Paul: The Mind of the Apostle

Art Cunningham gave this to me years ago, and it's been gathering dust on my shelf, but I decided to give it a whirl after reading Karen Armstrong's book on the Bible.

Paul made Christianity into a mystery religion, similar to Mithraism and the salvation found through Hercules, where salvation comes though faith in the cross. It was a much different movement from that of the Way, the church in Jerusalem, or from that of Jesus, a devout and fervent Jew and faith healer in the backwater ports of Galilee. Paul was an urban citizen of the empire who claimed to know Jesus better than Paul  or James, because he had had visions and prophecies of the "true" word of god. This led to his break with the church in Jerusalem as well as from Judaism.

Paul also made it clear that man is utter depraved and unable to do good by himself, for himself. It is only through the love of god through the crucifixion that man can be saved. For Paul, that meant the imminent coming of Jesus where the saved would escape the wrath of God when the kingdom is re-established in Israel and all the gentile worship the one true god. This leads to a poignant scene when Paul is whisked away from Jerusalem and taken to Caesarea without the end having come. 

Wilson makes it clear that Christianity would probably not have lasted without Paul's stamp, although it was not a religion or a movement that Jesus would have recognized or endorsed. It was a fascinating book that read much like a novel.

Author: Wilson, A. N.

Date Published: 1994

Length: 258 pp

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The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians

This turned out to be an old set of lectures that Bury made when he assumed the chair at Cambridge. It has all the makings of the sage on the stage but was still enjoyable.

I really did begin to consolidate some knowledge about the movements of the Germanic peoples during the later stages of the Roman Empire, from the movement of the Eastern Germans into the transRhine and transDanube region. Then it appears that the Visigoths moved into the empire first, in the 370's or so, followed roughly by movements of the Vandals across the middle part of Europe, through Spain, and thence to Africa. Turns out that a much of the "Germanic invasion" comes through the miscalculation of Stilicho as he removes legions from the Rhine to meet the advance of the Visigoths under Alaric. The Ostrogoths followed roughly a hundred years later, and essentially brought the empire to an end, although Bury is quick to point out that they just saw themselves as federati and protectors of the western empire under the dominion of the Emperor in Constantinople. 

I was surprised that Bury did not cover the reconquest of the west and the extinction of the Vandals and the Ostrogoths under Justinian. But he does clarify the movement of the Burgundians, the Franks, and finally the Lombardi into Germany, France, and Italy, with the growing ascendancy of the Franks, especially after Clovis made close deals with the Roman Catholic Church. The abrupt ending and the gaps, especially the lack of material on Justinian's recapture of the Western empire, make me wonder if not all the material was made into this book.

Author: Bury, J. B.

Date Published: 1928

Length: 8hr 3min

Narrator: Griffin, Charlton

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Another rereading of a classic from my early 20's. It's hard to realize that the novel is really Chief Bromden's book, whereas the play belongs almost solely to Randall P. McMurphy. It's easy to picture Kesey himself in McMurphy's role.

One of the highlights, I think, is Bromden coming out of electro-shock. It has imagery that could come straight out of Kesey's drug experiences. Also, the Chief stops hearing voices and the noises of the combine pretty much when McMurphy gets him to talk. Nurse Ratchid also comes off as much colder and more calculating in the book than she does in the play.

Using the Chief really changes the tenor of the book, and I think it may be one of the great narrators of literature, especially as he is able to spy on the Nurse's meetings with the staff and give so much more background to the book. The chief goes back to Addy Brundren or even to Sound and Fury. (Brudren = Bromden???) And Mc Murphy comes off as a Christ figure in the book. Although he may seem a selfish pigface, it's clear that he sticks around for Billy's soiree. And it's clear that that's why he attacks the nurse. The chief says that it was inevitable, even if McMurphy had left. It is a great anti-establishment novel as well as a great novel of drug stream of consciousness.

Author: Kesey, Ken

Date Published: 1962

Length: 13hr 26min

Narrator: Hammer, Mark

The Bible, A Biography

Karen Armstrong lite, again. She tries to cover too much ground, too much time, in such a short book. The heart of the book is showing how the different writings became the book that we know as the Bible and then how different times and people have read and interpreted the Bible.

The best part of the book, I think, is her take on how the religion of the temple became the religion of the book, first in Josiah's remodeling of the temple when Hilkiah suddenly "found" the lost books of Moses, then in the Babylonian captivity, finally with the destruction of the temple by the Romans.

Armstrong carefully maintains that the different strands really represent a rewriting and a reinterpretation of the religion that wasn't really codified until much, much later. The same is true of the Jesus movement that gained momentum when the temple was destroyed and then was codified as part of the state religion after Constantine's conversion.

The rest of the book is about the different ways that the Bible has been read and interpreted, and Armstrong is at pains to show that literalism and "inerrancy" is really a huge mistake that misunderstands what the Bible and historical context is all about. She returns to her long standing thesis that when the mythos side of man's psyche is undervalued or ignored, it will often crop back up in grotesque and strident forms, as has happened since the Enlightenment.

Author: Armstrong, Karen

Date Published: 2007

Length: 212 pp

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Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton is probably the least favorite of the "founding fathers/brothers," but probably the most influential in establishing the American government and the American economy. If Chernow is to be believed, Hamilton almost single-handedly established the executive branch of the government, and then fought like crazy to keep Adams and Jefferson from dismantling what he had accomplished.

Chernow also makes clear that Hamilton's greatness came because Washington was able to keep him in check. When the two went their separate ways, Hamilton became a curmudgeon and really kind of lost a lot of his perspective. He also became a bundle of contradictions, as seen in his increasing religiosity, his affair with Mariah Reynolds, and even his duel with Aaron Burr--he refused to shoot to kill--all the while condemning dueling, especially after his eldest son was killed in a duel. 

A fairly poignant story about his wife Eliza, who was faced with his debts and with raising the family alone after Hamilton was killed. Chernow really does turn Hamilton's critics, especially Jefferson, Madison, and Adams, into buffoons and hypocrites, and at times I felt like he had become Hamilton's publicist and apologist over 200 years after the fact.

Author: Chernow, Ron

Date Published: 2004

Length: 36hr 58min

Narrator: Brick, Scott