The Book of J, translated by David Rosenberg, with commentary by Harold Bloom.#

The `Book of J' referred to by this book is described in the Wikipedia article on the Documentary Hypothesis, in the section on The modern hypothesis. I won't explain all the details, except that Bloom thinks the Yahwist is probably a princess of the House of David, writing after Solomon and the breakup of the United Monarchy.#

On the anthropomorphism that is not problematic in Mormonism:#

The long history of what is called "the problem of anthropomorphism" brought about by J's depictions of Yahweh constitutes one of the curious cultural comedies of Western religious tradition. Embarrassment caused by the impishness of J's Yahweh presumably began with the early revisionists, attaining a first culmination with the work of the Redactor. But such puzzlement or resentment at the Yawistic text became far more overt among the Jews of Hellenistic Alexandria during the last two centuries before the common era. Greek philosophy demanded a dehumanized divinity, and Jewish Hellenists rather desperately sought to oblige, by allegorizing away a Yahweh who walked and who argued, who ate and who rested, who possessed arms and hands, face, and legs. [p. 24]

One of things I enjoy about Bloom is that he puts the Book of Mormon in the same sentence as the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran, in every instance that he must mention them. (See for example, p. 31.)#

Another thing that I like about Bloom, although in a complex way, is that he advises the reader of the Book of J to forget all their religious beliefs and read the book as an exquisite piece of writing that transcends all preexisting genres and has a level of irony unequaled ever before or since. I find that to be true and reminiscent of Aslan on the Quran, but also to miss the mark a little bit. The closer we get to the original and understand the revisions, we can understand more about the purpose of the writing, Yahweh. [p. 48]#

Something I've always noticed in the King James translation of Genesis in the story of the Tower of Babel that God says "Let us go down" and refers to multiple divine beings. Bloom mentions this around page 50 and shows multiple translations. In Rosenberg's translation, the phrase is translated as "Between us, let's descend", as if Yahweh is talking to the reader or himself and being `impish', in Bloom's words.#

On Adam naming the animals and beasts:#

When we consider Adam's task of naming, we often do not remember that what is being named is precisely what is not fit to mend Adam's solitude. J's insight is Nietzschean long before Nietszche: that which we find words for is that which we cannot hold in our heart. [p. 179]

Typical Bloom:#

We, whoever we are, are more naive, less sophisticated, less intelligent than J or Shakespeare. [p. 234]

No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, by Reza Aslan, is a great summary of Islam through the ages, with a focus on how Islam is defined and has been redefined over time.#

The main thrust of this book is that Islam in this day is going through a reformation, like Europe under went. And like the situation in Europe, there is a great deal of violence, and in particular, the Western world is an innocent bystander in the fight. Below I highlight some of the interesting things I learned.#

I found the whole story of the Ka'bah before Islam to be amazing. I can't do it much justice. The Wikipedia page does not explain it much either, however it may be a good starting point. This book is worth it just for the section of pre-Islamic Arabia.#

On Muhammad's miracle:#

As "the supreme Arab event," to quote Kenneth Cragg, the Quran is regarded by most Muslims as Muhammad's sole miracle. Like the prophets who came before him, Muhammad was repeatedly urged to prove his divine mission through miraculous acts. But whenever he was challenged in this way, he insisted that he was nothing more than a messenger, and his message was the only miracle he had to offer. And unlike the miracles of other prophets, which are confined to a particular age, Muhammad's miracle of the Quran would, in the words of the twelfth-century mystic Nadjm ad-Din Razi Daya (1177-1256), "remain until the end of the world." [p. 157]

To me, there is an obvious parallel with Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, although I think the Quran is much more beautiful. And Joseph is credited with other miracles.

Of Sufism:#

That said, Sufis consider all orthodoxy, all traditional teachings, the law, theology, and the Five Pillars inadequate for attaining true knowledge of God. Even the Quran, which Sufis respect as the direct speech of God, lacks the capacity to shed light upon God's essence. As one Sufi master has argued, why spend time reading a love letter (by which he means the Quran) in the presence of the Beloved who wrote it? [p. 201, emphasis added.]

The Autobiography of Benjamin Frankling, by Benjamin Frankling.#

This is a very odd book. Many of the events that you may expect to read about are not mentioned at all. There is very little about the revolution and Franklin's role in it. Regardless, it was fairly interesting.#

The most interesting thing for me were the sections on the `Plan' which is mentioned throughout, but primarily discussed on page 66:#

Perhaps the most important part of that journal is the plan to be found in it, which I formed at sea, for reglating my future conduct in life. It is the more remarkable, as being formed when I was so young, and yet being pretty faithfully adhered to quite thro' to old age. [p. 38]

Advice on virtue:#

In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility. [p. 72]