i've read 'sophie's world. it is an interesting idea.
one think got me very ****** though: he didn't mention any serious ideas of judaism!
he only wrote about the 'roots of christianity'...

he was also wrong when he wrote that it was j.c's idea to refer to G-od as 'Abba' - father. it is mentioned clearly in the jewish bible- the Torah.

this term, this way of refering to G-od as our 'father' has been often mentioned in the prophets of the Torah (that's the 'old testament' for u gentiles)

he writes that the idea of 'loving your neighbor' is jesuse's !!! bull crap! it is mentioned in leviticus.

so, while the idea of this book is ok, i am angry that he dissed judaism as an independent thought system.

the tradition of 'serving' & coming close to a loving G-od through our sanctified actions (mitzvot) as revealed on mount sinai, is to this day a cornerstone of judaism.

he pays attention to jesus, who hasnt accomplished anything besides getting people to argue about his 'divinity'. millions died for this stupid idea. the world would be a much better place without jesus.

after a while, everyone would be believing in one common Cre-ator, without the stupid fight if jesus was god or gods son, mother or next door neighbor... it detracted from the main idea of doing good in the world and focused on hair-splitting, killing 'pagans' and ****ing everyone...

also, he didnt mention our jewish unbroken chain of message from G-od on mount Sinai.
philosophy is always speculating about the world, purpose of existence etc. here we have an unbroken tradition of G-od revealing his will to thousands of people present by mount sinai who had seen the giving of the law thru their own eyes. jesus was one guy whom some people claimed to have seen after his death. but the torah was given before the ENTIRE NATION. that is a lot more credible, no?


if u wanna write me about it, u can post on my blog:

www.xanga.com/shlomozalman

You posted your comment in 2008 and I just discovered it. I am currently reading Sophie's World and reached the chapter on Berkeley. I just discovered this site and must agree with you. As a philosopher the author should have addressed himself to Judaism which contributed immensely to human's thoughts. If I could find a poor explanation for his neglect, it would be the paucity of Jews in Norway. But our world has shrunk and he should have brought Judaism into the story especially since he teaches philosophy.

The book itself is an interesting technique of teaching philosophy from a child's point of view.

quick thought: jewishness only hit the World Scene Through Jesus Christ.

prior to Jesus Christ the Sadducees, Pharisees and the Essenes didn't share their concepts, as a philosophy, with anyone. It wasn't until Jesus Christ true Judaism, not traditions of men, spread WorldWide!

So i'd imagine JG didn't include it (old Judaism) because it was only a local movement.