Violence to Eternity

by Grace M. Jantzen, Jeremy Carrette (Editor), Morny Joy (Editor)

Grace Jantzen continues her groundbreaking analysis of death and beauty in Western thought by examining the religious roots of death and violence in the Jewish and Christian traditions which underlie contemporary values.

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2009

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book as Jantzen doesn't hold back in her assessment of how death and beauty is perceived in Western society has been driven by the Jewish and Christian traditions that are steeped in violence and death. She provides evidence backed analysis of how the idea of beauty has been driven by the sexist notion that beauty and nature are weak and of the 'lesser' sex and that violence, destruction, and death and strong manly traits that demonstrate devotion to god. Jantzen illustrates this across three parts, the first addressing how beauty and violence have been portrayed across the Jewish and Christian faiths and the credence given to those perceived as masculine and the denigration of those perceived as feminine. The second part covers Judaism and the ancient near east, assessing the numerous and violent actions and war of men of god and the human sacrifices made in god's name and how this has skewed what is defined as beautiful, destruction rather than creation. The third part covers early Christianity including the birth and death of christ, how this has been portrayed and the focus given to his death over his life and how this focus on violence and death has pervaded ever since. Jantzen ends with a review of how these thought processes could be reinterpreted to move away from violence and death and how feminism can flourish within these religions should such changes occur.