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14th out of 31 books
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3 voters
Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion
Man Is Not Alone is a profound, beautifully written examination of the ingredients of piety: how man senses God's presence, explores it, accepts it, and builds life upon it. Abraham Joshua Heschel's philosophy of religion is not a philosophy of doctrine or the interpretation of a dogma. He erects his carefully built structure of thought upon foundations which are universal
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Paperback, 320 pages
Published
June 1st 1976
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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It's been over half a year now since I last reviewed anything here on Goodreads. There are a number of things that have kept me away (moving across the country, working on a novel, having a baby, etc.) but mainly -- if I'm honest -- the thing that's kept me silent has been the prospect of critiquing this book.
For one thing, I'm about as qualified to comment seriously on a treatise on Jewish theology as I am to, let's say, fact-check a textbook about string theory. For another, it's the thought...more
For one thing, I'm about as qualified to comment seriously on a treatise on Jewish theology as I am to, let's say, fact-check a textbook about string theory. For another, it's the thought...more
If you're an atheist like me, you'll find this book excruciatingly hard to read. That doesn't mean it's badly written. It does, however, make it hard to review.
At the risk of oversimplifying a very complicated book, here's what I gleaned from it.
1. Words can't capture the full richness of conscious subjective experience.
2. It's amazing that we can see and feel and perceive at all.
3. This suggests the existence of the transcendental and the sacred.
So far so good, but then Heschel does some philos...more
At the risk of oversimplifying a very complicated book, here's what I gleaned from it.
1. Words can't capture the full richness of conscious subjective experience.
2. It's amazing that we can see and feel and perceive at all.
3. This suggests the existence of the transcendental and the sacred.
So far so good, but then Heschel does some philos...more
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Amazing book, stirred me to my soul. I feel quite under-qualified to give anything more than a personal impression, and even for that I think I should read the book again, and more in depth.
"Walking upon a rock that is constantly crumbling away behind every step, man cannot restrain his bitter yearning to know whether life is nothing but a series of momentary physiological and mental processes, actions, and forms of behavior, a flow of vicissitudes, desires and sensations, running like grains th...more
"Walking upon a rock that is constantly crumbling away behind every step, man cannot restrain his bitter yearning to know whether life is nothing but a series of momentary physiological and mental processes, actions, and forms of behavior, a flow of vicissitudes, desires and sensations, running like grains th...more
I am completely floored after reading this book. Heschel, a Jewish theologian, communicates in a way that very few, if any, Christian theologians today understand God (though some have clearly been inspired by this man).
I think the big thing that I'm taking away from this book is the connections that exist here between Judaism and Christianity. To ignore our Jewish roots as Christians is to commit a great error in our thinking we are so independent. For example, when Heschel speaks of the Shech...more
I think the big thing that I'm taking away from this book is the connections that exist here between Judaism and Christianity. To ignore our Jewish roots as Christians is to commit a great error in our thinking we are so independent. For example, when Heschel speaks of the Shech...more
This is not the sort of book one reads and then shoves back on the shelf to collect dust. It is, instead, one of those rare works which will constantly call the reader back, if only to glance over a page or two. Heschel's book is subtitled A Philosophy of Religion but it might have as accurately been subtitled A Poetics of Religion. Heschel is very much the philosopher poet.
Heschel is the sort of theologian the modern world needs. He is a deeply religious man who has no illusions about the diffi...more
Heschel is the sort of theologian the modern world needs. He is a deeply religious man who has no illusions about the diffi...more
Somewhat easier reading than its big brother, "God in Search of Man". I still needed a dictionary open while reading it.
I was surprised how Rabbi Heschel can stay clear of specific religious issues and just deal with our common humanity, and God's role in it, as well as our role in God's plan and creation.
Heschel's writings seem to appeal to Christians as well as Jews, and this book is likely to appeal to anyone who is interested in spirituality.
I was surprised how Rabbi Heschel can stay clear of specific religious issues and just deal with our common humanity, and God's role in it, as well as our role in God's plan and creation.
Heschel's writings seem to appeal to Christians as well as Jews, and this book is likely to appeal to anyone who is interested in spirituality.
Possibly the best book on God and the encounter with the divine.
This book changed the way I pray.
Suggested by Cantor Bornstein
I liked this book for its simplicity and its truth. It does keep saying the same thing over and over again, but that's only because anything is everything else in disguise. The unique things it says informed me more fully as to the particular strengths of Judiasm. I am looking forward to reading the companion book "God in Search of Man."
I didn't finish this book but I definitely want to return to it. The ideas in the book are worth pondering over a lifetime.
Any person wanting to know God will benefit from this work of Heschel.
A great philosopher teacher who shares his insights. I use this often.
Good Jewish rabbi/scholar. Hard at some points. Very uplifting.
I had to stop reading. This guy doesn't make much sense.
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Heschel was a descendant of preeminent rabbinic families of Europe, both on his father's (Moshe Mordechai Heschel, who died of influenza in 1916) and mother's (Reizel Perlow Heschel) side, and a descendant of Rebbe Avrohom Yehoshua Heshl of Apt and other dynasties. He was the youngest of six children including his siblings: Sarah, Dvora Miriam, Esther Sima, Gittel, and Jacob. In his teens he recei...more
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“The Search for reason ends at the known; on the immense expanse beyond it only the sense of the ineffable can glide. It alone knows the route to that which is remote from experience and understanding. Neither of them is amphibious: reason cannot go beyond the shore, and the sense of the ineffable is out of place where we measure, where we weigh. We do not leave the shore of the known in search of adventure or suspense or because of the failure of reason to answer our questions. We sail because our mind is like a fantastic seashell, and when applying our ear to its lips we hear a perpetual murmur from the waves beyond the shore. Citizens of two realms, we all must sustain a dual allegiance: we sense the ineffable in one realm, we name and exploit reality in another. Between the two we set up a system of references, but we can never fill the gap. They are as far and as close to each other as time and calendar, as violin and melody, as life and what lies beyond the last breath.”
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