Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Pop history has been a thing for Karen Armstrong, and I think she was able to put a rather interesting combination of histories within religious traditions. What was attractive for me was the emphasis on the marginalized history of Islam vis-a-vis Judaism and Christianity. There may be inaccuracies, but these can be clarified easily.
(Book in Romanian, review in Romanian)
Citind cartea asta m-am simtit ca intr-un rollercoaster. Incepe incet, linistit, pe intelesul tuturor - ce inseamna Yahve, ce inseamna vechiul testament, cum a inceput religia iudaica etc. Incepe se urce din ce in ce mai abrupt cand ajunge la Islam, profeti si multe nume arabesti imposibil de retinut, apoi ajunge la apogeu cand deschide capitolul despre "Dumnezeul filosofilor" dupa care o ia brusc la vale cu toate simptomele ce implica asta - imginile devin neclare, capul ti se invarte, iti pierzi un pic cunostinta pe la capitolul despre mistici si cabala ca apoi sa incetinesti si sa incepi sa urci din nou cand ajungi la iluminism, rationalism si Dumnezeul modern.
Este o carte greu de citit, dar este o carte buna daca te intereseaza subiectul. Am invatat mai multe despre crestinism, islamism si cum au pornit ele la drum cu cele mai bune intentii, doar ca sa fie astazi acuzate ca fiind cauza tuturor violentelor din lumea asta.
3/5 dar am capitolul despre filosofie si misticism l-am citit pe diagonala.
Citind cartea asta m-am simtit ca intr-un rollercoaster. Incepe incet, linistit, pe intelesul tuturor - ce inseamna Yahve, ce inseamna vechiul testament, cum a inceput religia iudaica etc. Incepe se urce din ce in ce mai abrupt cand ajunge la Islam, profeti si multe nume arabesti imposibil de retinut, apoi ajunge la apogeu cand deschide capitolul despre "Dumnezeul filosofilor" dupa care o ia brusc la vale cu toate simptomele ce implica asta - imginile devin neclare, capul ti se invarte, iti pierzi un pic cunostinta pe la capitolul despre mistici si cabala ca apoi sa incetinesti si sa incepi sa urci din nou cand ajungi la iluminism, rationalism si Dumnezeul modern.
Este o carte greu de citit, dar este o carte buna daca te intereseaza subiectul. Am invatat mai multe despre crestinism, islamism si cum au pornit ele la drum cu cele mai bune intentii, doar ca sa fie astazi acuzate ca fiind cauza tuturor violentelor din lumea asta.
3/5 dar am capitolul despre filosofie si misticism l-am citit pe diagonala.
Interesting book. Would not recommend if you know nothing about religion to begin with. It was tough to read even with a good understanding of many religions.
A great book that has changed my perspective on the three big religions and the concept of God. Worth re-reading because there is just so much history and philosophy to take in it's almost impossible to really understand it all the first time through.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This is an incredibly dense read. If I didn't have my prior knowledge of religious education and world history, this would've been impossible to comprehend. That being said, this is a great in-depth look at religion, specifically monotheism as a whole, and offers way more insight into faith than my religious education ever did. I will say one of the highlights of this book is just how it reflects how little in-depth traditional religious education goes and how that can be dangerous to our society and to the religion in question. Which I get it, the nuances of faith and divinity are complex and hard to explain. I think this book does great explaining where specific concepts came from and how they were corrupted from their original establishment. It is funny how often it has to keep saying "This religious text was not meant to be taken literally" and I enjoyed the reflection on atheism within the history of God.
informative
slow-paced
Would have been better titled A Mystical History of God.
Although she does try to simplify 4000 years of religious history into 400 pages, her tendency to dismiss anything other than mystical approaches or symbolic readings of holy texts is irritating.
Although she does try to simplify 4000 years of religious history into 400 pages, her tendency to dismiss anything other than mystical approaches or symbolic readings of holy texts is irritating.
I enjoyed this book as a good comprehensive review of the major monotheistic religions. I particularly liked the focus on how the religions have evolved over time in response to their respective cultural contexts. However, I did find it a bit dense at times and wish the chapters had been broken up a little more as it was difficult to read large chunks at a time. It did inspire me to delve more deeply into each religion.
You are plagued with this feeling at times which can most aptly be described as nagging. At times of mental or physical idleness, there is this thought that slowly seeps into your mind and like an ink stain spreads all over you. I thought that once the review for this book was typed and posted, I had gotten done with it but it was not to be. There was still a clamor in my mind that I might not have done justice to the book with the review I put in. Things came full circle when a friend who happens to follow my reviews asked me ‘You didn’t much want to write a review for this book, did you ?’ and that made me want to attempt a review for this book once again and so here goes :
Growing up in India is to grow up with Gods all around you. From a young age, I had seen people approaching God for reasons which are purely domestic and personal in nature. Looking at my time as school goer, I can say with a fair degree of certainty that students (myself included) look for a divine intervention prior to attempting a major exam. There was even an anecdote of a celebrity who mentioned about a time when he wrote his high school exams and had no hope of clearing them. The day before results were due, he goes to a place of worship and with a rather embarrassed face tells God :
‘I mean….you know….well…I am not saying you should get me through but then if I don’t make it then people would think you didn’t do your job well…so what say ?’
and he ended up passing the exam. He might have romanticized the whole episode but then these are little occurrences that cement our belief in this unseen entity. Belief also takes rather exaggerated forms too, for example did you know that there is a place of worship dedicated exclusively for blessings to get a visa to the US ? It might appear laughable to a lot of us but for those who tend to strongly believe in this aspect, the belief is strengthened with each new visa getting approved. Lighter side apart, not all forms of belief are laughable. A while ago, I did happen to spend some time with a doctor who told me of instances where patients with life threatening medical scenarios have managed to pull through simply by the power of their mind and their unshakable belief in an entity that they place higher than all forms of life on Earth.
The interpretations that humanity have ascribed to God have turned this abstraction into both a boon and a bane. A boon in the strength of mind it imparts to people and a bane in terms of the atrocities committed in the name of religion.
The scope of Karen Armstrong’s book is a detailed introspection on the nature of God as seen by the three major monotheistic religions : Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The centuries of history behind these religions means that the narrative is broad, exhaustive and rather difficult to grapple with. Armstrong however plods determinedly ahead and tries to make sense of how the abstraction of God has achieved shape and form among the followers of these religions. What is most interesting to note here is how the same root ( a belief in a supernatural, omnipotent entity) gave rise to three different offshoots of religions that now command a multitude of followers across the globe. The author devotes a couple of chapters for each religion and dissects them as best as possible in those few pages. The sad truth behind all religions is how much the tenets put down for lasting peace, tolerance and kindness have been bent into shapes that have supported fundamentalism and massacres across history. One question that has never ceased to trouble me about this abstraction is why does violence occur in the name of a kind, benevolent deity ? Is it that humanity is eager to take God back to his ancient roots of violence, bloodshed and sacrifices ? Armstrong offers no answers to these questions for her job here is to act as a bard, a person who recounts facts and nothing more or less. From pagan beginnings to the World of today, Armstrong traces the story of the old man in the sky.
For all these thoughts around the meat around this topic, reading this book is like getting hit on the head with a load of bricks. I don’t mean that you get hit once and then recover, you get hit again and again and again. The flow of facts, theories and explanations are akin to a flood that can sweep you away if you do not hang on for dear life. A reading of the title of this book will bring to your mind an image of an easily understandable history of God as told by the three religions but then nothing could be farther from the truth. You practically have to wade your way through very hefty material which almost reads like a theology text book. Armstrong is not a great author in terms of her skills in associating with a common reader. It is as if - this is how I am going to write and you better keep up if you want to understand what I am trying to say. This is the one book that frustrated me the most in 2015. I wanted to skip and move away from this book but I simply couldn’t for the topic is an amusing one. Hemming and hawing, grumbling and mumbling I finally finished the book.
Don’t come to this book expecting an easy, light and understandable read for you will be sorely disappointed.
In the chapter ‘The End Of God’, I came across this :
One day in Auschwitz, a group of Jews put God on trial. They charged him with betrayal and cruelty. Like Job, they found no consolation in the usual answers to the problems of evil and suffering in the midst of this current obscenity. They could find no excuse for God, no extenuating circumstances, so they found him guilty and, presumably, worthy of death. The Rabbi pronounced the verdict.
Then he looked up and said that the trial was over, it was time for the evening prayer.
Growing up in India is to grow up with Gods all around you. From a young age, I had seen people approaching God for reasons which are purely domestic and personal in nature. Looking at my time as school goer, I can say with a fair degree of certainty that students (myself included) look for a divine intervention prior to attempting a major exam. There was even an anecdote of a celebrity who mentioned about a time when he wrote his high school exams and had no hope of clearing them. The day before results were due, he goes to a place of worship and with a rather embarrassed face tells God :
‘I mean….you know….well…I am not saying you should get me through but then if I don’t make it then people would think you didn’t do your job well…so what say ?’
and he ended up passing the exam. He might have romanticized the whole episode but then these are little occurrences that cement our belief in this unseen entity. Belief also takes rather exaggerated forms too, for example did you know that there is a place of worship dedicated exclusively for blessings to get a visa to the US ? It might appear laughable to a lot of us but for those who tend to strongly believe in this aspect, the belief is strengthened with each new visa getting approved. Lighter side apart, not all forms of belief are laughable. A while ago, I did happen to spend some time with a doctor who told me of instances where patients with life threatening medical scenarios have managed to pull through simply by the power of their mind and their unshakable belief in an entity that they place higher than all forms of life on Earth.
The interpretations that humanity have ascribed to God have turned this abstraction into both a boon and a bane. A boon in the strength of mind it imparts to people and a bane in terms of the atrocities committed in the name of religion.
The scope of Karen Armstrong’s book is a detailed introspection on the nature of God as seen by the three major monotheistic religions : Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The centuries of history behind these religions means that the narrative is broad, exhaustive and rather difficult to grapple with. Armstrong however plods determinedly ahead and tries to make sense of how the abstraction of God has achieved shape and form among the followers of these religions. What is most interesting to note here is how the same root ( a belief in a supernatural, omnipotent entity) gave rise to three different offshoots of religions that now command a multitude of followers across the globe. The author devotes a couple of chapters for each religion and dissects them as best as possible in those few pages. The sad truth behind all religions is how much the tenets put down for lasting peace, tolerance and kindness have been bent into shapes that have supported fundamentalism and massacres across history. One question that has never ceased to trouble me about this abstraction is why does violence occur in the name of a kind, benevolent deity ? Is it that humanity is eager to take God back to his ancient roots of violence, bloodshed and sacrifices ? Armstrong offers no answers to these questions for her job here is to act as a bard, a person who recounts facts and nothing more or less. From pagan beginnings to the World of today, Armstrong traces the story of the old man in the sky.
For all these thoughts around the meat around this topic, reading this book is like getting hit on the head with a load of bricks. I don’t mean that you get hit once and then recover, you get hit again and again and again. The flow of facts, theories and explanations are akin to a flood that can sweep you away if you do not hang on for dear life. A reading of the title of this book will bring to your mind an image of an easily understandable history of God as told by the three religions but then nothing could be farther from the truth. You practically have to wade your way through very hefty material which almost reads like a theology text book. Armstrong is not a great author in terms of her skills in associating with a common reader. It is as if - this is how I am going to write and you better keep up if you want to understand what I am trying to say. This is the one book that frustrated me the most in 2015. I wanted to skip and move away from this book but I simply couldn’t for the topic is an amusing one. Hemming and hawing, grumbling and mumbling I finally finished the book.
Don’t come to this book expecting an easy, light and understandable read for you will be sorely disappointed.
In the chapter ‘The End Of God’, I came across this :
One day in Auschwitz, a group of Jews put God on trial. They charged him with betrayal and cruelty. Like Job, they found no consolation in the usual answers to the problems of evil and suffering in the midst of this current obscenity. They could find no excuse for God, no extenuating circumstances, so they found him guilty and, presumably, worthy of death. The Rabbi pronounced the verdict.
Then he looked up and said that the trial was over, it was time for the evening prayer.