God: A Biography: Pulitzer Prize Winner

Miles analyzes the view of God in the Hebrew Bible from a literary point of view. Miles develops some very rewarding insights arising from the sequential reading and analysis of the biblical portrayal(s) of God. He includes good historical tidbits that help remind us of the cultural context each writing arises from.He analyzes each book in sequence, to see what personality of God unfolds at each stage. The study follows the order of the books of the Tanakh, the Jewish canon, which follows a more chronological order than the Christian Old Testament. This is important for portraying the historical development of concepts.This is helpful since most readers are unclear if even aware of the historical depth and these writings cover and their historical sequence. There are differences in culture and politics at each stage of the history these documents cover. The author provides some important insights into the concepts of the Hebrews, and later Jews (the term comes into use after the return from Babylon), about God, his character and their relationship to him.With this historical literary survey, Miles finds the developing and differing concepts of God over the ages. He analyzes the composite picture that results in this developing picture of God as a character in the collection as a whole.The author relates the literary comments to historical-critical and theological studies, and points out important differences in the perspectives and conclusions of each of those disciplines. Miles does not look at possible ways the text was constructed. Rather, he focuses on the story as we now have it.

Jack Miles achieved his stated intent to write a biography of the character God based on the Tanakh, a literary work. The result is a fascinating study of the evolution of the Judean notion of a monotheistic God, the linchpin for the Jewish, Christian and Muslin religions. Some reviews here either entirely shun Miles work or nit-pick at one of his arguments with certain shrillness, as if Miles had stepped on sacred toes. Unless you can accept, at least temporarily, that man created God and not the other way around, you are liable to suffer a similar upset.Miles is a scholar. He has devoted his life to the study of religion, literature and language, and his writing is rich with insightful analogies. This is not an easy read, however. I had to look up more words while reading this work than with any other book in memory, and some required delving into the cognate, but it was unquestionably worth the effort.

I tend to judge books of theology by how many notes they inspire me to record in the margin of my Bible. What I especially enjoy are ideas/interpretations that I hadn't heard or considered previously, yet are plausible without being novel for shock effect. In that sense, this book wore out my pens.What I appreciated most was the sweeping panorama of Miles' view of the evolution of God's identity throughout Biblical history. I was helped by his perspective of the different personas, so to speak, of God from the earliest books in Old Testament Scripture through the latest. If you've ever been confused by the various personality presentations of God (who hasn't?), at least you'll gain some understanding and solace as to why you were confused - there's something reassuring in the knowledge that you're dis-ease has some justification. You'll also gain in understanding for how the different themes of the Bible, as how they relate to God, develop, come together, diverge from each other and play off each other.I would caution potential readers on several points. The book's approach is not so much a faith-based commentary as a historical narrative written by someone with an extraordinary comprehension of the Scriptures, linguistically as well as historically. To that, the author adds a profound literary breadth of knowledge, along with some psychoanalytic insights, not all of which will be agreed upon or appreciated by people of faith who like to subject their notions of God to "the psychologist's couch." But if you have enough confidence in your own beliefs and enough margin in your theology to welcome some challenges, you'll be richly rewarded. (I would suggest getting an e-Book rather than hard copy because the author has an extensive vocabulary, though, I'm happy to say, not one that is self-aggrandizing or frustrates the reader). In addition, be acutely aware that Miles will not introduce Jesus in this book as the comforting, synthesizing, interpretive key to understanding Yahweh as He is presented in the Hebrew Scriptures. This is strictly an exercise in confronting God without that benefit, just as our spiritual forefathers did.Because my belief is that many might read the book without first acknowledging the author's own stated, foundational bias, or attempt it without acknowledging their own, more constrictive biases, I gave it 4 stars rather than the 5 it represented to me.I close the book with a deeper appreciation for the complexity and mystery of God, and a great appreciation for the author's scholarship. But most importantly, I leave it with a deeper sympathy for those of us who spend our lives trying and failing to apprehend the One by whom we are apprehended!

It's a wonderful book, one that I read years ago. Last year my wife bought me a Kindle and I recently started reading it again, this time on Kindle. However, there are copious amounts of footnotes but you wouldn't know it by this edition. Nothing is noted in the text itself that he author has a footnote specific to what he was writing about. No number indicating a footnote. Nothing. You have to go to the Table of Contents for the link to notes in order to read them. Very, very poor in my opinion. I wish I hadn't purchased it.

Five stars. That says it all.

This is an excellent book - which I have read more than once.This book was written prior to it becoming fashionable for authors to write biographies on such characters as Satan or Father Christmas.Here, the author advances a scholarly approach to understanding the character of God - as depicted in the Old Testament. He systematically works through the development of God's characterisation, as it is outlined in the various texts.We find that God has several personalities. He can be creative and loving, but at other times brutal and destructive. Three main characterisations are identified - which might be called: 'God', 'the Lord' and 'the Lord God'. Depending on which of these identities is being mentioned in the Bible, so a quite distinct personality is to be found.The book is very interesting, and excellently written - by not only a great writer but someone who is very knowledgeable on this subject. It is a highly in-depth analysis of God's life story. It was followed by an equally good study on the life of Jesus as a literary character.

je conseille à tout le monde de lire la bible juive et de la "recevoir" avec réflexion, avec méditation se rendant seulement compte que ce n'est pas un livre , à l'exception de la transmission de la loi au pied du Sinaï, de ce qu'il faut faire mais surtout, en grande majorité, des conséquences des faits qui n'auraient pas du se faire et nous sommes confrontés à cette réflexion personnelle à chaque instant de notre propre vie..

I first read this book several years ago when it was new, and it was real eye-opener. The revelations therein lodged firmly in my mind then, and I simply had to replace the volume (having lent out the original and lost it).The author takes God as a literary character and examines his changing and developing persona through the bible - a 'book' that is supposed to represent a continuous narrative, and that has influenced the whole world for centuries.He clearly demonstrates that we cannot possibly take 'God' seriously if we apply only what we learn of him in the bible, since he is not just one entity but many - and if he only one then is he has a serious mental disorder!

Wonderful book. Even after all these years since its first publication this book continues to fascinate me. I have bought further copies as gifts to my friends who share the same avid interest in reading