15 Comments
User's avatar
AbigailAmpersand's avatar

Really enjoyed this post. Good, deep, thoughtful stuff to consider. And I really like that Sean O’Brien poem and I, too, love the Lit & Phil.

Expand full comment
Neil O'Brien's avatar

You are right about libraries. Sadly Kirklees Council shut Huddersfield's excellent interwar library and replaced it with a 'hub' in the civic centre https://www.ribapix.com/public-library-huddersfield-west-yorkshire_riba73907

Expand full comment
James Marriott's avatar

Oh God so depressing. Did you see Ed West's recent piece on the tyranny of the hub?

Expand full comment
Verity Brooks's avatar

Very interesting column James, thank you. I wonder if the Wright book is a modern version of The Golden Bough?

Expand full comment
Christopher Harding's avatar

Great post - thank you!

I hadn't heard of the Wright book, so in the spirit of one-for-one, I can recommend a similar and possibly even more big-picture take on the topic: Robert Bellah's 'Religion in Human Evolution.'

Expand full comment
James Marriott's avatar

Ah he references Bellah. Is that book worth it? I think I read another of his books Habits of the Heart (?) which I thought was good

Expand full comment
Christopher Harding's avatar

Definitely worth it. Extraordinarily ambitious. There’s an 8-part review by Andrew Brown. First part here, in case useful: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/jul/16/robert-bellah-religion-in-human-evolution.

Expand full comment
James's avatar

This was really good, a very enjoyable and interesting read.

Expand full comment
James Marriott's avatar

thanks for reading!

Expand full comment
William Scott Harkey's avatar

Does Robert Wright discuss the apocalyptic views of Jesus and Paul?

Expand full comment
James Marriott's avatar

He does! Says that Jesus saw himself as an apocalyptic Jewish prophet - which I think is pretty much the standard view

Expand full comment
William Scott Harkey's avatar

Fantastic! Ordering the book now. Thanks.

Expand full comment
Will Kennaway's avatar

The Lit & Phil reminds me of the Leeds Library, Britain's oldest surviving subscription library - where, in a slightly affected way, I read for my dissertations in the uni holidays. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds_Library

Expand full comment
James Marriott's avatar

Wow - looks beautiful

Expand full comment
John Edwards's avatar

James,

I thought Jesus gave a famous, expansive and unambiguous answer to the question of 'who is my neighbour'. Is Robert Wright saying that because Mark is the earliest gospel this trumps Luke and the parable of the Good Samaritan? Jesus may quote the Hebrew Bible but this may be the basis for his reordering of its meaning rather than an endorsement of its narrowness. I'm all for stripping back historic overlays and quite prepared to believe that Jesus's own self conception was miles from subsequent projections but my understanding was that Jesus was killed at the insistence of the religious authorities precisely because his beliefs were not orthodox?

Expand full comment