God: Myths of the Male Divine

by Jake Page and David A. Leeming

Book Overview

He has been a trickster, a shaman, a divine child; he has been a sacrificial victim, a consort of the earth goddess, a warrior, a sky king; and the creator, a distant and impersonal immensity. He is the male divine, seen in the many gods of myth, and his life story is told here in this graceful and illuminating account by David Leeming and Jake Page.
Illustrating their points with materials ranging from the prehistoric cave paintings to the mystic...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195093062
• ISBN13: 9780195093063
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Half scholarly dissertation, half Bullfinch's Mythology

I first found this book while searching for literature that dealt with Neo Paganism and the male divine, an area much too often overlooked by the more feminist camp of this faith. The book itself is not written with a Neopagan slant, and I sincerely doubt that the authors are Pagans in any way, but this book, and its companion, are essential reading for Neopagans. From its opening line-God was born sometime in the Paleolithic age-the reader knows that the authors mean to approach their subject through academic methods, but they are respectful, thoughtful and deeply spiritual, even as they maintain their scholarly distance. The book ends with the Big Bang, and if you cannot imagine why the Big Bang would be related to God, you absolutely need to read this book. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to read, each theoretical explanation was followed by one or more short retellings of the corresponding myths, making the book flow wonderfully and providing all the evidence needed to support the author's arguments without getting overly technical. At the same time, the brief refreshers in mythology allow the reader to consider this biography of the God concept with a critical and informed mind. Overall, it is a beautiful book for people of all faiths, even science, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.