Thomas CahillCritiques

NF

Thomas Cahill writes like a novelist (or a journalist) and makes interesting what many historians and art historians make dry and boring. If you want to know more about the lives of Renaissance artists and Reformation scholars, this is the book you want to read.

I found very little redeeming about this book and finally abandoned it about 2/3 through.

The author has a very secular understanding of the Bible and Jewish history. He misses half the point, the whole point, and all of the beauty most of the time. His chapters on the life of Jesus were full of mocking untruths and misunderstandings. I get the overall impression that this author calls himself a "Christian" but I'd love to read something like this from an actual whole Bible believer.

Even taking into consideration his odd sense of humor (at one point I wrote in my notes: "it takes a bit to get his humor. I think I’m probably more sensitive than I should be with some of his points.") his very skewed interpretation of the impact of Jesus and the Bible makes this book extremely disappointing. In fact, looking over his biography, this is the perfect example of someone who hears the word, studies the word, (paid good, good money to learn the Hebrew Bible even), but completely misses the message.

I often wondered, "is he actually a respected historian?" (He describes martyrdom as a genre of mythology.) I couldn't get past the screwy interpretations that Paul and the first century church were not encouraging their followers to follow Torah. The author misunderstands, misinterprets, and misrepresents Torah throughout. It takes more than big words and reputation to make a scholar. This one can’t get his own theology straight, saying on one page that 2 Timothy couldn’t possibly have been written by Paul but on the next page encouraging us to imagine Paul “thinking, as he wrote in Second Timothy…”. Ok then.

He relegates Revelation to a silly fun mystery story written by a bored John in exile. He cracks the 666 code for us (oh thank you, wise scholar!) and explains (with a "big duh!!! mentality) that it merely refers to Nero. News flash: 666 using gematria also works for several phrases including the name Barak Obama, Prince Arthur, Thomas Cruise, and "This is a Hoax". When whoever this person is is actually revealed, this passage will be made clear, just as the ones about the delivery of the mark of the beast or the fact that the whole world will look on the dead witnesses were made more understandable once technology caught up and revealed possible scenarios.

The nonsense probably didn't stop there, but that's where I stopped. I can't stomach this "scholarly" misrepresented garbage. I'd encourage potential readers to save time and do their own research. Much of what he talks about is common knowledge of history---this book was more about furthering the enemy's secular agenda disguised as modern day Christianity.

I can't say I didn't like this book because who doesn't love to read about the magical, mysterious history of Ireland? However, it's definitely not something I'd read again. The first 60 pages could have easily been summed up in a paragraph or two to set the stage for the story---I should really get a prize for muddling through them as I did.

After that, it seemed the author took turns being very basic (to the point of explaining the proper pronunciation of Celts or being vague for chapters about the enigmatic "Patricus"---gee, wonder who that turned out to be?) and being so tedious that I found myself skipping paragraphs just to stay awake.

Still, as usual, I found some interesting bits. I didn't realize that the Biblical Galatians were the people of Gaul---ancient Celts. Now I'm craving to go back and reread Galatians with that in mind.

There's a book I read in college, Sun Dancing, about Skellig Michael. If anything, this book gave me a desire to go back and read through that again.

Amazing. I truly enjoy learning how the past has shaped the present.

This book is an interesting look at the cultures, people, languages, and events that shaped the world around Jesus. From the influence of Alexander the Great and the Greeks on the Jews to the personalities and writing styles of Jesus's early followers, many intriguing influences are discussed. While not comprehensive, Cahill's mostly-secular work is both engaging and accessible.

In the beginning of How the Irish Saved Civilization we examine the philosophies of Augustine, Plato, and Cicero. Augustine's knowledge is considered the portal into the classical world. The most influential man in Irish history is Patrick, of course. He was the first to advocate for the end to slavery. He had a lifelong commitment to end violence and he was not afraid of his enemies. Irish Catholicism was sympathetic towards sinners, accepting of diversity and women in leadership roles, and considered sexual mores unimportant.
Cahill has a sense of humor. Cahill also includes a map of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to orientate his readers.
Spoiler alert: the answer to how the Irish saved civilization is that they brought their literacy and love of learning to the rest of the world. Probably one of the most fascinating parts of How the Irish Saved Civilization is how the Irish monks buried their beloved books and valuable metalworks to hide them from the Vikings. Cahill claims that even today farmers are known to unearth lost treasures.½

I borrowed the book from the library to learn about St Patrick. By reading it I have a good idea of history from the fall of Roman empire. The little backwater Ireland and the scribes in the monasteries played a big part in saving much literature and historical bible texts. I now have a great admiration for St Patrick and the tenacity of the Irish people. He was the right influential leader and the right time. Turned them from fighting to loving Christians with a heart for God. A magic book, written in an easy style, teaching about history and illuminating historical influences and key people.

Cahill points out why some parts of history stand out.

Cahill points out why some parts of history stand out.

Thomas Cahill manages to illuminate the Dark Ages by telling the story of how Christianity came to Ireland and inspired Irish monks to both preserve ancient books and to act as missionaries to Europe. The book begins with a portrait of the Roman Empire shortly before it fell including a sketch of Saint Augustine. It then switches to Briton and to Ireland telling the story of Saint Patrick and how he brought Christianity to Ireland. Cahill makes clear that the Irish Christianity was different and more relaxed than the Christianity that had spread in the Roman Empire. He then talks about how the and why the Irish monks copied so many of the ancient Latin and Greek documents. Finally, he concludes be showing the influence of the Irish missionaries to Europe.

The book is very readable and describes events that I was previously not familiar with. It is strongly recommended to anyone interested in religious history or in the history of the Dark Ages or Middle Ages.

This book's perspective offers the freshness of a different lens on the history of Judaism. I enjoyed how it allowed me to see a new view of the cultural interactions and developments of the tribe of the nominal Jews and their neighboring ancient civilizations that grew into kingdoms and city states. You learn new information about origins of labels like Hebrew, plus contextual changes in the purpose and way stories were told and recorded. The diverse and often unknown perspective of the authors' purposes in various written histories were discussed. Concepts of faith and Godly power and holy writings, along with the corresponding developments of spiritual practices were unwoven with humor. Presentation is well organized and may be more like an academic lecture than some may appreciate. This was well worth the time for me, as it opened up some new insights regarding the cultural possibilities that fed into the puzzles of early written histories leading up to medieval times. Sorting reality from tradition in the confusing oral histories that were later written seems to be an art and a science across cultures regardless of the continent. The theory of the Jews originating the concept of an individual purpose that developed into Western thought is well developed and proofed. We will fail to get the truth of early history right without a breadth of knowledge and an acceptance that we may never know the whole of what we do not know and how it fed into what we are now. But, I truly enjoyed this piece of the puzzle!

This book's perspective offers the freshness of a different lens on the history of Judaism. I enjoyed how it allowed me to see a new view of the cultural interactions and developments of the tribe of the nominal Jews and their neighboring ancient civilizations that grew into kingdoms and city states. You learn new information about origins of labels like Hebrew, plus contextual changes in the purpose and way stories were told and recorded. The diverse and often unknown perspective of the authors' purposes in various written histories were discussed. Concepts of faith and Godly power and holy writings, along with the corresponding developments of spiritual practices were unwoven with humor. Presentation is well organized and may be more like an academic lecture than some may appreciate. This was well worth the time for me, as it opened up some new insights regarding the cultural possibilities that fed into the puzzles of early written histories leading up to medieval times. Sorting reality from tradition in the confusing oral histories that were later written seems to be an art and a science across cultures regardless of the continent. The theory of the Jews originating the concept of an individual purpose that developed into Western thought is well developed and proofed. We will fail to get the truth of early history right without a breadth of knowledge and an acceptance that we may never know the whole of what we do not know and how it fed into what we are now. But, I truly enjoyed this piece of the puzzle!

Forgot I read this in college until I saw it at the library. Derp!

After hearing my mentor speak about and reference this book numerous times, I finally read it for myself. This book was written amazingly well and has sent me down dozens of rabbit trails that I may never reach the end of. This is a history that I was mostly ignorant of (save what my mentor had shared) and having it opened up to me in this book has been a wonderful experience. I was not at all prepared to be really moved in any way, but reading about the zeal that these traveling monks had for the Lord, and the love they had for the people was inspiring as well as convicting. I look forward to revisiting this book many times over the years and digging deeper into this great story.

Here's what I wrote about this read in 2008: "Well, it turns out that Irish did continue to scribe and keep alive the manuscripts of Christianity during the dark ages. An informative and educational read as MGA and DBA took a 15-year anniversary trip to Ireland!" True but the Irish we not the only ones scribing and illuminating those manuscripts; nor were they the only ones practicing and spreading faith in on the British Isles and western Europe. You learned more about all of this in 2022 as part of the St. Cuthbert's Way Pilgramage.

A fairly average book with a killer ending.

Exceptionally well researched and written, Thomas Cahill brings alive a culture lost before the dark ages. This book will be of great in to those who fancy they know all about the Holy Roman Empire.

While parts of the book were profoundly interesting, I found the author's writing style to be jarring. He strives for accessibility and loses credibility in sweeping generalizations that frankly just irritated me. The book is beautifully produced, however, with a really nice integration of medieval manuscript sensibilities and modern book aesthetics.

I'll have to agree with some of the reviews, this book meandered through the Roman civilization too long and was not as informative as I had hoped. It is an interesting hypothesis, and it was certainly a laudable amount of work to have "saved" our literature, but the book was not as interesting as I had hoped.

I've always been a fan of demotic erudition, and that's Cahill all over. Lots of fun, doubtless real historians might be given fits by some of Cahill's stretches, but heck . . . it's probably the most exercise they've had all day. A genuinely learned man's personal take on some things he's thought about a lot.

Vyprávění jednoho z významných znalců irských dějin o činnosti irských mnichů a písařů při ochraně západního písemnictví a tvorbě středověkého evropského myšlení. Neznámý příběh hrdinské role Irska v období od pádu Říma do vzniku středověké Evropy.

Between 1995 and 2013, Thomas Cahill released a series of books called The Hinges of History, about, as one might guess, critical turning points the history of western civilization. This book, the third in the series, is about the impact Jesus, his teachings, and his followers had on history.

Cahill presents the Mediterranean world before the birth of Jesus, what we know about his life--and yes, historians that have studied his time agree he existed--and how his teachings and his followers changed the prevalent worldview after him. He examines not just what the New Testament tells us directly, but what textual analysis tells us about the New Testament. This includes when the Gospels were written, the clear evidence that different Gospels were written at different times, closer to or further from the death of Jesus, that some parts of the New Testament were apparently based on an earlier source document closer to Jesus' own lifetime, etc. And of course, Mathew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul all show different cultural, social, and economic backgrounds, reflected in how they tell Jesus' story, including what incidents they tell or omit, or emphasize or de-emphasize.

Interwoven with all this is the broader history of the region and era, how this affected the Jesus movement as well as broader Jewish culture--because for much of this period, the Jesus movement was simply one of many Jewish splinter belief groups. Of the many Jewish denominations of the time, only two, the Pharisees and the Christians, survived the end of the ancient world. Unfortunately, they became fratricidal enemies, with the Christians, in the long run, doing overwhelmingly most of the damage.

Cahill is at all times both careful and respectful, valuing every culture's contributions. The previous volume in this series was The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels, while the next one was Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter. This is a serious look at an important piece of our history, not an evangelical work. It's well-written, thoughtful, and in the case of this audiobook edition, I liked the job the narrator did.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

I'm glad I had a chance to read this, and it's an interesting angle of history, but it also was a bit slow to work through and I won't come back to it again and again.

Excellent book on medieval history and particularly on Irish history. Starting at the ending days of the Roman Empire and ending at the fall of Ireland as leader in Europe, How the Irish Saved Civilization steps you through the important influencers in Irish history that kept the written world from the Greek and Roman civilizations alive after Rome fell. Those influencers were particularly the hermits and monks who fell in love with the written word, and became copyists in their isolation, and who eventually brought a new brand of Christianity and the classics back to the mainland. Highly recommended.