trends may be identified. Note that the ancient mother goddess does not feature at all; there's the Parental Couple, the Spirit and Wisdom (Sophia). Pagels refers to the Gospel to the Hebrews, the Dialogue of the Savior, the Trimorphic Protennoia and The Thunder: Perfect Mind. Similar to the early church, there tended to be gender equality in most Gnostic sects. Montanism had women founders and both Valentinianism and Marcionism had female priests and bishops. With the triumph of the Orthodox at the end of the 2nd century, this equality came to an end.
The chapter on the persecution of Christians draws mainly upon The Second Treatise of the Great Seth and the Acts of John. It's important to relate the two group's views of persecution to their respective views of Christ. Gnostics saw him as a spiritual being (this includes the Docetic view) while the Orthodox considered him a man, therefore they saw blood as the seed of the church and many actively sought martyrdom. Some Gnostics were martyred but various writings opposed martyrdom, fanaticism and what they considered human sacrifice. The author quotes from Tacitus, Trajan and Marcus Aurelius on these persecutions.
Since all Christian writings not legitimized by the Church were destroyed, scholars were only familiar with Orthodox views of Gnosticism until the famous NH discovery. One of the most illuminating NH texts against Ecclesiastical Christianity is The Testimony of Truth that attacks the clergy as blind guides that do not seek after God and criticizes the blind conformity of the church. Jesus' command to seek and find is emphasized as the motive for actively pursuing salvific spiritual insight.
Oddly enough, the Gospel of John, a Gnostic text, was taken up in the Canon. Diverse as they are, the NH texts have the following in common, some of which it shares with Psychotherapy: that ignorance (not only sin) causes suffering, that the soul contains within itself the potential for liberation, the possibility of internal transformation and a fascination with the non-literal meaning of words. Pagels quotes extensively from The Gospel of Truth and The Gospel of Thomas in this regard. In contrast with the cryptic replies and aphorisms in Thomas, the book Zostrianos provides a detailed programme on how to pursue self-knowledge whilst The Discourse on the 8th and 9th is a guide with even more specific directions.
Spiritual/Theological ideas manifest as religious experiences. Gnosticism and Orthodoxy articulate different types of these, Pagels points out, that appealed to different kinds of people. Gnosticism was a solitary way, mystical and ecstatic, whilst the Orthodox supported the natural order, encouraged communities and introduced rituals. However, both of these two branches of Christianity emerged as legitimate interpretations of the words of Jesus. For a detailed analysis of which of his words are genuine and authentic, I refer the interested reader to Geza Vermes' Authentic Gospel Of Jesus.
Although these various mystical schools of Christianity had disappeared by the 4th century except for the Mandaeans in Mesopotamia, an underground stream survived as preserved in medieval European art and literature. There was the Cathar revival from about 1170 to 1244 and later various individuals emerged during the Renaissance and Enlightenment. In the 20th century, the great psychologist Carl Jung was inspired by Gnosticism. More information is available in Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing by Stephan A. Hoeller. The Gnostic Gospels concludes with 22 pages of Notes arranged by chapter and an index.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
With the Divine in Mind, 30 Oct 2009
A well-written introduction to Gnosticism, this work is unique in its comparison of the Nag Hammadi Library to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Hoeller examines the mysticism and mythology of the Essenes and the Gnostics within the framework of Carl Jung's depth psychology. The almost simultaneous discoveries at Qumran and Nag Hammadi revealed an ancient psycho-spirituality that had been virtually forgotten for almost 18 centuries. In both cases the retrieval/collection, translation and publication took years to complete and some documents are undoubtedly lost forever.
The author emphasizes Jung's awareness that Gnosticism was the only tradition which considered the psyche or soul as the meeting point of the divine and the human. The open practice of Gnosticism endured to the third century of our era (except for the Mandaeans of Mesopotamia that survived to the present day). Jung called for a revival of this ancient heritage and for a return to the understanding of God as an immanent and transformative presence. His view of the symbols, myths and metaphors of the Gnostics inspired his life's work. Many decades after having written them, he commented as follows on the Seven Sermons to the Dead: "All my work, all my creative activity, has come from those initial fantasies ... everything that I accomplished in later life was already contained in them ..."
The first part deals with the discovery and significance of these mystical texts, both representing an inner tradition that was later branded 'heretical' by ecclesiastical Christianity when it became dominant towards the end of the second century and especially under and after Constantine. The author compares the Gnostic Christ and the Essene Messiah, looks at various feminine concepts of wisdom and identifies the similarities between the two sets of texts. There were colonies of Essenes in Hellenistic Egypt which was a crossroads of many religious influences. People like Menander, Saturninus, Basilides, Lucius Charinus and Marcion are discussed here.
Part Two, The Other Reality, is devoted to myth. Amonst those investigated are the myths of Sophia/Wisdom and its relation to the Dancing Savior or Gnostic Christ who descended from the heavenly pleroma and fused its nature with that of Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan River. Others examined are those of the evil angels or `Watchers' who descended on Mount Hermon and interbred with human beings, and that of the Song of the Pearl. It includes a look at modern myths in a chapter that opens with Jung's controversial view of The Book of Job and then explores examples of gnostic symbols and motifs in the dreams and imaginations of individuals from our era.
Part Three investigates certain of the Nag Hammadi texts in detail. Some of these contain information on altered states of consciousness and how to attain gnosis through various spiritual practices. They include Allogenes, The Treatise on the 8th and 9th, and Zostrianos, but the Gospel of Philip is the most explicit and comprehensive of these. Hoeller argues that it may be seen as a gnostic sacramental theology. Under the themes of redemption and ecstasy, he discusses the Gospel of Truth and the Gospel of the Egyptians. The Gospel of Truth -- possibly a Valentinian text -- is a poetic work of Christian mysticism like The Cloud of Unknowing. It speaks of the Father, the Truth and the Word. The second deals with the Pleromic Region (Ayn Soph), the figure of Seth and the transmission of light from that incorruptible realm to the earthly plane. It further contains the Sacrament of Seth wherein its ecstatic nature is exposed in evidence of glossolalia represented by sequences of vowel sounds.
The epilogue is titled From Hiroshima to the Secret Gospels: The Alternative Future of Human History. This is an assessment of our age, a warning of where humanity is heading, a call for introspection and a plea for renewed efforts at healing the human race. Serious contemplation of the wisdom contained in the Scrolls and the NH library may contribute to this healing process. Recognizing both the evil and the Divine Presence within ourselves is necessary for individuation, both individual and collective. This thought-provoking book concludes with bibliographical notes and an index.
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels would be ideal reading for those who enjoyed this book whilst Jung's Memories, Dreams and Reflections, an accessible autobiography of the great psychologist's inner life, has much to impart about the Nag Hammadi texts. Other works of related interest include Hoeller's Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing, The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James and A Psychology Of Hope by Kaplan and Schwarz.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Traditions of inner knowing, 30 Oct 2009
This informative work serves as an introduction to Gnosticism and a comparison of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Nag Hammadi Library. Hoeller examines the mysticism and mythology of the Essenes and the Gnostics within the framework of Carl Jung's psychology. The almost simultaneous discoveries at Qumran and Nag Hammadi have revealed an ancient psychological spirituality that had been virtually forgotten for almost 18 centuries. In both cases the retrieval/collection, translation and publication took years to complete and some documents are undoubtedly lost forever.
Hoeller emphasizes Jung's awareness that the only tradition which considered the psyche or soul as the connection between the divine and the human was the Gnostic that endured to the third century of our era (except for the Mandaeans of Mesopotamia that survived). That's why he called for a revival of this ancient heritage and for a return to the understanding of God as an immanent and transformative presence. Jung's view of the symbols, myths and metaphors of the Gnostics inspired his life's work. Many decades after having written them, he commented as follows on the Seven Sermons to the Dead: "All my work, all my creative activity, has come from those initial fantasies ... everything that I accomplished in later life was already contained in them ..."
.
The first part deals with the discovery and significance of these mystical texts from Egypt and Israel, both representing an inner tradition that was later branded `heretical' by ecclesiastical Christianity when it became dominant towards the end of the second century and especially under and after Constantine. The author compares the Gnostic Christ and the Essene Messiah, looks at various feminine concepts of wisdom and charts the similarities between the two sets of texts.
Part Two, The Other Reality, is devoted to myth. Here the author discusses the myths of Sophia/Wisdom and its relation to the Dancing Savior or Gnostic Christ, the myth of the tyrant angels and the myth of the Song of the Pearl. It concludes with a look at modern myths in a chapter that opens with Jung's controversial view of Job and then explores examples of gnostic symbols and motifs in the dreams and imaginations of individuals from our era.
Part Three investigates certain of the Nag Hammadi texts in detail. Some of these contain information on altered states of consciousness and how to attain gnosis through various spiritual practices. They include Allogenes, The Treatise on the 8th and 9th and Zostrianos, but the Gospel of Philip is the most explicit and comprehensive of these. Hoeller argues that it may be considered to be a gnostic sacramental theology. Under the themes of redemption and ecstasy, he discusses the Gospel of Truth and the Gospel of the Egyptians.
The epilogue is titled From Hiroshima to the Secret Gospels: The Alternative Future of Human History. This is an assessment of our age, a warning of where humanity is heading, a call for introspection and a plea for renewed efforts at healing the human race. Serious contemplation of the wisdom contained in the Scrolls and the NH library may contribute to this healing process. Recognizing both the evil and the Divine Presence within ourselves is necessary for individuation, both individual and collective. This thought-provoking book concludes with bibliographical notes and an index.
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels would be ideal reading for those who enjoyed this book whilst Jung's Memories, Dreams and Reflections, an accessible autobiography of the great psychologist's inner life, has much to impart about the Nag Hammadi texts. Other works of related interest include Hoeller's Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing, The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James and A Psychology Of Hope by Kaplan and Schwarz.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gnostic Gospels
|
by Elaine Pagels
Edition: Paperback |
| Price: £4.98 |
|
| Availability: In stock |
|
|
|
|
|
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Adequate introduction to Gnostic scriptures, 25 Oct 2009
This brief but informative study of the cluster of beliefs known as Gnosticism and its differences with Ecclesiastical Christianity is recommended. Until the 1945 discovery of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts very few Gnostic texts were known and those were mostly quotes in hostile treatises attacking these belief systems. Overall there was greater diversity in Christianity in the 1st and 2nd centuries than today, as explained by Bart Ehrman in Lost Christianities. By 200 AD the proto-orthodox version of Ecclesiastical Christianity had triumphed and all other variants were extinguished and their literature destroyed.
Throughout the book, Pagels quotes extensively from Irenaeus, Tertullian and to a lesser extent, Clement of Alexandria and Pope Clement. On the other side, she gives space to Valentinus and Marcion in addition to the unknown authors of NH texts like The Gospels of Mary and Philip, Apocryphon of John and Apocalypse of Peter. A main controversy was the interpretation of the Resurrection -- historical event or symbol? The Orthodox believed in a physical one whilst the Gnostics had various symbolic interpretations. This had significant implications for the development of these two streams of Christianity as a bodily Resurrection promoted a hierarchical institution whilst the symbolic promoted solitary pursuits.
Beliefs about the nature of God always influence earthly authority. The chapter titled Politics of Monotheism reveals how Pope Clement demanded obedience to the institutional church which became supreme. The creation myths of a variety of Nag Hammadi texts are studied here as well as the feminine aspect of deity. Extreme diversity characterizes the Gnostic texts but three main trends may be identified. Note that the ancient mother goddess does not feature at all; there's the Parental Couple, the Spirit and Wisdom (Sophia). Pagels refers to the Gospel to the Hebrews, the Dialogue of the Savior, the Trimorphic Protennoia and The Thunder: Perfect Mind. Similar to the early church, there tended to be gender equality in most Gnostic sects. Montanism had women founders and both Valentinianism and Marcionism had female priests and bishops. With the triumph of the Orthodox at the end of the 2nd century, this equality came to an end.
The chapter on the persecution of Christians draws mainly upon The Second Treatise of the Great Seth and the Acts of John. It's important to relate the two group's views of persecution to their respective views of Christ. Gnostics saw him as a spiritual being (this includes the Docetic view) while the Orthodox considered him a man, therefore they saw blood as the seed of the church and many actively sought martyrdom. Some Gnostics were martyred but various writings opposed martyrdom, fanaticism and what they considered human sacrifice. The author quotes from Tacitus, Trajan and Marcus Aurelius on these persecutions.
Since all Christian writings not legitimized by the Church were destroyed, scholars were only familiar with Orthodox criticism of Gnosticism until the famous NH discovery. One of the most illuminating NH texts against Ecclesiastical Christianity is The Testimony of Truth that attacks the clergy as blind guides that do not seek after God and criticizes the blind conformity of the church. Jesus' command to seek and find is emphasized as the motive for actively pursuing salvific spiritual insight.
Oddly enough, the Gospel of John, a Gnostic text, was taken up in the Canon. Diverse as they are, the NH texts have the following in common, some of which it shares with Psychotherapy: that ignorance (not only sin) causes suffering, that the soul contains within itself the potential for liberation, the possibility of internal transformation and a fascination with the non-literal meaning of words. Pagels quotes extensively from The Gospel of Truth and The Gospel of Thomas in this regard. In contrast with the cryptic replies and aphorisms in Thomas, the book Zostrianos provides a detailed programme on how to pursue self-knowledge whilst The Discourse on the 8th and 9th is a guide with even more specific directions.
Spiritual/Theological ideas manifest as religious experiences. Gnosticism and Orthodoxy articulate different types of these, Pagels points out, that appealed to different kinds of people. Gnosticism was a solitary way, mystical and ecstatic, whilst the Orthodox supported the natural order, encouraged communities and introduced rituals. However, both of these two branches of Christianity emerged as legitimate interpretations of the words of Jesus. For a detailed analysis of which of his words are genuine and authentic, I refer the interested reader to Geza Vermes' Authentic Gospel Of Jesus.
Although these various mystical schools of Christianity had disappeared by the 4th century except for the Mandaeans in Mesopotamia, an underground stream survived as preserved in medieval art and literature. There was the Cathar revival from about 1170 to 1244 and later various individuals emerged during the Renaissance and Enlightenment. In the 20th century, the great psychologist Carl Jung was inspired by Gnosticism. More information is available in Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing by Stephan A. Hoeller. The Gnostic Gospels concludes with 22 pages of Notes arranged by chapter and an index.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Landmark work on religion and psychology, 22 Oct 2009
This landmark work remains one of the most influential books ever on psychology and spirituality. The style is accessible and engaging, consistently interesting with well-reasoned arguments. Religions are not compared; the study is restricted to the experiences of the individual. The field of study is clearly defined and circumscribed. Chapter titles include Religion & Neurology, the Reality of the Unseen, the Religion of Healthy-Mindedness, the Sick Soul, the Divided Self & the Process of Unification, Conversion, Saintliness, Mysticism and Philosophy.
James considers the feelings, actions and experiences of individuals, insofar as they understand themselves to be in a relationship with whatever they consider the Divine. It is thus about the religion of everyday life and has nothing to do with churches and dogma. This is similar to what emerges when Geza Vermes explores the Authentic Gospel of Jesus; there's very little on doctrine but much about relationships and behavior towards others.
He mentions the importance of the passionate side of religion and its power of adding enchantment to life. Dealing objectively with a wide spectrum of observed and personally related religious experiences, James quotes from the autobiographical writings of famous authors, theologians and mystics from many traditions including Whitman, Luther, Voltaire, Emerson and Tolstoy.
In his own words: "Both thought and feeling are determinants of conduct, and the same conduct may be determined either by feeling or thought. When we survey the whole field of religion, we find a great variety in the thoughts that have prevailed there; but the feelings on the one hand and the conduct on the other are almost always the same, for Stoic, Christian and Buddhist saints are practically indistinguishable in their lives. The theories which religion generates, being thus variable, are secondary. If you wish to grasp its essence, you must look to the feelings and the conduct as being the more constant elements."
This book is a comprehensive survey which offers valuable insights, revelation, wisdom and points to ponder that contribute significantly to the reader's understanding of consciousness, psychological processes, mystic states, thought, emotion and the individual's relationship with the Eternal Divine. Simultaneously serving as a trenchant plea for religious tolerance, it does sometimes read like a gripping novel, especially the chapters on the religion of healthy-mindedness, the sick soul, and mysticism.
Although it is not a difficult read, patience is called for since every sentence is loaded with multiple layers of meaning; one often has to reread a previous paragraph in order to fully grasp and properly process the insights and information. A mindful, meditative study of the text will richly reward the reader. An even more rewarding experience can be had by studying Richard Maurice Bucke's 1901 classic Cosmic Consciousness and Stephan A. Hoeller's The Gnostic Jung and the Seven Sermons to the Dead at the same time. These valuable works complement one another in a most marvelous way.
Other works on psychology, religion and/or spirituality that I have found inspiring or informative are The Creative Process in the Individual by Thomas Troward, Religion in the Making by Alfred North Whitehead, The Hidden Power of the Bible by Ernest Holmes, Alter Your Life by Emmet Fox, Cracking the Bible Code by Jeffrey Satinover and above all, A Psychology of Hope by Kaplan and Schwarz.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Classic of psychology & spirituality, 22 Oct 2009
This landmark work remains one of the most influential books ever on psychology and spirituality. The style is accessible and engaging, consistently interesting with well-reasoned arguments. Religions are not compared; the study is restricted to the experiences of the individual. The field of study is clearly defined and circumscribed. Chapter titles include Religion & Neurology, the Reality of the Unseen, the Religion of Healthy-Mindedness, the Sick Soul, the Divided Self & the Process of Unification, Conversion, Saintliness, Mysticism and Philosophy.
James considers the feelings, actions and experiences of individuals, insofar as they understand themselves to be in a relationship with whatever they consider the Divine. It is thus about the religion of everyday life and has nothing to do with churches and dogma. This is similar to what emerges when Geza Vermes explores the Authentic Gospel of Jesus; there's very little on doctrine but much about relationships and behavior towards others.
He mentions the importance of the passionate side of religion and its power of adding enchantment to life. Dealing objectively with a wide spectrum of observed and personally related religious experiences, James quotes from the autobiographical writings of famous authors, theologians and mystics from many traditions including Whitman, Luther, Voltaire, Emerson and Tolstoy.
In his own words: "Both thought and feeling are determinants of conduct, and the same conduct may be determined either by feeling or thought. When we survey the whole field of religion, we find a great variety in the thoughts that have prevailed there; but the feelings on the one hand and the conduct on the other are almost always the same, for Stoic, Christian and Buddhist saints are practically indistinguishable in their lives. The theories which religion generates, being thus variable, are secondary. If you wish to grasp its essence, you must look to the feelings and the conduct as being the more constant elements."
This book is a comprehensive survey which offers valuable insights, revelation, wisdom and points to ponder that contribute significantly to the reader's understanding of consciousness, psychological processes, mystic states, thought, emotion and the individual's relationship with the Eternal Divine. Simultaneously serving as a trenchant plea for religious tolerance, it does sometimes read like a gripping novel, especially the chapters on the religion of healthy-mindedness, the sick soul, and mysticism.
Although it is not a difficult read, patience is called for since every sentence is loaded with multiple layers of meaning; one often has to reread a previous paragraph in order to fully grasp and properly process the insights and information. A mindful, meditative study of the text will richly reward the reader. An even more rewarding experience can be had by studying Richard Maurice Bucke's 1901 classic Cosmic Consciousness and Stephan A. Hoeller's The Gnostic Jung and the Seven Sermons to the Dead at the same time. These valuable works complement one another in a most marvelous way.
Other works on psychology, religion and/or spirituality that I have found inspiring or informative are The Creative Process in the Individual by Thomas Troward, Religion in the Making by Alfred North Whitehead, The Hidden Power of the Bible by Ernest Holmes, Alter Your Life by Emmet Fox, Cracking the Bible Code by Jeffrey Satinover and above all, A Psychology of Hope by Kaplan and Schwarz.
|
Reviewer's Tags:
character, kalman kaplan, mind, mood, mysticism, psychology, religion, richard maurice bucke, spirituality, temperament, william james
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
The Invisible Hand, 18 Oct 2009
In this absorbing work, Freedman investigates 3 mysteries concerning the presence/absence of God. The first part deals with the gradual disappearance of the visible presence of God throughout the Old Testament, part two considers Nietzsche and Dostoevsky's experience of this phenomenon and their premonitions of the future, whilst the last part examines correspondences between religion and science in view of the return or rediscovery of God.
The author traces the diminishing presence of the deity through the course of the Hebrew Bible, showing how the nature of communication changes from visible to indirect whilst signs of the divine, like miracles, become rarer, finally ceasing altogether. A related development is a shift in the balance of control in human destiny - a transition from divine to human responsibility. This is observed in the actions of Adam & Eve, through Noah who builds the ark himself, Abraham who even challenges a decision of God, through Moses and down to the Book of Esther where the name of God is not even mentioned overtly. As the author notes, the apparent control is shifting.
The same phenomenon is evident in the non-historical books. The prophets encounter the divine through dreams and visions - not face to face as in earlier times - and their impressions are filtered through their own personalities. Some prophets like Isaiah are explicit about the absence of God and the promise of reunion. This is also reflected in the Psalms. The word of God now replaces the acts of God. Scholars have not paid enough attention to the growing human role during the receding visibility of the deity. This is remarkable as the phenomenon appears with chronological consistency in a narrative composed by many authors over many centuries. Friedman considers the way religion, history, psychology and literary composition reflect it.
He attempts to find the reason, pointing out that it is not only the result of human transgression but seems also to be the granting of a measure of independence to humanity. The closest description of the character of God is that in Exodus 34, where He is called "merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in kindness and truth, bearing transgression ...", in other words a compassionate and forgiving Father. The last chapter of the first part deals with the legacy of the age. Both Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity developed with the awareness of divine absence. In Judaism, the response was the doctrine of the two Torahs with the development of the Oral Torah.
In the context of the shift in the divine-human balance, the appearance of Christ is striking as it is claimed that God now appears in human form. Jesus most often refers to himself as "son of man" whatever the finer nuances of the meaning are. And again there are showers of miracles, but of the type associated with Elijah and Elisha, not of the Exodus. Friedman speculates about three possible meanings for these words on the Cross: "My God, why have you left me?" which become highly significant in view of the phenomenon of hiddenness in the Tanakh. In addition, out of reverence the Divine Name was not pronounced and was in a sense "lost" for 2000 years until its rediscovery in modern times. This also relates to the disappearance. Over the last 2 millennia, God has been publicly known only through churches, synagogues and books. Of course individuals have always had their own experiences but the issue here is the public absence of the deity.
Part two covers Nietzsche, Dostoevsky and their work in which they predicted a world without moral compass and the theme of madness. Chapter 9 deals with the "death" of God in the 20th century, a time of blood and darkness in which the absence of the divine was felt very acutely. Simultaneously it was and still is an era of magnificent scientific progress, which is tied in with the third part of the book that explores the science of cosmology as it enters the realm of religion. Many popular books by prominent scientists, like Hawking's A Brief History of Time, are attempts at making the latest knowledge available to the general public. Friedman provides an overview of the history of Big Bang theory and presents a careful and intriguing comparison with the creation model of the Kabbalah, with particular reference to the Zohar.
He discusses the concept of God inhering in the universe according to some cosmological theories which mirrors the ideas of the Zohar. In other words, creation is a part of God. This is not simple pantheism, and I was surprised that Friedman never uses the word panentheism as that is what he describes. He mentions the central role of consciousness with reference to Roger Penrose and talks about the Kabbalistic idea of restoration called Tikkun.
The final chapter addresses divine-human reunion by looking at the connections between the 3 mysteries and how they illuminate one another. Here the writing becomes a bit repetitive as previous chapters are revisited. All of the 3 are outer reflections of the search for relationship, about communities and trace the path of Western civilization, revealing where we began and where we stand now. Friedman believes humanity is at a crossroads, on the verge of "coming of age." There are 25pp of notes arranged by chapter, a bibliography of works cited, acknowledgements and an index.
Unfortunately there is a huge crater in Friedman's reasoning - the mammoth in the midst of the earth. Since he's a formidable scholar, it cannot be ignorance so it must have been a deliberate omission. Almost exactly in the middle of the cruelest century in human existence, a great miracle occurred. That was the 1948 rebirth of Israel as a sovereign nation as predicted in the Bible. And the great aliyah continues. Moreover, these are PUBLIC miracles, witnessed by the whole earth. Friedman missed the obvious - so only 4 stars for this book.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
New mutations of the mental virus, 24 Sep 2009
Muslim immigration to the Western world and Europe in particular has brought Islamic anti-Semitism in contact with its western residues in the host societies. Raphael Israeli reveals how the elemental anti-Semitism of Islam interacts with two residual varieties of the European tradition, that of the xenophobic Right & the anti-Zionist Left. Andrew Bostom has produced the definitive work on the Islamic ingredient which is now being mixed with those of the 20th century's secular salvationist ideologies that caused so much death and destruction. This work investigates the nature, ideology and major themes of this new mutation in the West.
The immigrant version itself is a blend derived from Islam's foundational texts and the European virus whence derives the blood libel, calumnies of 'poisoning' & the conspiracy theories that surfaced in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a bestseller in the Muslim world today. The author points out something that is rarely mentioned but quite significant: Attempts to analyze anti-Semitism have relied mainly on rational tools that are unsuitable to measure or explain an irrational phenomenon.
European governments are increasingly unable to protect their Jewish citizens. The book provides data on the alarming rise of attacks on Jews in the UK and on the continent. The impotence of the authorities is demonstrated by e.g. the Community Security Trust in the UK whereby Jews provide their own security. Israeli assesses the situation in various European countries where immigrants maintain their ethno-religious attachments. In Reflections on the Revolution In Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West, Christopher Caldwell cites an estimate of 15 million in Western Europe: 5 million in France, 4 million in Germany and 2 million in Britain. Raphael Israeli suggests -- for the European Union as a whole -- a figure as high as 30 million.
Whatever the exact number, there's no disputing the fact that immigrants are becoming majorities in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Strasbourg, Marseille, the Parisian suburbs, parts of London and Malmö. The 2005 unrest in France and that surrounding the 2006 Danish cartoon controversy plus the threat of terrorism have had repercussions involving restrictions on movement, media freedom and civil liberties.
It is claimed that about 15% of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims are radicals or fundamentalists. But it is the standards of these that characterize the Islamic world. The concept of Jihad undermines respect for life as proved by the violence against their co-religionists in Afghanistan, Algeria, Darfur, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority, Somalia, Syria & Yemen. In so-called "moderate" Egypt and Jordan, clerics use the same Qur'anic verses to incite violence whilst Saudi Arabia is the foremost funder of Wahhabism in the West.
The hatred of Europe's alienated immigrants is fed by (a) Qur'anic verses, the Hadith and the Sirah (biography of Muhammad) (b) the vast body of Christian Anti-Semitic literature which was spread in the Arab World in colonial times (c) Contemporary propaganda on the plight of the Palestinians disseminated by both Arab and Western media such as the BBC and newspapers like The Guardian and Sweden's Aftonbladet. The Palestinian theme is used to transfer propaganda from Mullah to Media. This Red-Green Axis is becoming ever more mainstream as sophisticated artists and authors wield their talents against Israel.
Unlike in the West where the distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is (at least superficially) maintained in mainstream media, the brazen anti-Semitism in countries like Somalia and Saudi Arabia is tellingly revealed in Ayaan Hirsi Ali's recollections of her childhood. The crude caricatures in the Arab print media have been exposed in a book by Arieh Stav and the infamous Protocols was made into a popular TV series in the Arab world.
The aforementioned distinction has been challenged by Bernard Harrison in The Resurgence of Anti-Semitism which shows how ancient imagery is being revived in publications like The New Statesman, whilst recently the largest-circulation Swedish newspaper revived the blood libel in a grotesque story about organ harvesting. Holocaust Denial has become the preferred way of expressing the ancient hatred among most anti-Semites.
One strategy is to use Christians for spreading the message. The motives of some vocal anti-Zionists from the Middle East's oppressed Christian communities are obviously to stay on the safe side of their Muslim rulers. Others, like The Sabeel Ecumenical Center of the liberation theologian Naim Ateek are transparent ideologues who aim to rally Christian opposition to Israel amongst liberal protestants whose weapon of choice is divestment, as documented by Paul Charles Merkley. Sabeel has ties to liberal churches in North America and the UK where its allies include the Anglican author Stephen Sizer who specializes in targeting Christian Zionism. And then there's the shameless propagandist Jimmy Carter and the paleoconservative Patrick Buchanan.
In the chapter Battling Anti-Semitism in the West the author deals with the phenomenon of influential Jewish individuals who blame Israel first, the Israeli Left, Israel's humanitarian assistance to the world and Jewish support for left-liberal parties like the Democrats, UK Labor and the French Socialists. These are universalist-humanist endeavors to appease anti-Semites; some individuals go as far as denying their Jewish identity in the process. Also here the author quotes the moving 2005 article by the Spanish journalist Sebastian Vilar Rodriguez in which the Holocaust is contrasted with the massive immigration after the Second World War. Unfortunately European governments continue to have a roaring trade with Iran.
On the global stage the West is unwilling to take meaningful action against the soon-to-be-nuclear Ayatollocracy, its terrorist proxies Hamas & Hezbollah and its ally Syria. The book concludes with a summary, bibliography and index. If things look bleak, supporters of Israel ought to take courage from the book The Dawn: Political Teachings of the Book of Esther by Yoram Hazony. Indifference and fear are the foes; taking action will lead to victory over the enemies of civilization.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Europe's uncertain future, 24 Sep 2009
With approximately 500 million people, the European Union currently comprises Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Potential members include Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia whilst Norway, Switzerland and the microstates of Andorra, Lichtenstein, Monaco, San Marino & the Vatican are totally dependent on the EU.
However, Caldwell's book is about Western Europe, an addition to the growing corpus on the demographic transformation taking place in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Spain. This literature includes Oriana Fallaci's The Force of Reason and The Rage & The Pride that are inspired and passionate polemics of hair-raising political incorrectness.
In Eurabia, Bat Ye'or documents the agreements reached between the then-European Economic Community and the Arab states after the 1973 Yom Kippur War by means of the EAD (Euro-Arab Dialogue) and the Parliamentary Association for Euro-Arab Co-operation (PAEAC).
Bruce Bawer's While Europe Slept is an arresting mix of personal experience & analyses with the emphasis on Norway and The Netherlands whilst the witty Menace in Europe by Claire Berlinski is a perceptive travelogue comparing European history & archetypal personalities of the sinister sort with current trends and the "black-market" nationalism thriving underneath the EU veneer. In contrast, Walter Laqueur laments The Last Days of Europe in a resigned and melancholy manner.
Caldwell takes a scholarly approach by analyzing the region's post-war culture, the 1960s cultural revolution, its political elites & the Brussels Eurocracy, welfare statism and multiculturalism. He explores immigration patterns since the end of World War II, the way these have irrevocably altered the demographics as well as the prevailing attitudes of native Europeans & unassimilated communities.
The guest worker programmes of the 1950s were soon complemented by liberal asylum policies that resulted in massive population movements into Western Europe. Caldwell argues that the gates were flung wide open by its political & business elites. The voters were always opposed to immigration but European consensus-style politics offered them no choice.
Unlike the melting pot of the USA, very little integration took place so that Western Europe now consists of two societies between which resentment is growing. The North African, Middle Eastern & South Asian immigrants arrived with their cultures that they weren't expected to adapt; Europeans had no desire and made no meaningful efforts to integrate them. Today, gender equality and secularism are the main issues that divide whilst Anti-Americanism and Anti-Zionism are shared by natives and newcomers.
Among the stream of immigrants there were many opportunists that exploited the generous welfare benefits, the money for which was available because the United States took responsibility for the defense of Europe. Caldwell holds the opinion that the continent never needed foreign workers; that they were imported to satisfy a psychological need of the elites to establish a Eutopian cult of tolerance.
As penance for the Holocaust, the bureaucrats building the EU enshrined multiculturalism and demonized nationalism, as if it were that simple. It is not nationalism per se but the expression thereof that may be good or evil. The author brilliantly captures the contradictions in the words of the secular political class that miserably misjudged the force of faith.
Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Strasbourg, Marseille, Malmö, the Parisian suburbs and Eastern London will have Muslim majorities within a decade or two. Exact figures are hard to ascertain so estimates of the unassimilated population of Western Europe vary between the extremes of 15 million & 30 million whilst their fertility rates are far above those of native Europeans. Increased numbers bring about greater assertiveness. Thus far, the desire for consensus across the political spectrum with its resultant censorship has succeeded in containing the unease of native Europeans.
But escalating crime, the murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh, the 2005 riots in France and those following the Denmark cartoon controversy the next year, plus the threats against Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders bode ill. Worst of all, the ancestral Antisemitism of the alienated communities have been reinforced by the continent's residual forms of the mental virus, especially the leftist, anti-Zionist strain that is so prominent in the mainstream media.
Accelerating demographic, legal, political, religious and social transformation could trigger major upheaval. Caldwell notes that terms like 'majority' & 'minority' become meaningless when an insecure, relativistic culture is challenged by a confident one infused with religious zeal. The secular welfare state is simply no match for a resurgent faith that is determined to dominate.
Two books by the French philosopher Chantal Delsol are of inestimable value in understanding what led to Europe's current predicament: Icarus Fallen and The Unlearned Lessons Of the Twentieth Century. Other informative works dealing with various aspects of Europe's weakness and the way it imperils Western Civilization include Londonistan by Melanie Phillips, Decline and Fall: Europe's Slow Motion Suicide by Bruce S Thornton and Muslim Anti-Semitism in Christian Europe by Raphael Israeli.
|
|
|
|
