The Historical Jesus
The New Book I’m Writing About Altruism: Putting It In a Nutshell
As I've been writing my new book, tentatively called "The Invention of Altruism: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Conscience of the West," I've been thinking about how I might summarize the basic argument. Here's what I've got to this point. I'd be happy to hear your reactions. ****************************** Most people I know are moved by news of tragedy. A terrible earthquake, a drought, a famine, a flood, displaced people, innocent victims of military aggression, -- we feel pity for those who pointlessly suffer and sense a desire, even an obligation, to help, for example by donating to disaster relief. Almost never do we know the people in need; they are complete strangers, often in far-off lands, whom we will never meet and possibly wouldn’t like if we did. Yet we – at least multitudes of us – want to help. This sense of moral obligation to strangers in need is unnatural. It is not written into the human DNA nor did it exist in the ancient roots of our Western cultural [...]