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Title: Cosmos, Chaos, and the World to Come, 2nd Edition by Norman Cohn ISBN: 0-300-09088-9 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.88 (8 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent read
Comment: This is a brief but fascinating journey through the history of ancient apocalyptic faith. Cohn takes us to the very roots of civilization, explaining how the traditional cycles of life coincided with religious belief. The cycles of death and rebirth, day and night, summer and winter, mixed in with occasional droughts, floods, and enemy invasion mirrored religious belief in an ordered cosmos that was originally formed by the gods out of a pre-existent chaos. Cosmos wasn't absolutely secure however; chaos was always a threat to the daily ordered life of each civilization, so the benevolent gods continuously fought the "chaos monsters" that constantly threatened the ordered world. Complex pantheons and creation myths arose out of these beliefs and sacrifices and gifts were brought to the gods to give them strength and worship in their enduring battle of protection of the people against chaos.
Cohn takes us to the earliest religious beliefs of Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Vedic Indians, and the Zoroastrians describing their beliefs, interconnectedness, innovations, and future implications. He safely credits Zoroaster for the innovation of the first apocalyptic faith, the belief in a consummation of the never ending fight against chaos wherein the supreme god, Ahura Mazda would one day finally and forever defeat the gods of chaos; an age of prosperity, order, and goodness would then be ushered in.
Cohn then proceeds to Judaism and the specific experiences of the Israelites, particularly related to the Babylonian exile, when elite Jews discovered the compelling apocalyptic of Zoroastrianism and adapted it to their own faith in Yahweh. Christians co-opted and greatly expanded these beliefs with a firm conviction of a coming apocalypse and an elaborate cosmic battle myth at the end of the age.
Cohn doesn't waste words; there is a lot of information in these 240 pages, each sentence is filled with fascinating facts. I found his writing style slightly unconventional and it was difficult for me to absorb at times, I am re-reading several sections. I also wish Cohn would have addressed Islam and completed the apocalyptic story of the Middle Eastern religious faiths.
A very good read.
Rating: 5
Summary: Fascinating
Comment: I am a longstanding fan of Cohn's writings. I read this book in a day, finding it extremely lucid and informative. It brought the cosmologies of the ancient world alive, showing how their underlying themes make sense to everyday lives of the time.
Rating: 4
Summary: Another Fine Cohn Concoction
Comment: Norman Cohn contines his exemplary work as a historian of religious history with Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come (The Ancient Roots of Apolcalytic Faith). This book begins a little drier than his previous works but picks up speed nicely with his discussions of Zorastrianism, Judaism, and very early Christianity while showing the connections between the former and the latter two in terms of its prophetic, apocalyptic writings. This book makes a nice companion piece to this author's earlier and seminal work on millenniarism during the medieval period. A fine addition to the Cohn canon.
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Title: The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages by Norman Cohn ISBN: 0195004566 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: November, 1990 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Noah's Flood: The Genesis Story in Western Thought by Norman Cohn ISBN: 0300076487 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: Europe's Inner Demons: The Demonization of Christians in Medieval Christendom by Norman Rufus Colin Cohn ISBN: 0226113078 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: November, 2000 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Visions of the End by Bernard McGinn ISBN: 0231112572 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 March, 1998 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
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Title: When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture (Studies in Cultural History) by Paul Boyer ISBN: 0674951298 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: March, 1994 List Price(USD): $21.50 |
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