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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Very interesting - dense. I learned a lot about Jewish and Islamic history I hadn't known before.
informative
slow-paced
Armstrong excels in the art of story telling. In this book, she weaves the threads of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic history into a coherent story.
I learned from this book that all three of these faiths influenced each other throughout their development, and all three have constantly changing ideas of God. Each tradition struggles with the idea of a single, ultimate God. Certain questions come up again and again, changing the way that God and the tenants of the faith are understood.
Is God universal or linked to a particular group? Is God only good or does he also encompass evil? Is God a subjective concept or an external reality? Each religious tradition has periodically struggled with these questions. As the world changed, new issues became important and the answers to those questions changed. Not surprisingly, this makes for a lot of information, but Armstrong handles it nicely.
This book is not completely without bias. She does not manipulate history to conform to her beliefs (well, as far as I know), but she does make it clear which positions she has greater sympathy for. Partially because of her deep knowledge of many different religious traditions, she tends to be sympathetic towards ideas which point to a universal, transcendent deity and less sympathetic towards ideas which encourage division and exclusivity.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
I learned from this book that all three of these faiths influenced each other throughout their development, and all three have constantly changing ideas of God. Each tradition struggles with the idea of a single, ultimate God. Certain questions come up again and again, changing the way that God and the tenants of the faith are understood.
Is God universal or linked to a particular group? Is God only good or does he also encompass evil? Is God a subjective concept or an external reality? Each religious tradition has periodically struggled with these questions. As the world changed, new issues became important and the answers to those questions changed. Not surprisingly, this makes for a lot of information, but Armstrong handles it nicely.
This book is not completely without bias. She does not manipulate history to conform to her beliefs (well, as far as I know), but she does make it clear which positions she has greater sympathy for. Partially because of her deep knowledge of many different religious traditions, she tends to be sympathetic towards ideas which point to a universal, transcendent deity and less sympathetic towards ideas which encourage division and exclusivity.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
A broad and compassionate telling of ever-changing human definition of the divine. A good reminder that religion is created by humans according to their needs.
A powerful book that takes a lot of concentration and dedication to fully appreciate. The author does a superior and exhaustive job of tracing the three monotheistic religions over the last 4,000 years and how they have viewed God. Excellent job comparing and contrasting each and within themselves over time. Can get cumbersome with the specialized words and titles that must be retained. Highly recommended to anyone the least interested in religion.
I finally read this book after having been gifted it over a decade ago.
A History of God is not "God's" history; it is a history of how different people in the Judaic, Islamic, Christian, and eventually secular "traditions" have interpreted God. The book takes you on a historical journey covering the beginnings of these three faiths, through the philosophies of mysticism, enlightenment, and modern atheism. She highlights the luminaries during different time periods that impacted the cultural perception of God in these religions. The book is somewhat scholarly, and thus not a quick read. I can't say it was riveting in the slightest. Exhausting and exacerbating is more like it.
Essentially, Armstrong seeks to show how similar patterns of thought overlap between these religions in history, how these patterns repeat in history, and how God is always anthropomorphized in our thought and beliefs. By the end, she finds that our conception of God does matter in life -- "human beings cannot endure emptiness and desolation; they will fill the vacuum by creating a new focus of meaning." Thus, ideas of God are meant to give our lives meaning, even if those ideas of God are essentially meaningless in of themselves, divorced from anything absolute or true, and *recognized as such* by those who hold those ideas! Therein I find the absurdity.
What is this book really about? God? Not a God I know.
A History of God is not "God's" history; it is a history of how different people in the Judaic, Islamic, Christian, and eventually secular "traditions" have interpreted God. The book takes you on a historical journey covering the beginnings of these three faiths, through the philosophies of mysticism, enlightenment, and modern atheism. She highlights the luminaries during different time periods that impacted the cultural perception of God in these religions. The book is somewhat scholarly, and thus not a quick read. I can't say it was riveting in the slightest. Exhausting and exacerbating is more like it.
Essentially, Armstrong seeks to show how similar patterns of thought overlap between these religions in history, how these patterns repeat in history, and how God is always anthropomorphized in our thought and beliefs. By the end, she finds that our conception of God does matter in life -- "human beings cannot endure emptiness and desolation; they will fill the vacuum by creating a new focus of meaning." Thus, ideas of God are meant to give our lives meaning, even if those ideas of God are essentially meaningless in of themselves, divorced from anything absolute or true, and *recognized as such* by those who hold those ideas! Therein I find the absurdity.
What is this book really about? God? Not a God I know.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
It's just too dense. I wanted to read it, but I wasn't making any progress any time I tried.
Second reading -- I doubt I finished it the first time. Covers all aspects of 4000 years of history of a difficult concept in 400 pages so it necessarily gives short shrift to any particular aspect, but an excellent and thought provoking overview of the subject.