Reviews for Sports Medicine for the Combat Arts

The average rating for Sports Medicine for the Combat Arts based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-01-17 00:00:00 William Johnson I read this book because it was assigned reading for the lecture series “Intro to the Old Testament” with Christine Hayes that Yale has up on the web. Even heavily abridged, Kaufman’s book is a weighty, detailed tome. The English translation for the most part reads like it’s not even a translation, which is impressive. I only read two chapters: chapter two on pagan religion and chapter three on Iraelite religion. Kaufman covers every instance where we may compare the early religion that would flower into Judaism, Christianity and Islam to the religions it was birthed and surrounded by. They have potent and ominous names: Theogeny, Cosmogony, Oneiromancy, Demonology. With the right attitude, Bible study can be metal as fuck. In case after case Kaufman uses the text of the bible to argue that the religion of Israel was fundamentally a rupture with previous ‘pagan’ religions; that it was fundamentally discontinuous, something new. Though I suspect Kaufman may be overstating his case, I’m basically convinced. This inflection point is easy to understand if one takes a crass theist approach: The Jews were the chosen people, so it is no surprise that the god of the universe chose their tiny tribe to enlighten with the concept of monotheism. Though I may be crass, I'm no theist, so I have to rely on other explanations for why this unprecedented and massively influential change happened.. Honestly, I don't have one yet but I can't be the first one to ask this question from a secular perspective. Modern English and indeed the modern world have ancient roots in some incredibly limited corners. The people who produced the words that would become the old testament did not have a vast, teeming empire. It’s nearly impossible to imagine what the world today would be like if they never had the epiphany we now refer to as ‘monotheism’. That’s because words and images of the Hebrew Bible are about as foundational to the culture as words can be. Knowing more about the Bible will help shed light on history, literature, philosophy, etc. Studying this stuff is worth the effort, even for a ‘pagan’ like myself.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-01-22 00:00:00 Richard Lewis This book contains essays about a wide variety of Torah topics. Although Kaufman presumes the validity of the Documentary Hypothesis (the idea that the Torah has been written by several human authors) his primary thesis is that idolatry was rare, and that Hebrews had been predominantly monotheistic for as long as anyone knew. Kaufman begins by discussing the Bible's attitude towards paganism. Kaufman begins by focusing on the nature of paganism, and how it differs from Biblical monotheism. Paganism assumes gods are like humans, and have private lives. They are subject to natural forces and thus can be coerced by magic. The all-controlling Hebrew God shares none of these characteristics. He also notes that the Hebrew Bible never references pagan mythology (which treats their gods as deities with life stories of their own). Instead, it merely treats pagan gods as names ("X, god of nation Y") or as impersonal blocks of wood and stone. Kaufman apparently interprets this apparent ignorance of paganism as evidence that true paganism (as opposed to vulgar superstition) was so rare that Jews really didn't understand it very well. He acknowledges that the Bible repeatedly refers to idolatry, but argues that such idolatry was typically confined to small circles. For example, he notes that when Jehu massacres "all the servants of Baal" (II Kings 10), this group was small enough to fit into one temple. In the middle of the book, another essay focuses on the Israel/Canaanite relationship. Kaufman argues that the Biblical story of Hebrews ethnically cleansing Canaanites is mostly true, and that there is no evidence that the two peoples merged or that the Hebrews were just a faction within the Canaanites. To support this view, he notes that there is no evidence of early Hebrews using chariots (a form of military technology used by Canaanites) or adopted the Canaanites' city-state form of political organization. Although Canaanite settlements did survive Joshua's conquests, they were separate from the Hebrews (and presumably hostile). Kaufman's last few essays focus on the prophets; he argues that the prophets differed among themselves. Amos focused on everyday social sins, especially those involving exploitation of the poor. The most unique feature of Isaiah's prophecy is less his attack on sins as his vision of redemption: Isaiah envisions Divine salvation not just for Israel, but for all mankind. Micah, by contrast, is more nationalistic, focusing on the risk of national destruction and the hope of national revenge upon Israel's enemies. Habakkuk acknowledges the worldly success of paganism, but argues that it is only temporary. Kaufman's discussion of Jeremiah explains why it was so difficult for the Jews to accept his prophecies: while Isaiah had (correctly) counseled resistance to foreign invaders, Jeremiah urged submission to Babylon, and asserted that if the kingdom of Judah failed to submit it would be destroyed as punishment for its sins- not just the sins of the rich against the poor (as in Amos) but a wide variety of everyday sins. Ezekiel's prophecy was directed towards exiles rather than towards residents of Israel, and was more mystical in nature than the others.