This
book is one of the most awesome reads I have enjoyed in a while. Karen
Armstrong is a former Roman Catholic nun who shows the history behind
the mystery. Taken from a historical point of view, Armstrong shows
the 4,000 year story behind Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Going back
to the roots of the stories behind the 3 great mystery traditions, Armstrong
shows the development, and abuse that went along with the early formations.
This
book topped The New York Times bestseller charts in 1993.
It is
fascinating to read how religions really are formed. From the Bedouins
in the desert to the searching wandering Jews, to the great crusades,
the reality of the history and the renaming of “gods” completely
changed my outlook on The Bible, and the mysteries.
Two of my favorite quotes (and there are so many)…………..
“Today many people in the West would be dismayed if a leading
theologian suggested that God was in some profound sense a product of
the imagination. Yet it should be obvious that the imagination is the
chief religious faculty. Human beings are the only animals who have
the capacity to envisage something that is not present or something
that does not yet exist but which is merely possible. The imagination
has thus been the cause of our major achievements in science and technology
as well as in art and religion. The idea of God, however it is defined,
is perhaps the prime example of an absent reality which, despite its
inbuilt problems, has continued to inspire men and women for thousands
of years. As in art, the most effective religious symbols are those
informed by an intelligent knowledge and understanding of the human
condition.”
"IN
THE BEGINNING, human beings created a God who was the First Cause of
all things and Ruler of heaven and earth..."
From
Amazon.com....
“In
this stunningly intelligent book, Karen Armstrong, one of Britain's
foremost commentators on religious affairs, traces the history of how
men and women have perceived and experienced God, from the time of Abraham
to the present. From classical philosophy and medieval mysticism to
the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the modern age of skepticism,
Karen Armstrong performs the near miracle of distilling the intellectual
history of monotheism into one superbly readable volume, destined to
take its place as a classic.”
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