Book Review
One of the characters in
Salman Rushdie’s controversial novel, The
Satanic Verses, argues that doubt rather than disbelief is the opposite of
faith because disbelief is as certain as faith.
Doubt is uncertainty, a refusal to take sides. Doubt is the ultimate openness towards
phenomena. Doubt can question both,
faith as well as disbelief.
Jennifer Michael Hecht’s
book, Doubt: a History, is a masterpiece that presents to the reader
all the great doubters from the ancient Indian Carvakas and the Greek
Xenophanes to our own Salman Rushdie and Natalie Angier. The best feature of the book is its
readability in spite of the highly philosophical themes it deals with. The next best is that it does not confine
itself to philosophers, rather it discusses novelists, scientists, historians
and others of some significance who have contributed to the history of doubt.
Thousands of people have
been killed merely because they questioned certain religions. In the heyday of Christianity and its
colonial empires, doubters were killed mercilessly in the name of heresy and
witchcraft. Today Islam is doing the
same thing in a different way. Narendra
Modi’s India has a unique way of bringing all Indians back to their original ghar.
Doubt has driven the world
forward, towards light and enlightenment, while religions have sought to keep
it in certain degrees of darkness, the degree being determined expediently by
the priest and the politician. That’s
why the French writer Denis Diderot (1713-1784) averred that “humanity would
not be free until the last king is strangled in the entrails of the last
priest.” [Quoted by Hecht, p. 347]
Hecht’s sympathies are
with the doubters though she does not share my abhorrence of the religious
people. She knows that “great doubters
are often more invested in religious questions than is the average believer.”
[p. 364] But her approach to the subject
is very balanced and objective. She
quotes the Jewish philosopher, Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786), “Reader! To
whatever visible church, synagogue, or mosque you may belong! See if you do not find more true religion
among the host of the excommunicated than among the far greater host of those
who excommunicated them.” [p. 364]
 |
| Jennifer Michael Hecht |
Jesus was a great
doubter. In fact, he questioned most of
the beliefs and rituals of his religion, Judaism. The more he doubted, however, the more he
insisted on the importance of faith.
Faith was the ultimate means of redemption for him. Yet his last words on the cross were, “My
God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?”
Hecht says that these words could have been put into Jesus’ mouth by
later editors of the Bible who wanted to make certain links between the New
Testament and the Old Testament. Jesus’
lament actually belongs to the Psalmist [Psalm 22]. Jesus, however, turned his religion upside
down. He brought faith and love in the
place of the Jewish commandments and rituals.
I discussed the example of
Jesus in slight detail to show that Hecht’s history of doubt is also a history
of religions. Anyone who is interested
in understanding religions and/or religious doubt will find Hecht’s book a
treasure. It is written in the most
lucid style possible. It is even subtly
witty at times. It is indeed a
masterpiece.
PS. Below are a few blog posts of mine inspired by this book:
Nice.. :)
ReplyDeleteI took two months to read the book, Uttpal. Not easy read. Yet tremendously gripping.
Deletethis definitely sounds interesting......will try reading it......
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you will find it highly rewarding.
DeleteThanks for this wonderful book :)
ReplyDeleteMost welcome, Ravish.
DeleteThanks for sharing sir.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Goutami.
DeleteThankyou for this recommendation. Will definitely give it a read.
ReplyDelete