Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World before and after Jesus

by Thomas Cahill Narrated by Brian F. O'Byrne

Overview

NATIONAL BESTSELLER ¿*From the bestselling author of How the Irish Saved Civilization comes a compelling historical narrative about Jesus-an obscure rabbi from a backwater of the Roman Empire who became the central figure in Western Civilization.

"Divertingly instructive...gratifying...[Cahill] makes Jesus a still-living literary presence." -The New York Times

In his subtle and engaging investigation into the life and times of Jesus, Thomas*Cahill shows us Jesus from his birth to his execution through the eyes of those who knew him and in the context of his time-a time when the Jews were struggling to maintain their beliefs under overlords who imposed their worldview on their subjects. Here is Jesus the loving friend, itinerate preacher, and quiet revolutionary, whose words and actions inspired his followers to journey throughout the Roman world and speak the truth he instilled-in the face of the greatest defeat: Jesus' crucifixion as a common criminal. Daring, provocative, and stunningly original, Cahill's interpretation will both delight and surprise.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

From the author of How the Irish Saved Civilization: a surprising look at Jesus of Nazareth. A BOMC main selection. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

From the Publisher

"Divertingly instructive...gratifying...[Cahill] makes Jesus a still-living literary presence." —The New York Times

"Engaging...Cahill strips away the pious accretions of 2000 years so that a picture of Jesus as an actual human being emerges." —BookPage

"A deft march through time and through theology in the making...[Cahill's] own gift-giving is his ability to climb inside the scholarship and enliven it." —Philadelphia Inquirer

"Cahill constructs his stories as occassions for celebration...He seeks to encourage a sense of appreciation for the gifts offered the present from the past...Each of his books offers moments of genuine insight into the workings of culture, literature, and the human heart." —Luke Timothy Johnson, Commonweal

"Compelling...powerful...Cahill is a convivial storyteller."—Portland Oregonian

OCT/NOV 00 - AudioFile

Thomas Cahill’s newest book is subtitled “The World Before and After Jesus.” In truth, it’s his commentary on the New Testament, the way his THE GIFTS OF THE JEWS was his take on the Old Testament. Using language lay readers will find highly accessible, he discusses the historic and social context of the period. Then, in turn, he examines each of the New Testament authors, showing how they were shaped and how they shaped later Christianity. Cahill’s writing is straightforward and translates well to audio. Brian F. O’Byrne’s Irish accent gives a flavor to the reading without interfering with the material. And when O’Byrne reads passages from different Bible translations, especially the King James, one is glad to be listening, rather than merely reading. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169943283
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	07/05/2000
Series:	Hinges of History Series , #3
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Of the many enigmas of John's Gospel nothing is more mysterious than the story that does not belong there. It interrupts the flow of John's tightly stitched scheme of narration, and though, like many Johannine episodes, it gives a starring role to a woman, its supple Greek has all the characteristics of Luke's pen:

At daybreak, Jesus appeared again in the Temple precincts; and when all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them. Then did the scribes and Pharisees drag a woman forward who had been discovered in adultery and forced her to stand there in the midst of everyone.

"Teacher," said they to him, "this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. Now, in the Torah Moses ordered us to stone such women. But you—what have you to say about it?" (They posed this question to trap him, so that they might have something to use against him.)

But Jesus just bent down and started doodling in the dust with his finger. When they persisted in their questioning, he straightened up and said, "He among you who is sinless—let him cast the first stone at her." And he bent down again and continued sketching in the sand.

When they heard this, they went away one by one, starting with the oldest, until the last one was gone; and he was left alone with the woman, who still stood where they had made her stand. So Jesus straightened up and said, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, sir," answered she.

"Nor do I condemn you," said Jesus. "You are free to go. But from now on, avoid this sin."
This entire passage sounds like the Synoptics and could easily be slipped into Luke's Gospel at 21:38, where it wouldmake a perfect fit. It was, in fact, excised from Luke, after which it floated around the Christian churches without a proper home, until some scribe squeezed it into a manuscript of John, where he thought it might best belong. But why was it excised in the first place? Because the early Church did not forgive adultery (and other major sins) and did not wish to propagate the contradictory impression that the Lord forgave what the Church refused to forgive. The Great Church quickly became far more interested in discipline and order than Jesus had ever shown himself to be. This excision is our first recorded instance of ecclesiastical censorship—only for the best reasons, of course (which is how censors always justify themselves).The anarchic Johannine church had had good reason for its reluctance to attach itself to the Great Church, which it knew would clip its wings; and for all we know, it was a Johannine scribe who crammed the story of the aborted stoning into a copy of John's Gospel, thus saving it for posterity.

The passage itself shows up the tyrannical mindlessness that tradition, custom, and authority can exercise within a society. The text of the Torah that the scribes and Pharisees cite to Jesus is Leviticus 20:10, which reads, "The man who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife will be put to death, he and the woman." Jesus, doodler in the dust and reader of hearts, knows the hard, unjust, and self-deceiving hearts he is dealing with. He does not bother to dispute the text with them, by which he could have asked the obvious question "How can you catch a woman in the act without managing to catch her male partner?" He goes straight to the heart of the matter: the bad conscience of each individual, the ultimate reason no one has the right to judge anyone else.

How marvelous that in the midst of John's sometimes oppressive solemnities, the wry and smiling Jesus of the Synoptic gospels, the Jesus the apostles knew, the holy fool, still plays his holy game, winning his laughing victory over the stunned and stupid forces of evil. This is the same Jesus who tells us that hell is filled with those who turned their backs on the poor and needy—the very people they were meant to help—but that, no matter what the Church may have taught in the many periods of its long, eventful history, no matter what a given society may deem "sexual transgression," hell is not filled with those who, for whatever reason, awoke in the wrong bed. Nor does he condemn us.


From the Audio CD (Unabridged) edition.

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