"A book that saw its beginning in one world conflict, was written under the impact of another, and deals with a great spiritual struggle to realize the meaning of still another, a century and a half earlier, is surely a book that speaks to the condition of our time."—Commonweal
"It is . . . one of the crowning achievements of Buber's lifetime of significant work, a profound literary work which may properly be compared to Dostoievsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov in its dialectic between types of religious figures and in the depths of its insights into the problem of evil and of human existence."—Journal of Bible and Religion
Description
Gog and Magog is a religious chronicle in fictional form. Its heroes are Hasidic rapbis. Its background is the Napoleonic wars at the end of the eighteenth century. Its scene is laid in Poland and Hungary.
Although magic and superstition play their parts in the story, it is really Buber’s effort to articulate two approaches to the question: May men use evil to accomplish good? May men take power in their own hands—even to do the work of redemption—without submitting first to the will of God? More particularly Buber unfolds the inner world of messianic longing and expectation that characterized Judaism then and continues to characterize it to the present day.
About the Author
Martin Buber has gained worldwide acclaim for his translations and expositions of various mythic and mystical traditions. His works include I and Thou, The Prophetic Faith, On Zion, and Tales of the Hasidim.
March 1999
