Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The
World Before and After Jesus
(Hinges of History) by Thomas Cahill
Man-Never Quite Ready For God- Encounter
Desire of the Everlasting Hills is another present from the pen of Thomas
Cahill, author of How the Irish Saved Civilization and The Gifts of the
Jews. In this third volume of the bestselling Hinges of History series, he
knits together history, politics, sociology, and faith with contemporary
insights that yield remarkable results. After painting with broad brush
strokes an entertaining picture of the Greek, Jewish, and Roman world,
Cahill focuses on Jesus. With illuminating deductions and clever
speculation, Jesus is seen though the eyes of his biographers in their
Gospel accounts. Each of these authors lives is reconstructed in such a
way that the richness of their writing and their subject matter is
wonderfully enhanced. The section on Paul, detailing how his life and
letters shaped the early church, should be required reading for every
student of the Bible. From his beginnings in the cosmopolitan city known
as Tarsus through his calling, like the patriarchs and prophets before him,

he becomes the perfect vehicle for this moment in the development of the
Jesus Movement. His mix of Greek reasoning with rabbinical training
casts the stories of the early church into a thoughtful theology. He is seen
here as the earliest egalitarian who not only impacted the early church but
all of western civilization. Cahill challenges many traditional religious ideas
while also taking on some of the more radical contemporary interpreters of
biblical literature. As with the other volumes in this series, the marginal
notes are filled with a wealth of interesting information. Combining his own
fresh translation of many New Testament highlights with respect and
humor, Thomas Cahills book is for the believer and nonbeliever alike.
--Tracy Danz
Personal Review: Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World
Before and After Jesus (Hinges of History) by Thomas Cahill
Cahill captures the culture of the world immediately before, during and
after the life of Jesus with amazing color, candor and well-timed humor.
The ancient world comes alive, and the portraits I find here of people like
Mary, Paul and others ring true because they reveal the real people, warts
and all, who became so integral to the Christian faith.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ and claim Him as my Lord and Savior, and
this book has given me much-needed context and cultural understanding
of not only what the world was like during Jesus' time on earth, but also
living-color portraits of the audiences the Gospels and Paul's letters were
initially intended for. The latter has been HUGE in helping me understand
the proper context for reading Paul's letters, which are so widely
misinterpreted and misused.
I also found Cahill's take on the incredibly controversial Book of Revelation
to really make sense to me, more so than the sci-fi type explanations
offered in Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days (Left Behind No. 1)
or similar interpretations.
I never viewed this book as a spiritual guide or a substitute for the Bible.
Rather, I took it as a highly-entertaining, historical commentary that helped
shed some much-needed light on what the people and the culture of this
world were like immediately before, during and after Jesus showed up on
the scene.
Keep that last tenet in mind, and you will enjoy this book immensely,
whether you're a Jesus follower or not.
-- John Nemo, Author of The King's Game and Miller's Miracle
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