WHERE GOD WAS BORN
A daring adventure through the Bible’s greatest stories
By Bruce Feiler. HarperCollins. 428 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978-0-06-057489-5
Travel writing, history, biblical exegesis and personal reflection are all woven together in Bruce Feiler’s third book on the Bible & the Middle East.
He embarks on a journey to the land ‘where God was born’, armed with his Bible and an archaeologist travel companion. By exploring the places of religious and political significance mentioned in the Old Testament, Feiler aims to deal with his own spiritual doubts and to ‘consider the future of faith’. The Pentateuch is dealt with in an earlier book — now Feiler reflects on the rest of the Old Testament, starting with Joshua.
It is an action-packed, often dangerous, journey, taking in Israel, Iraq and Iran: a treacherous helicopter ride over the West Bank, a too-close-for-comfort brush with suicide bombers, exploring tunnels under Jerusalem, and searching for the Garden of Eden in Iraq.
As travel literature, there is much of interest — similarly, as a personal spiritual diary. However, the book left me feeling rather sad and slightly frustrated. Bruce Feiler’s obvious spiritual hunger will never be met by his intrepid travels. The New Testament tells us the answer to his quest: ‘Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ’ (Romans 10.17).
Mary Davis,
wife and mum, St. Nicholas, Tooting, London
