One of America's foremost scholars of religion examines the tumultuous era that gave birth to the modern Judeo-Christian traditionIn The Crucible of Faith; Philip Jenkins argues that much of the Judeo-Christian tradition we know today was born between 250-50 BCE; during a turbulent "Crucible Era." It was during these years that Judaism grappled with Hellenizing forces and produced new religious ideas that reflected and responded to their changing world. By the time of the fall of the Temple in 70 CE; concepts that might once have seemed bizarre became normalized-and thus passed on to Christianity and later Islam. Drawing widely on contemporary sources from outside the canonical Old and New Testaments; Jenkins reveals an era of political violence and social upheaval that ultimately gave birth to entirely new ideas about religion; the afterlife; Creation and the Fall; and the nature of God and Satan.
#72049 in Books Bee Wilson 2013-10-08 2013-10-08Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.25 x 1.00 x 5.50l; .79 #File Name: 0465056970352 pagesConsider the Fork
Review
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Tasty; but with a few bitter bitsBy Caddis Nymph; Western MassachusettsIf you're interesting in cooking; this is the book for you. Didn't know that mortar and pestles have been around for 20;000 years? True; apparently. The overbite that humans have? Only 200-250 years since that developed; before that; top teeth met bottom teeth in the front of the mouth to make tearing meat from the bone directly more efficient. Changes in eating habits made for changes to the jaw. Amazing.Anyway; great info about food preparation through the ages; development of kitchen gizmos and labor-saving devices (especially once slaves and indentured labor disappeared from homes of the wealthy). Neat info like Americans are the only cooks in the world to use measuring cups and measuring spoons; everyone else measures in their hand or with their fingers (just a pinch) ... who knew? And some measure by weighing each ingredient; apparently much more exact.Charmingly written; like having a conversation; though a bit more editorial attention would have been helpful. A few words are glitched almost as though the ebook was scanned from a print copy; but howlers like the following show up every once in a while:"This whirling mechanism was a big improvement on quern still took two the basic quern; but a large rotary women to operate; one to feed in the grain and one to keep turning it." Huh? I swear I read that six times and still can't figure out what it might have been originally; how many sentences are jumbled together; or what. ('Quern' I got because it's explained elsewhere - it's the bottom part of a circular grain mill against which the upper stone is rotated to grind the grain.)So; I recommend the book despite the few puzzles that appear here and there. Graphically excellent; illustrations are crisp and clear (though I don't understand why fractions are sometimes displayed as graphics; one doesn't need a picture of 7/16" when the numerals as text are fine; typographically okay; formatted fine on my Kindle Keyboard.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Some tighter editing would have made this book much better..By nonstopreaderSome tighter editing would have made this book much better.... but overall; the content is fascinating and is reasonably accurate. Very easily gobbled up in a day. While I would have preferred specific Chicago style end notes; general notes are provided; as is a bibliography for those who wish to fact check and research further. I enjoyed it. I'm not sure why the Kindle version has so many typos; but this seems to be a common complaint. I bought; and will always buy; a hard copy to read. I've tried; but I don't care for Kindle at all.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A fun read about cooking tools and history of cooking in general but far more than that!By pbk63If you enjoy cooking ....or just enjoy eating....this book is a fun and entertaining read. But it is also far more than that. Combining anthropology and archaeology this well researched and documented book reveals far more than the history of apparatus and how cooking has changed. I discovered this book while reading a novel in which one of the characters was reading the book. I am glad that I ordered it for myself. Despite its contents heavy on history and science it is eminently readable. I bought it for my daughter for Christmas thinking she would enjoy it. Decided to read it myself and am so glad that I did. Written by a British writer it has a European and British tilt but for me that makes it all the more interesting. I think you will be surprised at the breadth of knowledge imparted you would never have thought about and certainly never associated with cooking much less the apparatus used for cooking. Covering the history of various cooking tools; both those that work and those discarded anyone interested at all in the subject of food will find this a tasty read. If there were six stars I would give it to this book and can highly recommend it both to the culinary inclined; those interested in history as well as the general reader.
