Publisher's Weekly Review
In this concise, lucid book, Coogan (God and Sex), lecturer at the Harvard Divinity School, assimilates thousands of years of history to argue that humans should give up religiously based tribalism. Coogan uses logic and historical facts to make the case that what humans often refer to as God's will to favor one group over another is, in fact, a human act. He looks at various places in the Bible in which Jews (or some subset of the Jewish people) or Christians lay claim to a special God-given "chosenness." He shows that these texts, though afforded divine authority, are often contradicted by other biblical passages that call for inclusiveness. For instance, views on foreigners in Isaiah 56:3 6-7 ("foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh... their burnt offerings... will be acceptable") are then contradicted by Nehemiah 13:23-25 ("You should not take their daughters for you sons... I cleansed them from everything foreign"). Coogan's argument is convincing and supported with well-chosen examples, and his measured take will persuade (if not completely convince) any reader willing to listen. Coogan's rigorous work deserves a wide audience. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Coogan examines the notion that God chooses certain peoples or nations to work out humanity's divine destiny, focusing on Jewish and Christian developments of the concept. Abraham was the first chosen man and, through his younger son, Isaac, his family the first chosen people. Eventually, kings of Israel were declared chosen. None of that prevented the Egyptian and Babylonian captivities, demise of the kingdom, subjection to imperial Greeks and then Romans, and destruction of the great temple in Jerusalem twice. Moreover, squabbles about who was more chosen than whom were constant, squabbles that Christians originally Jewish sectarians, after all joined and took beyond the Bible with such eventual concepts as American exceptionalism. Coogan comes to the conclusion that it's high time to discard divine chosenness, just as slavery has been discarded. With this in mind, he contributes to the effort with not a rant but an accessible, compact means of understanding chosenness and its effects.--Ray Olson Copyright 2019 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Coogan (Harvard Divinity Sch.; The Ten Commandments: A Short History of an Ancient Text), a highly regarded and prolific biblical scholar, argues that the concept of divine chosenness is both false and damaging. The author writes from a nontheistic perspective, which he believes allows him to analyze texts through historical criticism and without significant theological biases. The first part of the book focuses on the Bible and the concept of chosenness. Coogan notes that many biblical books developed over a period of time and with the use of multiple sources. He sees passages on divine election as coming from later sources that help to justify actions that had already taken place against outsiders. A kind of tribalism emerged that resulted in outsiders sometimes experiencing isolation, violence, and oppression. In the work's second half, -Coogan shows the damage this concept has caused in American history, focusing on three examples that relate to American exceptionalism and exploitation, Zionist fundamentalism, and attitudes toward immigrants and refugees. His concern ultimately is about the present situation. VERDICT Those interested in biblical interpretation and in American religious history will find this to be a helpful work.-John Jaeger, Johnson Univ., Knoxville, TN © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.