The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

A God of Our Invention
Daniel Kohanski
Apocryphile Press
https://apocryphilepress.com
9781958061183, $20.00, PB, 326pp

https://www.amazon.com/God-Our-Invention-Religion-Western/dp/1958061182

Synopsis: Daniel Kohanski has spent decades working on problems of religion=
.. Starting from a solid background in Conservative Judaism, he has studied = law, Talmud, history, philosophy. He has researched the sources and pored o= ver the scholarship and gotten much help from scholars along the way.

With the publication of "A God of Our Invention: How Religion Shaped the We= stern World", Kohanski is a compelling analysis of two major Abrahamic reli= gions: Judaism and Christianity.

"A God of Our Invention" takes the reader from the gods of the Ancient Near=
East to the modern threat of global climate change. It explains how one of=
those ancient nations, the Israelites, came up with an idea of a single Go=
d who rules over all, and how Christians used (and misused) Jewish ideas to=
become the leading power in Europe and to dominate much of the world.

"A God of Our Invention" explains: How Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jeru= salem led to the Israelites' believing in one god; When the Jews began to b= elieve in personal immortality and judgment after death; Why the Roman conq= uest of Judaea was critical to the birth of Christianity; Why the Jews have=
always been indifferent to Jesus - and why Christians can't accept that; H=
ow Christians went from being pacifists to calling for holy war; How the in= sistence that the world is about to end has impacted the way we deal with s= ex, life, death, and global climate change; How doubt and reality combined =
to break Christianity's hold on power.

"A God of Our Invention" is an ideal information resource for anyone who ha=
s questions about western religion but doesn't know where to start looking = for answers. If you want to know why religion has such an impact on your li=
fe when you're not religious, or how religion can still do good in the worl=
d, "A God of Our Invention" is the place to start.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of an Ap= pendix (Dating the Book of Daniel), an eight page Chronology of Events, twe= nty-eight pages of Notes, a six page listing of Primary Sources, 20 pages o=
f References, and a eight page Index, "A God of Our Invention: How Religion=
Shaped the Western World" is also available in a digital book format (Kind= le, $6.99) and is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, comm= unity, seminary, synagogue, college, and university library Judaic & Christ= ian Studies collections.\

Editorial Note: Daniel Kohanski (https://thehumanist.com/contributor/daniel= -kohanski) is a computer programmer, a retired Foreign Service officer, and=
a lifelong student of religious history.

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