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兀賳 鬲氐賷乇賵丕 丌賱賴丞
s/t: A Radical Interpretation of the Old Testament & its Tradition
In this major work from the author of The Same Society & Man for Himself, Erich Fromm explores the evolution of the basic concept of God, Man, History, & Sin & Repentance in the Hebrew Bible & later Jewish writings.
In this major work from the author of The Same Society & Man for Himself, Erich Fromm explores the evolution of the basic concept of God, Man, History, & Sin & Repentance in the Hebrew Bible & later Jewish writings.
230 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
215 people are currently reading
1229 people want to read
About the author
Erich Fromm
560听books5,095听followersErich Fromm, Ph.D. (Sociology, University of Heidelberg, 1922) was a German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was a German Jew who fled the Nazi regime and settled in the United States. He was one of the founders of The William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Psychology in New York City and was associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory.
Fromm explored the interaction between psychology and society, and held various professorships in psychology in the U.S. and Mexico in the mid-20th century.
Fromm's theory is a rather unique blend of Freud and Marx. Freud, of course, emphasized the unconscious, biological drives, repression, and so on. In other words, Freud postulated that our characters were determined by biology. Marx, on the other hand, saw people as determined by their society, and most especially by their economic systems.
Fromm explored the interaction between psychology and society, and held various professorships in psychology in the U.S. and Mexico in the mid-20th century.
Fromm's theory is a rather unique blend of Freud and Marx. Freud, of course, emphasized the unconscious, biological drives, repression, and so on. In other words, Freud postulated that our characters were determined by biology. Marx, on the other hand, saw people as determined by their society, and most especially by their economic systems.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
July 16, 2018
鈥庘赌赌忊赌�
鈥赌赌赌赌赌赌�
OMG! How I enjoy reading Fromm! I don鈥檛 agree with him on some issues, but still I love him!
This book is huge! It gives an interpretation of the Old Testament, and - based on a humanistic approach - it defends Man鈥檚 hope of having a better world (a paradise!).
Like all of Fromm鈥檚 books, You Shall Be as Gods plants into the reader鈥檚 soul a seed of hope and encourages positivism. On one hand, It gives you a heavenly feeling when an inspiring philosopher like Fromm talks with such positivity about the ability of Man to build a bright future and to own his freedom.
But, on the other hand, you start to question that huge amount of positivity! Maybe Fromm is over-positive? Is he delusional? Can the UTOPIA he dreams of (and encourages us to dream of) really exist?
Fromm suggests that we are on our way to becoming Gods 鈥� to be able to rule ourselves and build a paradise of our own - but is that really possible? We all love to be positive and to dream of our ability to conquer every obstacle imaginable, but 鈥� we MUST look at reality 鈥� not cover it up by being over-positive!
This book would leave you with a MASSIVE heap of hope! Also, it will leave you with a MASSIVE-R heap of doubt!
That is why this is a GREAT book!
鈥赌赌赌赌赌赌�OMG! How I enjoy reading Fromm! I don鈥檛 agree with him on some issues, but still I love him!
This book is huge! It gives an interpretation of the Old Testament, and - based on a humanistic approach - it defends Man鈥檚 hope of having a better world (a paradise!).
Like all of Fromm鈥檚 books, You Shall Be as Gods plants into the reader鈥檚 soul a seed of hope and encourages positivism. On one hand, It gives you a heavenly feeling when an inspiring philosopher like Fromm talks with such positivity about the ability of Man to build a bright future and to own his freedom.
But, on the other hand, you start to question that huge amount of positivity! Maybe Fromm is over-positive? Is he delusional? Can the UTOPIA he dreams of (and encourages us to dream of) really exist?
Fromm suggests that we are on our way to becoming Gods 鈥� to be able to rule ourselves and build a paradise of our own - but is that really possible? We all love to be positive and to dream of our ability to conquer every obstacle imaginable, but 鈥� we MUST look at reality 鈥� not cover it up by being over-positive!
This book would leave you with a MASSIVE heap of hope! Also, it will leave you with a MASSIVE-R heap of doubt!
That is why this is a GREAT book!
September 26, 2015
I've always admired Erich Fromm who had early been one of those who introduced me to Marx and Marxism in a manner which circumvented my Cold War upbringing. You Shall Be As Gods: A Radical Reinterpretation of the Old Testament and its Tradition serves similarly as a book which offers a constructively engaging new approach to Judaism. Fromm was apparently rabbinically trained. He certainly knew his stuff. I was quite impressed, as I'd never been by Freud, by his mastery of the materials and positive appropriation of them.
May 29, 2017
Interesting interpretation backed up through a wealth of sources from the Bible (Tanach), its commentators, the Talmud, and beyond. Fromm grew up in the Jewish tradition, and clearly knew his stuff when it came to Torah literature. His critiques of theism are secondary to the essence of the book - namely, an interpretation of the Old Testament - and for what it aims to do, it does a thorough job.
March 2, 2014
One of those "where have you been all my life?" books. Deep but readable, perceptive, challenging. Fromm wrote on a wide variety of topics, and somehow I hadn't heard much about this book until I saw it in a used bookstore for cheap.
It's marvelous. He uses a careful reading of large chunks of the Hebrew Bible (aka Old Testament) to propose less alienated and more fruitful ways for us to orient our lives. All of this is supported by wonderful commentary and anecdotes primarily from Talmudic scholarship, along with some key references to Christian theology. For me, reading it as a Christian, it made new and fresh many aspects of the Hebrew Bible that had become inert from repetition. He provides helpful fresh interpretations of the Hebrew at times that throw wide the curtains on rooms that had been dark.
Fromm finishes the book with a fascinating taxonomy of the psalms and a powerful new angle on Jesus' last words (from Mark) on the cross: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" The despair in those words has presented a tough theological puzzle down through the centuries. (If he is God, how can he feel such despair? If he is man, then what is his uniqueness? Etc.) Fromm does not insist on his interpretation, but he notes an important fact about how the rabbinical literature of the time functioned: when one wished to quote a text as a rabbi, one did so by stating the first line of the scripture in question. (Obviously there weren't chapter/verse numbers written in back then.) So, in his reading, Jesus was not succumbing to despair but was rather quoting, in full, a psalm which begins with those despairing words and works through to faith and hope for the future by the end. (Fromm classifies this sort of psalm as "dynamic", for moving from one stance/mood to another.)
The book is filled with powerful, thought-provoking, fresh views like this one. It also powerfully expresses the dangers of what Fromm calls "idolatry" in all its forms, whether it be idolatry of a certain alienated idea of God, or of money, or technology, or economic system, or utopian visions. (If you're into the Frankfurt School, you'll see here some resonance/influence with Adorno's emphasis on the proscription on idolatry.) Powerful challenging stuff, even all these years later.
Highly recommended.
It's marvelous. He uses a careful reading of large chunks of the Hebrew Bible (aka Old Testament) to propose less alienated and more fruitful ways for us to orient our lives. All of this is supported by wonderful commentary and anecdotes primarily from Talmudic scholarship, along with some key references to Christian theology. For me, reading it as a Christian, it made new and fresh many aspects of the Hebrew Bible that had become inert from repetition. He provides helpful fresh interpretations of the Hebrew at times that throw wide the curtains on rooms that had been dark.
Fromm finishes the book with a fascinating taxonomy of the psalms and a powerful new angle on Jesus' last words (from Mark) on the cross: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" The despair in those words has presented a tough theological puzzle down through the centuries. (If he is God, how can he feel such despair? If he is man, then what is his uniqueness? Etc.) Fromm does not insist on his interpretation, but he notes an important fact about how the rabbinical literature of the time functioned: when one wished to quote a text as a rabbi, one did so by stating the first line of the scripture in question. (Obviously there weren't chapter/verse numbers written in back then.) So, in his reading, Jesus was not succumbing to despair but was rather quoting, in full, a psalm which begins with those despairing words and works through to faith and hope for the future by the end. (Fromm classifies this sort of psalm as "dynamic", for moving from one stance/mood to another.)
The book is filled with powerful, thought-provoking, fresh views like this one. It also powerfully expresses the dangers of what Fromm calls "idolatry" in all its forms, whether it be idolatry of a certain alienated idea of God, or of money, or technology, or economic system, or utopian visions. (If you're into the Frankfurt School, you'll see here some resonance/influence with Adorno's emphasis on the proscription on idolatry.) Powerful challenging stuff, even all these years later.
Highly recommended.
August 24, 2020
Like all great spiritual works, the Torah (or the Old Testament as Fromm calls it here) lends itself to many interpretations. For the purposes of the spiritual process of any given person, I'm prepared to acknowledge that any one interpretation is as valid as any other. I may find some of them to be unsupported in the text or ahistorical or just plain wrong or even repellant, but if it rings true to you and gives you spiritual meaning, who am I to say that you are wrong? It's the nature of the spiritual experience to be non-rational, so if I think that your interpretation is not the best, I could try to lead by example to show you a different path or I could pose questions to you that may open up new ways of thinking for you or I could show you spiritual practices that might be interesting to you and lead you in other directions if you choose to follow them, but if I try to use reason to prove that you are wrong, I am doomed to fail.
My difficulty with this book was that it felt like Fromm was trying to reason with me to get me to agree with his point of view, so in that sense, he was misguided. But the good news is that I didn't really need to be persuaded, because a lot of his perspective is very comfortable to me. He has a universalist point of view, a big tent with room for every kind of spiritual seeker, even ones who do not believe in God. I'm good with that. And he interprets the commands of Judaism as being focused more than anything on prohibiting the worship of idols, not just statues of Baal or Zeus or golden calves but also money, fame, ambition, etc. I like that. I always wondered why a supreme being would care about humans praising him, but I can understand why he might want us not to worship idols that may lead us astray from a true spiritual path. Fromm also posits that the commandments of Judaism are aimed at making us act more godlike, and he interprets the coming of the messiah as a manifestation of a higher more godlike spiritual state in all of us. Again I like that. But I think that a lot of what Fromm advocates is hard to pull out of the Torah and is probably not what the authors of the book had in mind.
Still, going back to my original statement, what the heck? Who cares if it is really supported or not? It works for him, and a lot of it works for me too. If you want to hop on the bus with Erich and me, then great. If you have other ideas, that's fine too.
My difficulty with this book was that it felt like Fromm was trying to reason with me to get me to agree with his point of view, so in that sense, he was misguided. But the good news is that I didn't really need to be persuaded, because a lot of his perspective is very comfortable to me. He has a universalist point of view, a big tent with room for every kind of spiritual seeker, even ones who do not believe in God. I'm good with that. And he interprets the commands of Judaism as being focused more than anything on prohibiting the worship of idols, not just statues of Baal or Zeus or golden calves but also money, fame, ambition, etc. I like that. I always wondered why a supreme being would care about humans praising him, but I can understand why he might want us not to worship idols that may lead us astray from a true spiritual path. Fromm also posits that the commandments of Judaism are aimed at making us act more godlike, and he interprets the coming of the messiah as a manifestation of a higher more godlike spiritual state in all of us. Again I like that. But I think that a lot of what Fromm advocates is hard to pull out of the Torah and is probably not what the authors of the book had in mind.
Still, going back to my original statement, what the heck? Who cares if it is really supported or not? It works for him, and a lot of it works for me too. If you want to hop on the bus with Erich and me, then great. If you have other ideas, that's fine too.
October 9, 2021
I liked some parts a lot more than others. I loved this part:
"The highest value is the optimal development of one's own powers of reason, love, compassion, and courage. All worldly achievements are subordinated to these highest spiritual values... For the average person, especially in a materialistic culture, life is a means toward ends other than the person himself. These ends are: pleasure, money, power, production and distribution of commodities, and so on. If man is not used by others for their ends, he uses himself for his own; in both cases he becomes a means. For the religious person, man alone is an end and never a means. His whole attitude toward life is one in which each event is responded to from the standpoint of whether or not it helps to transform him in the direction of becoming more human. Whether it is art or science, joy or sorrow, work or play, whatever happens is a stimulus to him becoming stronger and more sensitive. In this sense, man is not a subject opposing the world in order to transform it; he is in the world, making his presence in the world the occasion for constant self-transformation and transcendence. [Spiritual/Religious transcendence is] a letting go of one's ego, one's greed, and with it, of one's fears; a giving up of the wish to hold onto the ego as if it were an indestructible, seperate entity; a making oneself empty in order to be able to fill oneself with the world, to respond to it, to become one with it, to love it... Whether we conceive of this transcendence as one towards God is a matter of conceptualization, not experience."
"The highest value is the optimal development of one's own powers of reason, love, compassion, and courage. All worldly achievements are subordinated to these highest spiritual values... For the average person, especially in a materialistic culture, life is a means toward ends other than the person himself. These ends are: pleasure, money, power, production and distribution of commodities, and so on. If man is not used by others for their ends, he uses himself for his own; in both cases he becomes a means. For the religious person, man alone is an end and never a means. His whole attitude toward life is one in which each event is responded to from the standpoint of whether or not it helps to transform him in the direction of becoming more human. Whether it is art or science, joy or sorrow, work or play, whatever happens is a stimulus to him becoming stronger and more sensitive. In this sense, man is not a subject opposing the world in order to transform it; he is in the world, making his presence in the world the occasion for constant self-transformation and transcendence. [Spiritual/Religious transcendence is] a letting go of one's ego, one's greed, and with it, of one's fears; a giving up of the wish to hold onto the ego as if it were an indestructible, seperate entity; a making oneself empty in order to be able to fill oneself with the world, to respond to it, to become one with it, to love it... Whether we conceive of this transcendence as one towards God is a matter of conceptualization, not experience."
July 22, 2018
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丕賱賰鬲丕亘 毓馗賷賲 噩丿丕貙 賵丕賱乇丐賷賴 丕賱賷賴賵丿賷賴 賱賱毓賴丿 丕賱賯丿賷賲 賵丕賱鬲賯賱賷丿 丕賱賷賴賵丿賶 賮禺賷賲賴 噩丿丕貙 賵丕賰鬲卮賮鬲 丕夭丕賶 丕賳 丕賱賱賶 賰丕賳賵丕 毓丕賷卮賷賳 賵賯鬲 丕賱賲爻賷丨 賷毓鬲亘乇賵丕 丕睾乇丕亘 毓賳 丕賱鬲賯賱賷丿貙 賵賰丕賳賵丕 賲賯囟賷賳賴丕 鬲賯丕賱賷丿 亘卮乇賷賴 賰丿賴.
丕賱賰鬲丕亘 亘爻 毓賷亘賴 丕賳 鬲乇噩賲鬲賴 爻禺賷賮賴 噩丿丕 賷毓賳賶.
賲丨賷乇 賮賷 丨鬲鬲貙 賵賮賱爻賮賷 噩丿丕 賮賷 丨鬲鬲 鬲丕賳賷賴.
禺亘乇賴 毓馗賷賲賴.
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丕賱賰鬲丕亘 毓馗賷賲 噩丿丕貙 賵丕賱乇丐賷賴 丕賱賷賴賵丿賷賴 賱賱毓賴丿 丕賱賯丿賷賲 賵丕賱鬲賯賱賷丿 丕賱賷賴賵丿賶 賮禺賷賲賴 噩丿丕貙 賵丕賰鬲卮賮鬲 丕夭丕賶 丕賳 丕賱賱賶 賰丕賳賵丕 毓丕賷卮賷賳 賵賯鬲 丕賱賲爻賷丨 賷毓鬲亘乇賵丕 丕睾乇丕亘 毓賳 丕賱鬲賯賱賷丿貙 賵賰丕賳賵丕 賲賯囟賷賳賴丕 鬲賯丕賱賷丿 亘卮乇賷賴 賰丿賴.
丕賱賰鬲丕亘 亘爻 毓賷亘賴 丕賳 鬲乇噩賲鬲賴 爻禺賷賮賴 噩丿丕 賷毓賳賶.
賲丨賷乇 賮賷 丨鬲鬲貙 賵賮賱爻賮賷 噩丿丕 賮賷 丨鬲鬲 鬲丕賳賷賴.
禺亘乇賴 毓馗賷賲賴.
November 12, 2024
Much like Kant's understanding of God in the Critique of Pure Reason, God was constructed in the Jewish tradition, according to Fromm, as the telos of human morality: God is the full development of love and reason. (p. 21) The Jewish teachings, through their axiom of defining God through what he is not, is also similar to Kant's conception of the unconditioned condition.
Fromm also affirms in later chapters that the sole power of man, not only as someone who could be like God, is that he "is free to choose his way and yet must accept the consequence of his choice." (p. 116) Even in the Old Testament, God had never interfered with human choices: rather, he only presents the consequences of human actions. Maimonides noted: "Every human being has merits and iniquities. One whose merits exceed his iniquities is righteous." Man is radically independent, even from God. In this he holds much power, but also will face much consequences.
Fromm also affirms in later chapters that the sole power of man, not only as someone who could be like God, is that he "is free to choose his way and yet must accept the consequence of his choice." (p. 116) Even in the Old Testament, God had never interfered with human choices: rather, he only presents the consequences of human actions. Maimonides noted: "Every human being has merits and iniquities. One whose merits exceed his iniquities is righteous." Man is radically independent, even from God. In this he holds much power, but also will face much consequences.
April 24, 2020
Es el primer libro de Teolog铆a y Filosof铆a que leo seriamente, y me ha parecido bastante clarificador en cuanto a la postura de Fromm y c贸mo va explicando cada t茅rmino y vers铆culo que utiliza sin deshacerse en palabras demasiado rebuscadas: por raz贸n dada da su respectivo respaldo.
M谩s en lo personal, me ayudo a entender a los textos de铆sticos de la Biblia y del Talmud de la manera no te铆sta que el autor propone y la cual comparto, convirti茅ndolos en una soluci贸n "sin Dios" para los tiempos que corren hoy d铆a, y en especial por el coronavirus, que nos ha permitido ver como las sociedades capitalistas deshacen al querer ser del hombre y lo obligan a mantenerse en una posici贸n donde el dinero prevale por su propia dicha. Por ello, me vale considerar a dichos textos como fuentes de sabidur铆a y rehusar la concepci贸n como texto para ignorantes que he solido mantener en mi mente hasta ahora sin perder el centro en el hombre y adhiriendo a ella el valor de vivir en sociedad y en la naturaleza.
Es un libro que sin duda me ha hecho pensar bastante y cuyo argumento en su totalidad me haya valido bastante como ense帽anza de vida.
M谩s en lo personal, me ayudo a entender a los textos de铆sticos de la Biblia y del Talmud de la manera no te铆sta que el autor propone y la cual comparto, convirti茅ndolos en una soluci贸n "sin Dios" para los tiempos que corren hoy d铆a, y en especial por el coronavirus, que nos ha permitido ver como las sociedades capitalistas deshacen al querer ser del hombre y lo obligan a mantenerse en una posici贸n donde el dinero prevale por su propia dicha. Por ello, me vale considerar a dichos textos como fuentes de sabidur铆a y rehusar la concepci贸n como texto para ignorantes que he solido mantener en mi mente hasta ahora sin perder el centro en el hombre y adhiriendo a ella el valor de vivir en sociedad y en la naturaleza.
Es un libro que sin duda me ha hecho pensar bastante y cuyo argumento en su totalidad me haya valido bastante como ense帽anza de vida.
December 16, 2015
I enjoyed this book in so far as it made me very intrigued about the Bible and its interpretations. Many of the interpretations made by Fromm are ones that I was less familiar with. He treats the Old testament and the new testament as an archaeological study, which provide a great deal of insight into the collective values of the people at the time and, if read in that context, can provide some understanding of the origins of our moral system.
For example, one story that particularly sticks out is the fall of adam and eve. For many, this is about disobedience. But for Fromm, this story illustrates the earlier, selfish God who coveted his knowledge and did not want man to become like him, though he could.
For example, one story that particularly sticks out is the fall of adam and eve. For many, this is about disobedience. But for Fromm, this story illustrates the earlier, selfish God who coveted his knowledge and did not want man to become like him, though he could.
November 18, 2023
This is the latest part of my Erich Fromm project and I read this mostly whilst I was reading from Deuteronomy to 2 Samuel in the Old Testament. Written in 1966 Fromm discusses the problem of Idolatry within religious practice, and how God repeatedly warns against this. He identifies how to many God becomes an Idol, because people are so focused on proving or disproving whether God exists. They forget to contemplate the values that God symbolises. To Fromm this was around kindness, compassion, wisdom etc. Fromm interpretation leads him to quasi socialist values, and an endorsement of socialism (not Stalinism).
I found my recent reading of the Bible drew me further away from 鈥楩aith鈥�. I would not want to follow a God that demanded genocide, like I can make 鈥楩aith鈥� an intellectual decision. My thought was that we find what we want when reading a text. Fromm focused on passages I completely missed (that supported his a proiri perspective). I am troubled that I picked up on the episodes of genocide so strongly. It was a reminded that two people can read the same text and find different meanings within in. I take his point about Idolatry and its dangers. I have reinforced that my perspective is not the only, and is unlikely to be the correct one.
I found my recent reading of the Bible drew me further away from 鈥楩aith鈥�. I would not want to follow a God that demanded genocide, like I can make 鈥楩aith鈥� an intellectual decision. My thought was that we find what we want when reading a text. Fromm focused on passages I completely missed (that supported his a proiri perspective). I am troubled that I picked up on the episodes of genocide so strongly. It was a reminded that two people can read the same text and find different meanings within in. I take his point about Idolatry and its dangers. I have reinforced that my perspective is not the only, and is unlikely to be the correct one.
February 18, 2024
Fromm es uno de los autores que m谩s he le铆do, tambi茅n, uno de mis favoritos. Para m铆 mala fortuna en "Y sereis como Dioses" no encontr茅 alguna gran revelaci贸n como en otras de sus obras. El libro se concentra principalmente en analizar los principales mitos hebreos desde una perspectiva 茅tica y psicol贸gica. Por lo tanto a pesar de ser textos antiguos la narrativa se siente muy vigente. En mi opini贸n el mejor acierto del ensayo es brindar una interpretaci贸n no teol贸gica de lo hechos contados en el antiguo testamento. Por otra parte el sentido hist贸rico del ensayo genera una relaci贸n con el hombre moderno debido al sentido de pertenencia cultural, a final de cuentas el mundo occidental a mi ver es mitad griego y mitad jud铆o. Por 煤ltimo y no menos importante (al menos no por mucho), la explicaci贸n que da sobre la religi贸n jud铆a, compar谩ndola m谩s como un sistema 茅tico que como un sistema jer谩rquico de idolatr铆a me parece excelente. Me ense帽贸 a tener una noci贸n m谩s exacta sobre lo que es la cosmovisi贸n jud铆a m谩s all谩 del cl谩sico estereotipo de avaros se帽ores banqueros.
June 7, 2021
I'm pretty skeptical of psychoanalysts and critical theorists like Erich Fromm. But this analysis of the Old Testament was thorough and surprisingly in depth. Fromm's perspective is unique, though at times unsurprising (is it all that surprising that Fromm analyzed the Old Testament and found it full of 20th century humanist insights??), and he bases his views on a wealth of citations from Talmudic and Hassidic literature. I don't know enough to know whether or not he misrepresents them, but at the very least, he refers to the literature often. As usual, there were things I agreed with and things I disagreed with, and there were parts I enjoyed more than others (the chapter on the Psalms was a disappointing mish mash of pseudo-psychology and uninteresting literary analysis). In any case, the book got me interested in knowing more about Jewish theology.
December 10, 2019
Good example of a case where an author should stay in their field of expertise. He tries his hand in writing on religion and the bible and fails trying to promote his 2D Judaism cum humanism, although I did kinda like his reading of the expulsion from the Garden. A lot of the book reads like a weird commercial where he鈥檚 trying to sell Jewish values and Talmudic wisdom. Book lacks a cohesive structure as a result.
If you like books like this you'll love my project:
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If you like books like this you'll love my project:
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June 25, 2022
I still don鈥檛 believe in God but I really liked this book. And I鈥檓 always here for the Old Testament, that grumpy chestnut. Fromm interprets scripture in a way that really appeals to me - like, humans are meant to turn into God, not just be made in his image. God is jealous at first because humans are his competition! (This is just one concept that spoke to me.) I loved the bits on the true purpose of the Sabbath - to have one day where time isn鈥檛 your master, where you keep nature undisturbed and live out of phase. How cool and lovely. This makes me want to keep digging, for whatever I鈥檓 looking for in these things.
June 12, 2020
Sometimes Scattered
Fromm's book, were it a survey of the Old Testament would be a 5 star rating for being thorough and for the vast number of sources he quotes from Talmudic, Mishnah, and later sources.
From the standpoint of Fromm arguing his thesis I give the book 3 stars. He starts strong, but beginning in the third chapter spends a lot of time quoting sources and not enough time tying his thoughts and sources to his thesis.
Fromm's book, were it a survey of the Old Testament would be a 5 star rating for being thorough and for the vast number of sources he quotes from Talmudic, Mishnah, and later sources.
From the standpoint of Fromm arguing his thesis I give the book 3 stars. He starts strong, but beginning in the third chapter spends a lot of time quoting sources and not enough time tying his thoughts and sources to his thesis.
September 25, 2017
Vyvrcholen铆 Frommov媒ch 煤vah k n谩bo啪enstv铆. Ty se objevuj铆 snad ve v拧ech jeho dal拧铆ch knih谩ch, kde dopl艌uj铆 z谩kladn铆 psychologick茅 my拧lenky. V t茅hle knize je tomu pr谩v臎 naopak. N谩bo啪ensk茅 my拧lenky jsou zde dopl艌ov谩ny (a vysv臎tlov谩ny) t臎mi psychologick媒mi. 膶etl jsem od Fromma u啪 asi 8 knih a tohle je jejich skv臎l茅 dopln臎n铆.
February 1, 2025
It depicted Judaism in a better light. I liked the humanist interpretation of religious texts.
Fromm鈥檚 works have always been promoting freedom and independence. This book is approaching the same message with the topic of religion. The warning against idolatry is inspiring. 鈥淏ut both will know they are united in their common goal, which can be discovered more from their actions than from their concepts. Above all, they will be united by their common fight against idolatry.鈥�
Fromm鈥檚 works have always been promoting freedom and independence. This book is approaching the same message with the topic of religion. The warning against idolatry is inspiring. 鈥淏ut both will know they are united in their common goal, which can be discovered more from their actions than from their concepts. Above all, they will be united by their common fight against idolatry.鈥�
May 4, 2020
Too boring, too slow, all talking, doesn't really explain anything. It seems like the author trying to convert you to some kind of Judaism. It's very clear that he is not an expert on some topics treated in this book but he doesn't doubt on giving his opinions.
July 19, 2020
Echt de moeite om Erich Fromm terug van onder het stof te halen.
En voor wie katholiek is opgevoed (of andere religie) en stilaan ontgoocheld raakte, een heldere bron om spiritualiteit weer een plaats te geven als een weg naar vrijheid en verbinding.
En voor wie katholiek is opgevoed (of andere religie) en stilaan ontgoocheld raakte, een heldere bron om spiritualiteit weer een plaats te geven als een weg naar vrijheid en verbinding.
May 28, 2022
Ina膷e mi je drag, ili mi je bio drag Fromm, ali jako sam se na啪ivcirala.
Imam osje膰aj kao da uvijek 膷itam jednu te istu njegovu knjigu, a pojednostavljenja i naguravanje tuma膷enja biblijskih tekstova u njegove teze me izlu膽uje.
Imam osje膰aj kao da uvijek 膷itam jednu te istu njegovu knjigu, a pojednostavljenja i naguravanje tuma膷enja biblijskih tekstova u njegove teze me izlu膽uje.
November 30, 2023
Me gust贸 much铆simo este libro, fue muy interesante ver la perspectiva de un psicoanalista (que tambi茅n es jud铆o mesi谩nico) del antiguo testamento, sobre todo la parte donde se estudi贸 las emociones de los salmos, nunca hab铆a pensando en eso y fue muy ilustrativo
March 31, 2019
In itself relevant unto some because few believe.
March 5, 2020
Erich Fromm bester Mann鉂わ笍
May 11, 2020
Particularly enlightening in the first half where he analyses the unnameable of God as a refusal of idols.
June 29, 2020
An interpretation of the bible that made me see it differently but not enough to go through it again.
January 11, 2023
Un an谩lisis peculiar, entre la ciencia, los valores y lo humano, una filosof铆a m谩s que una religi贸n, es lo que rescato y que me llevo para mi vida.
October 7, 2024
A forgettable liberal interpretation of the Bible where man is made the centre of worship instead of God Himself.
December 28, 2024
Really resonated with Fromm鈥檚 idea of the Old Testament idea of God evolving as the people evolved.
May 29, 2019
listened to most of the audiobook...couldn't make it to the end
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