Judging Books by Their Covers

The saying "You can't judge a book by its cover" is definitely true of a recently released book entitled Jesus Beyond Christianity: The Classic Texts (Oxford University Press, 2010). Edited by Gregory Barker and Stephen Gregg, Jesus Beyond Christianity is a collection of literary works from different world religions that mention something about the person, life, and work of Jesus Christ.

The subtitle claims that the book deals with "The Classic Texts". While we can busy ourselves splitting hairs about precise definitions, the word "classic" often deals with anything pertaining to the ancient Greek or Roman world. Perhaps "ancient" is the key word here. Or to be generous we can settle on the word "old".

When a writer or editor claims to be dealing with "classic texts" I, at the very least, expect to find documents dating back to the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans. I want to read old things. When I opened Jesus Beyond Christianity what I found was a mix of new and old literature. Among the new documents were selections from 20th century writers such as Muslim scholar Ghulam Ahmad Parwez and the current Dalai Lama. Selections by Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist scholars were written some time within the past two hundred years.

If the editors of Jesus Beyond Christianity really want to consult classic texts they could have focused on ancient writers such as Tacitus and Suetonius. They could have consulted the Babylonian Talmud. There are scores of possibilities they could have used.

Barker and Gregg have edited a very interesting book but it doesn't hold its focus on the so-called classic texts. If they were true to the content of their collection they could have used a phrase like "Historic Texts" in the book's subtitle.

So we have to be careful when purchasing or borrowing a book. There is sometimes a difference between what's written on the cover and what's found inside. The difference between the two can be significant.

Read wisely,
Mike Jones

Hobsbawm on Nations and Nationalism

After really enjoying Eric Hobsbawm’s Interesting Times (2002), I discovered one of his older books in my collection on nationalism which I had never read. So I began reading his Nations and Nationalism Since 1789 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990) which is a very intelligent account of modern nationalism.

Although very clearly written from a Marxist perspective many of Hobsbawm’s points are equally valid for Christians who feel uncomfortable with nationalism. Further, he makes it clear that the death of nationalism is an illusion even though he feels that eventually the appeal of nationalism will decline.

In particular I liked his analysis of the failures of the Versailles Treaty, which he rightly calls the “Versailles peace settlement,” and the misguided policies of President Wilson in promoting “the principle of nationality” after the end of World War I (Hobsbawm 1990:32; 122-133).

Overall this is a useful book even though his Marxism intrudes at times and has been overtaken by later events. Still, it is hard to find a Christian writer with such a clear sense of the idolotary of modern nationalism.

Interesting Times

Eric Hobsbawm’s (b. 1917) autobiography Interesting Times: A Twentieth-Century Life (London: Allen Lane, 2002), ought to be on the “must read” list of every thinking Christian. It would also make a great text for theological colleges like Fuller in the States and Regent College in Canada. Well known as an unrepentant Jewish Communist and excellent historian Hobsbawn casts his critical eye over the turbulent history of the twentieth century with shrewd and insightful comments.

Unimpressed by the sexual revolution of the 1960’s he reminds his readers that in the past “rulers kept slaves and the poor quiet by encouraging sexual freedom among them and, I might have added, remembering Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, drugs (Hobsbawm, 2002:250). Similarly, he was equally unimpressed by “left-wing academic fashions” (Hobsbawm, 2002: 303).

What I particularly liked about his book was his comments on his own academic career which he reminded his readers got off to a late start. He writes “I had begun to publish books only in my forties, and by the time I could actually call myself ‘Professor’ in Britain, I was in my middle fifties.” Encouragingly, he adds “when most professionals have got as far as they, and the world, expects them to get in their career …” (Hobsbawm, 2002:f302).

On the next page he reminds his readers that as a Communist he was part of a cultural ghetto. Then, surprisingly, he identifies himself with “another characteristic twentieth-century cultural ghetto, the Roman Catholic community in Britain.” If anyone doubts this he tells them to reflect on “G. K Chesterton, the dimension of whose talent have been concealed from non-Catholics by the very closeness of his association with the Church.” To prove his point he notes that the Italian journalist and well known novelist, Italo Calviono (1923-1985), “once said it was his ambition to become ‘the Chesterton of the Communists.’” (Hobsbawm, 2002:303).

This is a fascinating book that offers numerous timely insights into twentieth century history, intellectual currents, cultural fads and ordinary life. It also reveals another side of Hobsbawm that of the jazz enthusiast and music critic. No doubt Theodor Adorno (1903 - 1969) must have turned in his grave at the publication of this down to earth book.