In the Valley of the Shadow: On the Foundations of Religious Belief

Written by James L. Kugel

Narrated by George K Wilson

When James L. Kugel, one of the world's leading biblical scholars, was diagnosed with an aggressive, likely fatal form of cancer, he said, "I was, of course, disturbed and worried. But the main change in my state of mind was that the background music suddenly stopped. Now I was just down to myself, one little person, sitting in the late summer sun, with only a few things left to do." He recognized that same feeling of smallness expressed in many early religious writings, and in the months that followed, he began a journey of discovery, reexamining the most basic questions about the origins of religion and its universality, which had taken on immediate and vital importance for him.

Weaving reflections on his own struggle-the love of his family became "as tangible as bread"-with the writings of anthropologists, neuroscientists, and poets, he leads listeners from prehistoric religious practices to the religious doubts of modern times via an amazing array of topics: the eerie starkness of medieval cathedral architecture; the "looming Outside" revealed in African witchcraft; biblical encounters with angels; gospel album covers; and-through it all-the peculiar "sense of smallness" that, he argues, characterizes how all humans used to conceive of themselves.

Kugel's look at the whole phenomenon of religion is rigorously honest, often funny, sometimes skeptical, but ultimately a deeply moving affirmation of faith in God. Believers and doubters alike will be struck by its combination of objective scholarship and poetic insight-a beautifully crafted consideration of life's greatest mystery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Feb 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452670485

James L. Kugel

James L. Kugel served as the Starr Professor of Hebrew at Harvard from 1982 to 2003, where his course on the Bible was regularly one of the most popular on campus, enrolling more than nine hundred students. A specialist in the Hebrew Bible and its interpretation, he now lives in Jerusalem. His recent books include The God of Old, In the Valley of the Shadow and the forthcoming The Great Change.

Reviews for In the Valley of the Shadow

[revslick_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Have you ever had somebody tell you they can do magic tricks, which at the time sounds intriguing because people rarely boast about their magic capabilities? As the time goes by they talk more and more about their awesome magic abilities so much that your interest is piqued. At this point expectation and hope well within only to have them dashed against the rocks when they turn to you and say here pick a card?If so, then don't say I didn't warn you because that's the feeling you'll get at the end of this book.Kugel's main idea he works from is that how we think about God or the gods is very much connected to how we conceive of ourselves. Interestingly enough, he does this through exploring his own confrontation with mortality with his battle with cancer while exploring religious belief. Now at first this seems like a brilliant ploy. Don't be fooled. It begins with an artful tale laced with some wonderful poetry. Then the meat of the book comes to play and just when you think here comes the magic the cards come out and your left thinking "Is that all?"It isn't a complete bust there are some silver lining nuggets, but it is surrounded with a lot of fluff.