Desire of the Everlasting Hills

November 1, 1999
Cahill, no stranger to sweeping historical narratives (The Gifts of the Jews; How the Irish Saved Civilization), triumphs again with this imaginatively written account of Jesus and the early Christian Church. Cahill begins in the manner of most Jesus books, with the Greco-Roman world of the three centuries before Jesus, but here Greece and Rome come to life in Cahill's depiction of their violent despotism. Cahill has an eye for the common person's experience of war, famine and religious upheaval, and it is with this vantage point that he shows readers why Jesus' message of peace and forgiveness was so very startling. Cahill is familiar with biblical scholarship of the origins of the Gospels and their various theological differences, but he is more interested in how ordinary folks might have received Jesus, whom he portrays as "no ivory-tower philosopher but a down-to-earth man" who "hugely enjoyed a good dinner with friends." Although this idea is by no means original, Cahill presents Jesus with infectious energy, and his take on Mary is certainly fresh. "With her keen sense of retributive justice," as evidenced in the Magnificat, Cahill writes, Mary was disappointed with Jesus' odd admonitions to turn the other cheek--she had been "counting on something with more testosterone in it." The best chapter of all is on Paul, whose theological contributions are beautifully recapitulated for the layperson (Cahill also rightly highlights "Paul's perceptiveness, even craftiness, in dealing with other human beings"). There are a few glosses in the book, including instances in which Cahill elevates pious legend to fact; for example, he asserts that the remains of Simon Peter's home "may still be seen at Capernaum, when in fact the home's history has by no means been stablished. Overall, however this is an engrossing portrait of Jesus through the eyes of His family and followers.

July 1, 1999
From the author of How the Irish Saved Civilization: a surprising look at Jesus of Nazareth. A BOMC main selection.

Copyright 1999 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2000
YA-Cahill's book, the third in the series, deals with the historical Jesus in terms of His times. The first pages set the scene for His birth, beginning with Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great. This look at the extent of Alexander's conquests and, later, at the Roman Empire, shows the unimportance, geographically, of the area in which Jesus lived and died. Nevertheless, the politics were complicated: states and rulers came and went, as did tribes, sects, and various peoples over the centuries. Although it's hard to keep track of all of this, the writing is so lively that one really doesn't care. Even the footnotes are interesting. Much of the book deals with the Gospels and how their writing fit into the century after Christ's death. Paul and the four Gospel writers are limned and their writing styles and content put into the context of their personalities and times. Thus, readers see how very radical Christ's message was for its time. In the last chapter, Cahill answers the question posed in his introduction: has the life of Jesus made a difference? While pointing out counterarguments, he answers in the affirmative. One of the book's strengths is the absence of proselytizing, while at the same time showing what a different world this would be had Jesus not lived.-Judy McAloon, Potomac Library, Prince William County, VA

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 1999
This installment of Cahill's Hinges of History series proves to be as evocative, honest, and enlightening as his first two best-sellers, "How the Irish Saved Civilization" (1995) and "The Gifts of the Jews" (1998). By critically examining the history surrounding Jesus' own lifetime, he addresses the question, Did the life and death of Jesus make any difference to society, both modern and ancient? In doing so, Cahill counts himself among the retinue of the "historical Jesus" camp, those scholars who feel it necessary to understand Jesus as a historical personage and to decipher the customs of the early church in order to get the gist of Christianity and its "true" message. Yet this book is not bogged down by either heady sophisticated biblical scholarship or theological wanderings. Instead, Cahill presents the Gospel narratives, the Pauline letters, and the history of the early church with an ebullient vernacular that any layperson, Christian or non-Christian, can appreciate. Cahill, perhaps problematically, presents his opinions in such a matter-of-fact way that his hypotheses are presented as proven truths. He occasionally dismisses well-researched, oft-debated scholarship with a single, arrogant hand-swipe, especially if it doesn't reason well with his own theories. Although what Jesus has taught and said may never be agreed upon, the influence Christianity has had on society, even in these postmodern, secular times, is unquestionable. Cahill delights and fascinates in exposing strange twists of history by engaging new and lively perspectives on ancient debates, and here he does it very well indeed. ((Reviewed October 1, 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)

November 15, 1999
Cahill, author of The Gifts of the Jews, gives us a wonderfully interesting but curious book on "the historical Jesus" and the early church. Written from a conservative perspective, the work is a readable synthesis of Jesus scholarship. Beginning with a fascinating portrayal of Alexander the Great, Cahill helps us understand the Greeks, Romans, and Jews as providing context for Jesus' life and teachings. He examines the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, and he engagingly describes Mary as a strong young Jewish woman. Curiously, however, despite many helpful sidebars on ancient terms, ideas, and persons, and despite his deep knowledge of New Testament scholarship, Cahill tends to smooth over thorny debates about the differences among the four Gospels. Still, the reader is generally treated to an articulate and sweeping account. Written in an intelligent and devotional style, this book is highly recommended for both public and academic libraries.--David Bourquin, California State Univ., San Bernardino

Copyright 1999 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.