The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis
by Leon R. Kass
List Price:
Our Price: $14.10
You Save: $9.90 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $10.23 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Leon R. KassEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-03-15
ISBN: 0226425673
Number of pages: 716
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Book Reviews of The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis
Book Review: Excellent for the Wisdom Seeker
Summary: 5 Stars
The Beginning of Wisdom is a wondrous product resulting from many years of teaching and reflection on the book of Genesis by biochemist and ethicist, Leon Kass. This book makes Genesis accessible for those who perhaps depend too greatly on rationalization and struggle with faith. Rather than using theological or literary approaches, Kass extracts meaning from the Bible with a philosophical and wisdom seeking spirit. The resulting work is an enjoyable feast of a multitude of insights about human nature, marriage, families, politics, etc.
`The Beginning of Wisdom' is broken into two parts. The first part is more abstract and metaphorical since it focuses on stories from the Garden of Eden to the Tower of Babel. The tone of the second part, which focuses on Abraham and his descendents, is more explanatory and reads like play-by-play commentary.
When it comes to Biblical exegesis a reader should always be skeptical of one persons interpretation especially if they're unfamiliar with their work. Fortunately I found Kass' conclusions well reasoned, albeit a little verbose. With some editing the book could've been cut down to 500 or even 400 pages but Kass' detailed analysis and conversational tone compels the reader to commit through his 700pg text. Rarely does Kass make wild extrapolations never deviating from what is explicitly stated in the Bible. If he does, he admits as he did when he tried to draw connections between the creation story and Darwinism, but what would you expect from a biochemist?
On a side note, one of the downsides of the growing secularization of society is that many discard the Bible as a sexist relic of ancient superstition. As Kass reinforces with his book, nothing can be further from the truth. Even for the atheist with an open mind, the Bible can serve as tremendously rich source of wisdom that can teach us about who we are as self-conscious creatures struggling to make sense out of our existence.
This book is highly recommended.
Summary of The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis
As ardent debates over creationism fill the front pages of newspapers, Genesis has never been more timely. And as Leon R. Kass shows in The Beginning of Wisdom, it?s also timeless.
Examining Genesis in a philosophical light, Kass presents it not as a story of what happened long ago, but as the enduring story of humanity itself. He asserts that the first half of Genesis contains insights about human nature that ?rival anything produced by the great philosophers.? Kass here reads these first stories?from Adam and Eve to the tower of Babel?as a mirror for self-discovery that reveals truths about human reason, speech, freedom, sexual desire, pride, shame, anger, and death. Taking a step further in the second half of his book, Kass explores the struggles in Genesis to launch a new way of life that addresses mankind?s morally ambiguous nature by promoting righteousness and holiness.
Even readers who don?t agree with Kass?s interpretations will find The Beginning of Wisdom a compelling book?a masterful philosophical take on one of the world?s seminal religious texts.
Examining Genesis in a philosophical light, Kass presents it not as a story of what happened long ago, but as the enduring story of humanity itself. He asserts that the first half of Genesis contains insights about human nature that ?rival anything produced by the great philosophers.? Kass here reads these first stories?from Adam and Eve to the tower of Babel?as a mirror for self-discovery that reveals truths about human reason, speech, freedom, sexual desire, pride, shame, anger, and death. Taking a step further in the second half of his book, Kass explores the struggles in Genesis to launch a new way of life that addresses mankind?s morally ambiguous nature by promoting righteousness and holiness.
Even readers who don?t agree with Kass?s interpretations will find The Beginning of Wisdom a compelling book?a masterful philosophical take on one of the world?s seminal religious texts.
?Extraordinary. . . . Its analyses and hypotheses will leave no reader?s understanding of Genesis unchanged.? ?New York Times
?A learned and fluent, delightfully overstuffed stroll through the Gates of Eden. . . . Mix Harold Bloom with Stephen Jay Gould and you?ll get something like Kass. A wonderfully intelligent reading of Genesis.??Kirkus Reviews, starred review
?Throughout his book, Kass uses fruitful, fascinating techniques for getting at the heart of Genesis. . . . Innumerable times [he] makes a reader sit back and rethink what has previously been tediously familiar or baffling.??Washington Post
?It is important to state that this is a book not merely rich, but prodigiously rich with insight. Kass is a marvelous reader, sensitive and careful. His interpretations surprise again and again with their cogency and poignancy.??Jerusalem Post
?A learned and fluent, delightfully overstuffed stroll through the Gates of Eden. . . . Mix Harold Bloom with Stephen Jay Gould and you?ll get something like Kass. A wonderfully intelligent reading of Genesis.??Kirkus Reviews, starred review
?Throughout his book, Kass uses fruitful, fascinating techniques for getting at the heart of Genesis. . . . Innumerable times [he] makes a reader sit back and rethink what has previously been tediously familiar or baffling.??Washington Post
?It is important to state that this is a book not merely rich, but prodigiously rich with insight. Kass is a marvelous reader, sensitive and careful. His interpretations surprise again and again with their cogency and poignancy.??Jerusalem Post
Reference Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Reference Books
Jesus I Never Knew, Theby Philip Yancey
Zondervan; Published: 1999-11-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $14.94
Price in other shops:
The Jesus I Never Knew (Limited Edition)by Philip Yancey
Zondervan; Published: 1999-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
How to Read the Bible for It's Worthby Gordon D Fee
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd; Published: 1990-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.74
Ephesians (NIV Application Commentary, The)by Klyne Snodgrass
Zondervan; Published: 2008-08-01; CD-ROM; Book
Price in other shops:
Basics of Biblical Greek Workbookby William D. Mounce
Zondervan; Published: 2009-11-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.96
Price in other shops:
The Jewish Study Bible: featuring The Jewish Publication Society TANAKH TranslationOxford University Press, USA; Published: 2003-09; Leather Bound; Book
Price in other shops:
God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Sufferby Bart D. Ehrman
HarperOne; Published: 2008-02-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.70
Price in other shops:
God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Sufferby Bart D. Ehrman
HarperOne; Published: 2009-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Idioms in the Bible Explained and a Key to the Original Gospelsby George M. Lamsa
Harper; Published: 1985-10-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.51
Price in other shops:
The Sermon on the Mount: The Key to Success in Lifeby Emmet Fox
HarperOne; Published: 1989-09-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Apostle Paul: An Introduction to His Writings and Teachingby Marion L. Soards
Paulist Pr; Published: 1986-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.01
Price in other shops:
Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalismby Alvin Plantinga
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2011-12-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.99
Price in other shops:
Creation and Fall Temptation: Two Biblical Studiesby Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Touchstone; Published: 1997-03-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.20
Price in other shops:
The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesisby Leon R. Kass
Free Press / Simon & Schuster; Published: 2003-05-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.95
Price in other shops:
Eschatology: Death and Eternal Lifeby Joseph Ratzinger
Catholic University of America Press; Published: 2007-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.40
Price in other shops:
Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God (Cornell Studies in the Philosophy of Religion)by Marilyn McCord Adams
Cornell University Press; Published: 2000-09-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.83
Price in other shops:
The Big Questions in Science and Religionby Keith Ward
Templeton Press; Published: 2008-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.98
Price in other shops:
An Interpretation of Religion: Human Responses to the Transcendent, Second Editionby John Hick
Yale University Press; Published: 2005-02-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.04
Price in other shops:
The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentaryby Robert Alter
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2008-10-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.69
Price in other shops:
The Hungry Soul: Eating and the Perfecting of Our Natureby Leon R. Kass
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 1999-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.30
Price in other shops: