Product Description

This title focuses on the symbols and metaphors of Judeo-Christian tradition and investigates how modern culture often misinterprets them. The scope of the text ranges across religious and mytholgical history to geography. The style is one of scholarly story-telling.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #271348 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

A thought-provoking, eye-opening book
Unlike some other books that I've read that stick to 'proving' or 'disproving' the literal truth of the Bible--thus entirely missing the point, it seems to me--this book explores the spiritual meanings of the scriptures. From the opening, where Campbell points out that myth, which we have mis-defined as 'lie', really means metaphor, to the closing, which is a wonderful interview between Campbell and the editor of this posthumous work, Campbell offers a breathtaking redefinition of some of the stories and images we all take for granted.

SInce this book was drawn from his popular lectures, it isn't surprising that the style is more accessible and conversational than the dense, scholarly prose in some of his other books (The Hero with a 1000 Faces, Masks of God). It's much more like The Power of Myth. The editor asks the reader to imagine sitting in Campbell's library or a small lecture hall, and that is precisely the sense of intimacy that I felt in reading this wonderful work.

reinvigorating scripture
as a religious person i've always been frustrated by the limited approach most theologians (not to say priests) approach the subject. i found that this book spoke to me on a level i really hadn't anticipated. it was thoughtful, inspiring and provocative in its "transforming" of "religious metaphor." or is that in its discussion of "transform[ative] religious metaphor"?

i loved this book--it was much less 'new age-y' than the power of myth and much less scholastic than some of the other campbell books i've read--the masks of god or the hero of a thousand faces. the editors took campbell's thoughts and lectures and created a wonderfully effective, compelling argument.

No Horizons in Space
THOU ART THAT is the first volume in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF JOSEPH CAMPBELL which contains materials gathered from previously uncollected essays, letters, diaries, articles and lectures. As such it represents a broad sampling of Campbell's work on mythology and the Western religions.

In one of the more interesting parts of the book Campbell describes the basic differences between the world religions of creed which are Buddhism, Christianity and Islam and the leading ethnic religions of birth which are Hinduism, Judaism and Shintoism.

Often Campbell points out that our ideas of the universe are being reordered by our experience in space. There are no horizons in space causing many people to retreat into fundamentalism.

For a small book THOU ART THAT is filled with much food for thought. I highly recommend it and am looking forward to reading future volumes in this series.