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Title: A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Karen Armstrong ISBN: 0-345-38456-3 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 09 August, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.86 (125 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Subjectivity is the name of the game
Comment: Humans have been recording their thoughts about God since the invention of writing. They have struggled to understand their place in the universe and, in doing so, develop ideas regarding their creator and purpose. Yet, ideas about the divine are much older than that, and only through writing are these thoughts relayed. In the West there are three major traditions of "people of the book", which are traditions that possess what are believed to be divinely inspired works and have committed their thoughts regarding the divine to extensive compartmentalized writings. Karen Armstrong looks at 4,000 years of religious thought in her "A History of God", a much maligned but Herculean effort designed to not only bring general understanding of historical trends and ideas in religion, but to put to paper her own ideas regarding the divine.
Armstrong seeks to document the historical events and major thinkers in the three main Western religious traditions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. She is not looking to wrangle with theology as much as examine how ideas of God have been transformed in a historical perspective. The idea of God means different things to different people at different times and is dependent upon historical instance, place and condition. Armstrong organizes her book by first looking at the pagan foundations of these traditions, and then linearly each in turn. She subsequently moves on to the philosophy that arose and the mysticism that organically evolved. Lastly, she addresses the God as conceived in Post-Enlightenment thought and whether, put into historical perspective, God has a place in the modern world.
The major themes in the book stress the ineffability of God, God as Nothing, and most importantly, the subjective experience of God. Perhaps the greatest criticism levied against the book - and often its greatest praise - is her unrelenting attack on Christianity. Her dry evaluation seeks to put Christianity in its proper historical context, while also giving sympathetic space to one of the lesser-understood traditions in the West, Islam. Perhaps this is in reaction to Christianity being so dominant and influential, or it could be due to her seven years as a Christian nun where she left her order dissatisfied. Regardless, what one takes away is that she is not altogether fair in her evaluation of personages and thought in Christianity.
She takes the reader on a dizzying journey with an immense scope. Armstrong attempts to condense 4,000 years of religious thought into a mere 400-page book. She makes a remarkable effort at touching on the major influences, outlining the thought of the key thinkers and theological underpinnings with relative succinctness. Ultimately, for the interested reader, what mar her text are blatant errors and omissions. Armstrong has done her homework, but the inaccuracies lead one to question the overall scholarship of the book - and most insidiously - her intentions. One could chalk it up to sloppy research, but she gets so much right that when she does commit an error, coupled with her marginalization of some religious thought at the expense of others, it raises flags.
Overall, A History of God is exactly what its title leads you to expect. It is not "the" history of God; there is no definite article. It is Karen Armstrong's history of God. And if we should believe and perpetrate the subjectivity that she is a proponent of, then ultimately we learn more about her then we do in her 4,000-year relay race of religious thought.
Rating: 5
Summary: And what a history it is...
Comment: "Human beings cannot endure emptiness and desolation; they will fill the vacuum by creating a new focus of meaning. . . .we should, perhaps, ponder the history of God for some lessons and warnings." --- last paragraph of Armstrong's book.
The jacket points out that Armstrong teaches at the Leo Baeck College for the Study of Judaism and the Training of Rabbis and Teachers (as well as having spent seven years as a nun). Her academic knowledge more than shows--which is why I don't understand the reviews that claimed she was terribly biased. The book seemed to take a step back and objectively review the HISTORY of God, rather than pass judgement on one religion or another.
Armstrong demonstrates that through time, humanity has always sought to fill the void of unknowing by seeking a higher power. Thus, God will always exist, even in our increasingly godless society. She follows Man's God through history--from the dawn of time until now, and examines the reasons for the different concepts of God between the Monotheists (and even modern atheists and skeptics).
The book is complete. It's a tough read though--with a scholarly tone and complex sentence structures. It's not a beach book or even an airplane read. But it's worth your time and money if you're interested in the histories of both our most enduring concept/being (God) and of the interplay between religion and man.
Rating: 5
Summary: couldn't put down this history of the monotheistic religions
Comment: I found Ms. Armstrong's book to be completely absorbing. I have a strongly ecumenical background, and her thorough "history of God" and the concepts of the divine were both riveting and illuminating. Of course I'd never let my mother come near the book, nor would she want to, since she's an ardent fundamental Christian. But for those spiritual searchers who have an open mind about the pathway(s) to God, this book fills in plenty of blanks and stimulates a great deal of thought.
I was particularly pleased to see how similar Judaism, Christianity and Islam are "at heart" -- and am all the more saddened that we all seem to be at each other's throats, even within our own practices.
I heard Karen Armstrong on NPR the other day. I wish she lived in my neighborhood and I could spend hours over coffee talking with her!
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Title: The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong ISBN: 0345391691 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 30 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Spiral Staircase : My Climb out of Darkness by Karen Armstrong ISBN: 0375413189 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 02 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Islam : A Short History by KAREN ARMSTRONG ISBN: 081296618X Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 06 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Buddha by Karen Armstrong ISBN: 0670891932 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 15 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: In the Beginning : A New Interpretation of Genesis by Karen Armstrong ISBN: 0345406044 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 07 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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