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A review by chadsan
A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by Karen Armstrong
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.0
I am happy I stuck with this book after being frustrated with the author's biases in the early chapters. I am learning a ton from this book and now that I've gotten accustomed to the author's writing style I am finding myself actually enjoying the book.
They author, Ms. Armstrong, clearly dislikes Christianity and to a lesser extent Judaism and tends to be overly critical of these religions. As some other reviews I've seen have stated she early on decides that the theory that the Pentateuch was written by 5 authors is the only correct and worthwhile theory on this part of the Bible. While she glances over the fact that there has been several other, just as legitimate theories, published she completely ignores them and we are just supposed to trust her decision that this is the only reasonable theory.
Ms. Armstrong assumes motives for the prophets which she writes as facts but which have absolutely no basis in fact and she provides no backup or reference material. Her tone for the Eastern religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) is one of almost praise. She praises those religions for changing and growing as time goes on but finds fault in it with respect to Judaism and especially Christianity.
So far her review of Christianity has been a joke.She claims that the disciples were "shocked" that Jesus died and so they must have made up the story of his resurrection so that the teachings they'd devoted their lives to wouldn't be rendered useless. Once could argue that this is just historically false. Not only does the Bible itself "prove" this assertion incorrect but other historical research from the time contradicts Ms. Armstrong. However, one interesting thing she's done with Judaism and Christianity is describe the development of the other religions and how they were changing and growing at the same time as the main religions of this book were also evolving.
This book really turned starting with the chapter on the history of the Trinity. This was outstanding and not only did I learn a lot but it has given me more food for thought as I contemplate how I feel and will approach the concept of the Trinity.
The chapter on Islam is a pretty solid overview. However, as I suspected Ms. Armstrong treats the development of this religion and Mohammad with absolute "kid gloves". She really glazes over the person that Mohammad is and refuses to even mention any of the major criticisms of him as a person. Additionally, she puts a very positive spin on how Mohammad massively changed Islam in order to make it more politically suitable.For example, when he completely changed what was to become the Koran when he had learned about Abraham and his two sons; and decided to adopt and modify those stories to his suiting she reviews this with understanding and approval. If Jesus or one of the disciples were to have done something so drastically politically expedient she would have crucified them. She also doesn't call into question the written accuracy of the Koran even though, much like the Bible it wasn't written down by Mohammad but after he was gone. Still, it was an informative introduction to the founding of this religion.
They author, Ms. Armstrong, clearly dislikes Christianity and to a lesser extent Judaism and tends to be overly critical of these religions. As some other reviews I've seen have stated she early on decides that the theory that the Pentateuch was written by 5 authors is the only correct and worthwhile theory on this part of the Bible. While she glances over the fact that there has been several other, just as legitimate theories, published she completely ignores them and we are just supposed to trust her decision that this is the only reasonable theory.
Ms. Armstrong assumes motives for the prophets which she writes as facts but which have absolutely no basis in fact and she provides no backup or reference material. Her tone for the Eastern religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) is one of almost praise. She praises those religions for changing and growing as time goes on but finds fault in it with respect to Judaism and especially Christianity.
So far her review of Christianity has been a joke.
This book really turned starting with the chapter on the history of the Trinity. This was outstanding and not only did I learn a lot but it has given me more food for thought as I contemplate how I feel and will approach the concept of the Trinity.
The chapter on Islam is a pretty solid overview. However, as I suspected Ms. Armstrong treats the development of this religion and Mohammad with absolute "kid gloves". She really glazes over the person that Mohammad is and refuses to even mention any of the major criticisms of him as a person. Additionally, she puts a very positive spin on how Mohammad massively changed Islam in order to make it more politically suitable.