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Common Prayers
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by Harvey Cox
Houghton Mifflin
Due/Published
September 2001, 224 pages,
cloth
ISBN
0618067434
Harvey Cox, the distinguished Christian theologian and scholar of religion, has a Jewish wife and son. From the Passover meal to the weekly Sabbath candles, from the marriage chuppah to the walls of old Jerusalem, he has shared in the joys and responsibilities of the Jewish faith. Celebrating the Jewish holidays, he has had the opportunity to reflect on the essence of Judaism and its complex relationship to Christianity, an experience that continues to deepen his understanding of his own faith. In COMMON PRAYERS, Cox takes readers on an intimate journey through the Jewish year. An insightful and charming guide, he illuminates the meanings of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah and the "December madness" of Chanukah and Christmas, as well as those of less well known holidays such as Sukkot and Simchat Torah and of events such as death and marriage. Describing in elegant, accessible language the holidays' personal, historical, and spiritual significance and the lessons they offer us, Cox brings a unique perspective to this encounter with a faith not his own. As seen through his eyes, the Jewish holidays become a wellspring of discovery and reflection. For many Christians, this book will offer a revelation of the rituals and traditions practiced by Jewish friends and relatives and an occasion to reflect on their own faith. For Jews, a Christian theologian's thoughtful view of their religion is certain to bring new and refreshing insights. And for every reader, COMMON PRAYERS promises a deeply touching journey, full of surprises, across the lines of faith and an opportunity to contemplate the wider context of his or her own spirituality. |
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Review
For fifteen years Harvey Cox, the prominent Christian theologian and the Thomas Professor of Divinity at Harvard University, has been celebrating Jewish holidays. After marrying a Jewish woman and having a son, who is being raised as a Jew, Cox agreed with his wife to share in one another’s religious practices. Common Prayers is an incisive, searching, and honest distillation of what he has learned about Judaism and about his own Christian faith. Cox structures his work around the Jewish calendar, exploring the personal, historical, and spiritual significance of the holidays, sitting shiva, bar-mitzvahs, and other elements of Judaism. Though he approaches Judaism from the perspective of an outsider, Cox is sensitive to the richness and meanings of the Jewish tradition. He reveals the ways in which his immersion into Jewish practices has deepened his understanding of his Christian faith. Moreover, his observations counter the assumption that a Jewish-Christian marriage must dilute the substance of one or the other spouse’s faith. While admitting that inter-faith marriages can be difficult, Cox discovers the many connections between the practices of Judaism and Christianity, and what practitioners of both religions can learn from one another. James Carroll, author of Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews, writes, “An illumination and a challenge, Common Prayers is a masterpiece of interreligious meditation. It lays bare the soul of a man, but it also opens a new phase of Jewish-Christian understanding. As so often before, Christians especially will learn from Harvey Cox, but every reader will be moved by this book and changed by it.” For other recent titles in related subjects: |
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