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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I can only sum up this books as a "regurgitation of names, dates and philosophies". It bounces all over the place in no coherent order. I listened to the audiobook. Maybe the printed book has better chapter titles and maybe pictures to give better concepts.
dulu baca ini karena tertarik pada diskusi yang kemudian diterbitkan oleh majalah BASIS, tentang buku ini.
di toko buku saya lakukan skimming.
isinya udah terlalu sering saya tahu. gak ada yang baru. apalagi, cara bertuturnya yang berlarut-larut, merentang-rentang bikin saya gak sabar.
karena itu saya setuju sekali dengan yang dilakukan oleh BASIS, yakni mencari kemungkinan langkah selanjutnya sebagaimana para panelis di BASIS itu tertarik pada bab terakhir buku ini: "has god a future?"
ini lebih penting katimbang bab-bab sebelumnya yang cuma deskriptif dan informatif.
masihkah kita perlu konstruk tuhan bagi masyarakat modern, ketika semua tatanan masyarakat sudah berpihak pada humanisme?
herannya, masih saja ada orang yang merasa tenang dan senang dengan konstruk lama mereka tentang tuhan dan agama.
rasanya ogah beli,
iya. buku ini tidak saya beli.
mending baca online saja.
itu pun cuma baca pengantar, penutup dan baca cepat di antaranya.
udah.
ampun deh!
hihi...
di toko buku saya lakukan skimming.
isinya udah terlalu sering saya tahu. gak ada yang baru. apalagi, cara bertuturnya yang berlarut-larut, merentang-rentang bikin saya gak sabar.
karena itu saya setuju sekali dengan yang dilakukan oleh BASIS, yakni mencari kemungkinan langkah selanjutnya sebagaimana para panelis di BASIS itu tertarik pada bab terakhir buku ini: "has god a future?"
ini lebih penting katimbang bab-bab sebelumnya yang cuma deskriptif dan informatif.
masihkah kita perlu konstruk tuhan bagi masyarakat modern, ketika semua tatanan masyarakat sudah berpihak pada humanisme?
herannya, masih saja ada orang yang merasa tenang dan senang dengan konstruk lama mereka tentang tuhan dan agama.
rasanya ogah beli,
iya. buku ini tidak saya beli.
mending baca online saja.
itu pun cuma baca pengantar, penutup dan baca cepat di antaranya.
udah.
ampun deh!
hihi...
I finally had to put this book down after getting through about 230 of 400 pages.
I might pick it up again when I have more time but the amount of detail was just overwhelming.
If you already know a bit about religion/are working on studying it this book is for you.
Her writing style is great and it's organized in a really interesting way; if she had cut out about a third of it, it'd be a great book for a novice in this field; as it is I wouldn't recommend it to somebody without at least a little scholarly religious background.
I might pick it up again when I have more time but the amount of detail was just overwhelming.
If you already know a bit about religion/are working on studying it this book is for you.
Her writing style is great and it's organized in a really interesting way; if she had cut out about a third of it, it'd be a great book for a novice in this field; as it is I wouldn't recommend it to somebody without at least a little scholarly religious background.
informative
slow-paced
Holy crap, this book was A LOT. It took so long for me to get through this. It's super informative because it's part history and part metaphysical dissection. There was a lot to follow, that even though I was reading for fun- I think I was supposed to take notes. She writes really well, but I don't know if anyone could've made this easier to digest. She points out the good, the bad, and the ugly. It was amazing to see the evolution in the way of thinking. I feel at once more enlightened and dumb, which I think is a good thing.
4.5 stars
based on the reviews that i had read about this book, i assumed that it would be a lot more difficult to understand, but I think i followed along just fine. it is very dense, yes, but if you pay attention you're going to be able to understand. this isn't a book you can just rush through.
this book offers an (almost) entire history of religion and the different ways that humans have worshipped throughout the centuries. it was very interesting to me and, while it did make my brain hurt at times, I'm glad i read it. it did make me question some of my own beliefs and made me much more knowledgeable on different religions.
one religion in particular that i learned a lot about from this book is islam. before reading, i knew the bare minimum, but now i at least know more of the theology and the different sects in the religion.
there are a few passages from this book that really spoke to me and resonated with me. it truly did put my religious beliefs into words perfectly.
i would definitely recommend this to people who want to learn more about theology and religion- it provides a background of the 3 major abrahamic religions and even some other minor religions like hinduism, buddhism, and sikhi.
also, a little background check on the author:
armstrong was originally a catholic nun for several years before she published this book. according to wikipedia, she calls herself a "freelance monotheist", but I honestly would have never guessed that just from reading this- i would've thought she was 100% atheist. her expressed viewpoints throughout the book do definitely remind me of atheist viewpoints, and even sometimes antitheism. regardless, i still think it's pretty neutral in its biases.
based on the reviews that i had read about this book, i assumed that it would be a lot more difficult to understand, but I think i followed along just fine. it is very dense, yes, but if you pay attention you're going to be able to understand. this isn't a book you can just rush through.
this book offers an (almost) entire history of religion and the different ways that humans have worshipped throughout the centuries. it was very interesting to me and, while it did make my brain hurt at times, I'm glad i read it. it did make me question some of my own beliefs and made me much more knowledgeable on different religions.
one religion in particular that i learned a lot about from this book is islam. before reading, i knew the bare minimum, but now i at least know more of the theology and the different sects in the religion.
there are a few passages from this book that really spoke to me and resonated with me. it truly did put my religious beliefs into words perfectly.
i would definitely recommend this to people who want to learn more about theology and religion- it provides a background of the 3 major abrahamic religions and even some other minor religions like hinduism, buddhism, and sikhi.
also, a little background check on the author:
armstrong was originally a catholic nun for several years before she published this book. according to wikipedia, she calls herself a "freelance monotheist", but I honestly would have never guessed that just from reading this- i would've thought she was 100% atheist. her expressed viewpoints throughout the book do definitely remind me of atheist viewpoints, and even sometimes antitheism. regardless, i still think it's pretty neutral in its biases.
This is dense. It's definitely worth reading to get an understanding of the evolution of the ideas of the monotheism of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but it really could have used some more editing (even giving it some leeway for being a more academic book). It starts at the emergence of Judaism in a world that had been under the domain of many gods and continues through the modern era (published in 1993). It's guided by history, but within that history it focuses on how different ideas of god worked or didn't work for people, and how different ideas/sects emerged and died away over time. This is all really interesting, but it gets bogged down by lengthy consideration of the experiences and ideas of god by various individuals (notable individuals, but there are a lot of notable individuals in the 4,000 years of Abrahamic religions). I skimmed some of these sections because my background isn't good enough to absorb this kind of detail. The lack of an explicit organization within the chapters also made it a bit of a trudge.
Nonetheless, there is a lot of big-picture information to be had here that's worth the trudge. For instance, the point that Biblical stories were not only not taken literally at the time they developed or written, they were never meant to be taken literally. From the creation story on down. The entire point was that god was ineffable. Armstrong gives a really clear sense of how ideas of god morphed over time to meet people's (or cultures', or institutions') needs.
Overall, one thumb up for good info but one down for dense writing that needed more editing.
Book riot 2016: book about religion
Nonetheless, there is a lot of big-picture information to be had here that's worth the trudge. For instance, the point that Biblical stories were not only not taken literally at the time they developed or written, they were never meant to be taken literally. From the creation story on down. The entire point was that god was ineffable. Armstrong gives a really clear sense of how ideas of god morphed over time to meet people's (or cultures', or institutions') needs.
Overall, one thumb up for good info but one down for dense writing that needed more editing.
Book riot 2016: book about religion
Not an easy read, but worth the effort. Armstrong's insights are valuable in a world where people are divided by religious sectarianism.
любой исторический нонфикшен (тем более про историю религии!) для меня скука смертная по определению и эту книгу тоже не стал бы читать даже под угрозой пыток. но работа, как известно - хуже пыток, и прочитать пришлось. краткое содержание истории религии: в году Х появляется мужик, уверенный, что до него бога понимали немножко неверно, и сейчас он доступно объяснит, как надо правильно все понимать. и, собственно, 4000 лет таких мужиков.
Karen Armstrong is an excellent writer and this book is extremely interesting. BUT I kept reading other books because this one needed to be "studied". I have finally decided that I don't need to finish it. So, though my record-keeping here has me having spent 13 months reading it, that's not entirely accurate.
The author provides a lot of thought provoking information. This was probably too dense of a book for me to have read it alongside a few other books. Had to DNF the print version - might work out better for me on audio.