Thursday, October 4, 2007

A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam




Book Details
Author: Karen Armstrong
Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Gramercy (March 2, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0517223120
ISBN-13: 978-0517223123

Book Description
This searching, profound comparative history of the three major monotheistic faiths fearlessly illuminates the sociopolitical ground in which religious ideas take root, blossom and mutate. Armstrong, a British broadcaster, commentator on religious affairs and former Roman Catholic nun, argues that Judaism, Christianity and Islam each developed the idea of a personal God, which has helped believers to mature as full human beings. Yet Armstrong also acknowledges that the idea of a personal God can be dangerous, encouraging us to judge, condemn and marginalize others. Recognizing this, each of the three monotheisms, in their different ways, developed a mystical tradition grounded in a realization that our human idea of God is merely a symbol of an ineffable reality. To Armstrong, modern, aggressively righteous fundamentalists of all three faiths represent “a retreat from God.” She views as inevitable a move away from the idea of a personal God who behaves like a larger version of ourselves, and welcomes the grouping of believers toward a notion of God that “works for us in the empirical age.” 25,000 first printing; BOMC alternate.

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2 comments:

Huda Albanna said...

The link is broken. Can you fix it?

Anonymous said...

Please fix!