A Comment on 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem' by James Carroll

Surveying this book published in 2011 that I am unlikely to complete, I was disappointed to discover that it seemed to be another one of those secularist interpretations of vast topics that work well in some respects and chop historical logic in others. The timely book by a Boston Globe columnist does not mention any historical academic credentials nor religious affilliation of the author. Well, that may be alright since it seems to be the next book of wisdom of the age on the history of the city of David.

It has some beautiful writing on geography as one might expect, yet the point of view of the author on Christianity seems to place the work of Jesus Christ just within one political context of liberation following upon the work of John the Baptist. Christianity is generally traduced in that it is interpreted mostly within a political rather than a spiritual context. That context seems somewhat in error and rather myopic.

Mr. Carroll has taken a lot of time to examine his subject, yet their is a difference between recounting historical events and finding underlying social and political reasons for social behavior in times past. Mr. Carroll has several fiction books to his credit as well as a few on historical topics, so I naturally wonder if his free wheeling reinterpretation of significant religious contexts of history hasn't been overly stimulated by his author's imagination.

Human history in review may be taken as a kind of best of highlights of large events between which political organization occurred, yet especially in Christian history human beings were largely illiterate and followed along after the new favorite god of the ruler for pragmatic reasons. Human history is 90% below the surface of great events rather more so than the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Logical, rational or moral political choices that might make faith a choice worth war are not usually ascendent over living space, desire for power and a quest for profit. Kings change their religion sometimes, Goths go on volkerwanderuungs, empires invade to expand for pragmatic reasons of power. Even so one ought not rightly relenquish faith and simply interpret the world or even events in Jerusalem's history from a narrow point of view.

The author seems to argue antipathetically to Christian faith, finding Jesus, the apostles and Crusaders to be secularists with political goals. The political and historical facts of Moslem invasion of Iberia, assault on Sicily and Byzantium in the 8th century followed the 7th century capture of Jerusalem, yet the author seems to focus on a gospel characterizartion of Jews asd enemies in error-perhaps a trendy error for the elite insiders of some of the academic world today, yet a significant error in comprehension of the gospel, of Mark, Luke and John.

At least Mr. Carroll serves the purpose of pointing out the problem in returning Jeruslam to a divided 1967 boundary. Thirty foot high walls were built to keep suicide bombers out of sections of the city that would be quite dangerous to remove. With Egypt set to open its border with the Gaza in four days the President should have sought to reinforce Israel's security instead of undermining it at an importunate moment.

I believe that Mr. Carrolls book is probably worth reading for some although it may damage the faith of those weak in that regard. I cannot view Christian history as a core of malicide-though Mr. Carroll may. Christianity has had to struggle against the wicked human nature to move it away from the pagan passions and beliefs as best as it can. It was not successfull a priori in that effort, in fact it is yet an ongoing moral combat that may be about the sole remedy to malacide as a usual human activity of government.

Jerusalem is an important city historically, yet the author seems to fall into the very snares he seeks to avoid. Maybe Dr. Campings interpretation of the end of history on Oct. 21st won't coincide with some next 700ths anniversary of a regime change, yet neither will atheists, secularists and Bostonian skeptical writers be likely to bring utopia to Jerusalem by soon.