God: A Biography [Paperback]

Jack Miles (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 19, 1996

What sort of "person" is God? Is it possible to approach him not as an object of religious reverence, but as the protagonist of the world's greatest book--as a character who possesses all the depths, contradictions, and abiguities of a Hamlet? In this "brilliant, audacious book" (Chicago Tribune), a former Jesuit marshalls a vast array of learning and knowledge of the Hebrew Bible to illuminate God--and man--with a sense of discovery and wonder.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Is it possible to approach God not as an object of religious reverence, but as the protagonist of the world's greatest book -- as a character who possesses all the depths, contradictions, and ambiguities of a Hamlet? How does he depend on the other characters, and how does his relationship with them show his development? Miles provides a learned, original exegesis that will send readers back to the Bible in curious amazement. Winner of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for biography.

From Publishers Weekly

Former Jesuit Miles offers a detailed analysis of the nature and character of God as he appears in the Old Testament.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 446 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (March 19, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679743685
• ISBN-13: 978-0679743682
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

171 of 179 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A postmodern, postcritical reintegration of the story of God July 21, 2003

By David Blakeslee

Format:Paperback

When I first heard about this book, I was put off by what I considered a "cutesy" title. Mentally, I catalogued the book with efforts along the lines of "Conversations with God" or even "The Celestine Prophecy," pop-theology that sought to gain a mass readership through some kind of clever gimmick.

Several weeks ago, though, I took a closer look and was intrigued by Miles' premise. He calls this book a biography because he's focusing on the "person" of God as described throughout the Hebrew scriptures, or Tanakh. Miles puts a lot of emphasis on the sequence of books found in the Tanakh as contrasted with the Old Testament. To him, the order in which scriptures are read makes a lot of difference to how the reader comes to learn about and understand God. Miles sees not just evidence of the period in which these works were composed (earlier to later) but also deliberate artfulness in their arrangement, so that we observe a gradual waning of God's direct involvement in the world. From the early accounts of God walking through the garden in the cool of the evening, we read story after story of God having intimate, personal dialogue with the great figures of Israelite history, only to see such reports diminish over the course of the centuries, until the final vision of a high, distant and receding figure called the Ancient of Days at the end of Daniel. By the time we get to the Chronicles-Nehemiah cycle, God is more an object of reference, the one being talked about, rather than a direct participant in the story. Or so goes the basic argument of Miles, anyway.

Though Miles cannot be relied upon to support any specific denominational or doctrinal claims that might come from a reading of scripture, I don't see him as having an agenda of undermining religious authority or personal beliefs. In his discussion of Job, toward the end of the book, he gives a helpful description of his own objectives in writing the book:

"The reading offered here attempts a consciously postcritical or postmodern reintegration of mythic, fictional and historical elements in the Bible so as to allow the character of God to stand forth more clearly from the work of which he is the protagonist."

I appreciate his clarity and honesty in making that statement. He recognizes that the Bible functions differently for many of its readers, across the span of religious traditions that trace their roots to these scriptures. He's not trying to supplant those readings, but is instead offering a supplemental perspective, which I believe is useful and relevant for our times.

The early books of the Bible get the most in-depth treatment, because they are the basis from which the rest of Tanakh develops. Genesis portrays God in his most basic roles: Creator, Destroyer (via the Flood,) and "Friend of the Family" (the personal god of Abraham and his biological descendents.) An interesting chapter titled "Creator/Destroyer" reflects on how those conflicting tendencies play themselves out in the story of Abraham, integrating into one personality aspects of deity that other societies ascribed to different gods (e.g. El, Yah, Rahab, Tiamat, etc.) This is an important point that Miles builds on throughout the book. Israel's commitment to monotheism, established early on in the development of its religious history, necessitated all the divine prerogatives to be ascribed to one and only one Supreme Being.

Miles goes on to explore God's role as Liberator, Lawgiver and Liege as told in the remainder of the Torah. Then it's on to the story of the conquest and settlement of Canaan, and God's personae of Conqueror, Father (to David and his line) and Arbiter, where Israel's lapse into idolatry mandates God's judgment for failing to fulfill their covenant obligations.

Then we see in Isaiah God's roles as Executioner and forgiving, restoring Holy One. From there Miles does a "surface scan" of the rest of the Bible, with the exception of Job, which he regards as the climactic book of the Tanakh. After Job, God becomes less imposing, more familiar, even to the point of seeming "absent" as we see in the sequence of Song, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and most notoriously, Esther, where the name of God is never mentioned. By the end, we see post-exilic Israel, partially regathered in their homeland, with an inferior reconstruction of the Temple, led by those who hearken back to a more glorious past that can never be recaptured but still provides an ideal of how things ought to be. Miles portrays a people older and wiser, more than a bit worn down and disillusioned by the ordeal that they have been through.

The final section is titled "Does God Lose Interest?" In it, Miles ponders the similarities between the Tanakh and two famous tragedies, Oedipus Rex and Hamlet. He finds Tanakh to be more akin to Shakespeare than Sophocles. Whereas Oedipus was driven to his fate by inexorable, unalterable processes, Hamlet's outcome was an outgrowth of his character. Miles sees similarities in the unfolding narrative of the Tanakh. As God acts, he seems to learn new things about himself and his creation, and this new knowledge in turn alters his future actions and affects the other participants in the story. Here Miles offers something I found quite unique, a polytheistic retelling of the story of the Tanakh. It helps to clarify the distinctions between the familiar Israelite version of creation and history and how it might be otherwise told from a different religious point of view.

All in all, this book has had quite an effect in increasing my curiosity about the Bible and the history of its interpretation across the wider span of western cultures. I recommend it highly.

54 of 62 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Chronicles of a desert deity February 12, 2002

By Stephen A. Haines HALL OF FAMEVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Jack Miles has responded to a number of theses concerning the character of his deity. Many biblical critics have suggested the early books present several gods lumped together by editorial fiat. Miles insists that the god of the Hebrew Bible is but one. That circumstance, uniqueness and solitude, is the cause of various character changes this god went through in the course of history. He has neither siblings nor peers. It's a very human story, but Miles doesn't portray this god as a human personification with superior powers. On the contrary, this god is unaware of the powers he possesses until he tries them out. They become, predictably, addictive with the passage of time. As the god develops, he exhibits changes in character that would be considered "growing up" in people. Finally, for unknown reasons, but perhaps just fatigue, the god retires from human contact. People are left only with previous lessons to follow.

Although "God" is the result of intensive knowledge of the Hebrew Tanakh, Miles dismisses the notion that his study is a psychoanalysis of the god, but that's because he's dealing with a divinity. The character variations Miles chronicles, the creator, destroyer, family patriarch, liberator and others, could be applied to any complex character. Any good biography of a national leader might evince the same personifications. The depiction might manifest as many, if not the same, characteristics. Miles' demurral may be overlooked, since his presentation is a compelling account delivered with lively writing skill. He is able to achieve a cool detachment, but not clinical aloofness, in presenting a deity to which he retains some level of adherence.

Miles' personal faith doesn't restrict what minimal judgments he offers on this god. He accepts that the god reneges on promises, is a genocidal killer of some note, and punishes even those he claims to love with spontaneous wrath. In early days, he doesn't seek worshippers, just obedient subjects. We learn his sacrifices must be living creatures instead of agricultural crops, but the issue rises with Cain and repeats frequently. It's an arbitrary decision, enforced with vigour, but the motivation remains hidden. It all seems to boil down to whimsical expressions of power. The power is challenged, however, in the outstanding chapters in this book, the account of Job. Job's story has been retold countless times in various arenas, but Miles has analysed the account with fresh, engrossing insight. In his view, Job wins the encounter by simply accepting the god enjoys greater power than he, responding "So what?". It's a given. Job's not contesting the point, so why the terrible punishments? Miles' god is here shown as lawgiver, but not an administrator of justice. Miles, too, accepts the condition - the god has simply grown old and too irascible to reason with.

The shade of Samuel Langhorne Clemens hovered nearby during the reading of this book and writing this review. Silently, the spectre seemed to point repeatedly at Miles' text. Comment wasn't required, the message was clear: why would any person venerate such a creature? Miles fails to answer this question, in fact, he doesn't even pose it. For him, faith in this deity is a given. He doesn't adore sightlessly, but clearly accepts the conditions laid down as valid history. For some, the detachment seems inhuman, but that doesn't detract from the value Miles' portrayal has offered us. The story is too well presented to ignore.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars New Look at the Old Testament January 19, 2002

By schapmock

Format:Paperback

Miles' thoughtful, searching, and sometimes thrilling re-examination of the Old Testament (or more properly, Hebrew Bible or Tanakh) turns on the intriguing premise that we can read the Bible as a novel in which God serves as protagonist. Miles never overplays this notion, keeping one eye on historical interpretations, but uses it to develop a fascinating reading of the familiar text.

As with Harold Bloom's Book of J, this book can fascinate merely by challenging conventional english translations: the profusion of puns, irony, and sarcasm in the original Hebrew comes as a shock and a thrill to readers who first learned these stories as children. Miles would be worth reading for this analysis alone. And when he applies his methods to the Book of Job, the result is a radical reinterpretation that finally makes sense of the problematic tale, giving it a moral weight traditonal readings have denied.

Miles' conclusions go deeper, demonstrating how in forcing the function of a half dozen pagan deities into a single God, monotheism created a figure contradictory, paradoxical, powerfully creative and self-destructive: like nothing seen before - and in doing so, forged the first literary character of true psychological complexity.

In the Tanakh God creates mankind in his own image so that he may have a way to better see himself -- Miles' interpretation shows us man creating the Tanakh, and God, to do precisely the same thing.