The Left Hand of God: Biography of the Holy Spirit

by Adolf Holl

Adolf Holl's divine biography examines the life of the Holy Spirit in the context of the history of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.  Interweaving scholarship with religion, myth, and culture, Holl expertly traces the influence of the Holy Spirit on men and women from all walks of life, over the course of centuries.  The result is quite unlike anything written before.

The Holy Spirit inspired a few Galilean fishermen to find the courage to preach a new world religion.  The Jews recognized it as the breath of God.  Mohammed was inspired by it in the dictation of the Koran.  Yet this same spirit has moved individuals to rebel against convention, authority, and even sanity.  Through Holl's freewheeling yet always crystal-clear discourse, we see how the Holy Spirit informs an incredible array of beliefs (including those underlying the rituals of Appalachian snake handlers) and ideas (the works of Freud and James Joyce are among the many discussed).

When the book was published in Germany, Der Spiegel wrote, "Holl has presented a formidable history, linking together the most distant things in a surprising way and leaving the whole as a paradox.  He leaves it to the reader to judge the encounter with the Holy Spirit as a manifestation of the divine in the human being--or as a case for the psychiatrist."

Whatever the reader's conclusion may be, The Left Hand of God is sure to be hailed as a major religious publishing event.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Adolf Holl was an Austrian Catholic writer and theologian. He lived in Vienna.

Reviews

[Leroy Seat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very erudite book, so much so I had trouble understanding a lot of what the author was trying to say. In addition, it was written in a "postmodern" style, so it jumped from one historical context to another with little apparent connection.

I chose to read this book because of my positive feelings toward Holl's "Jesus in Bad Company" (1973), which I have read twice, and "The Last Christian" (1980), his brilliant book about Francis of Assisi. But I was somewhat disappointed in this book of the 1990s.

In some ways the book was brilliantly done, but I did not have the literary background to understand some of it. And I had trouble with a book on the Holy Spirit ending with sections on Wagner, Rilke, Nietzsche, and James Joyce.

[Dana Kraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting undertaking for sure. The first half or so of the book was really interesting, but as he shifted from talking about mystics to more modern philosophers and authors, I got less interested. The book could be subtitled "Losing the Holy in the Holy Spirit". I second another reviewers experience of having difficulty following the last quarter or so of the book when he talks more about Hegel, Nietzsche and James Joyce.

[John Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my best finds in a used book store. Easy to read and enjoyable history of the Holy Spirit starting with the spirit's intervention at the Nazerene's baptism and the observation that Christianity was not originally "a religion of the book." Adolf Holl's history of the Spirit moves from the Hebrew "ruach" which means spirit, but originally means "air in movement." I am surprised this book is as unknown as it is. Fun to read.

[Sue]

OK, so far.

[Chris Feldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting work, recommended.