I finally finished reading A History of God by Karen Armstrong over the weekend. I say finally because it took me about two and a half months, which is a very long time for me to finish a book. The book was very thorough and packed with information, which after days of work involving lots of reading, made it difficult to pick up the book or get through more than 20 pages or so at a time. But it was definitely a worthwhile read, particularly if you have an interest in religion.
Before I say anything about the book, I think its important to note that the book is not a faith book, or a spiritual commentary book, or even a book commenting on religion in today's society. It is, quite simply, a history book, looking at the history and development throughout time of the concept of monotheism among Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. It would be no different than reading a book about the history of Western Philosophy, it summarizes the view points of the various thinkers involved. I only mention this because the book, from a historical or academic sense, points to inconsistencies or questionable judgments made by developers of each of these religions, which some may not like, so they should probably avoid this book I suppose. I can read the book very openly because I view religion as a man made creation to understand the existence of something divine, with each religion coming to different conclusions and representations. Because of this view point, I can dissect each religion's history as it is a philosophical school of thought, and believe that I am not tearing down or criticizing "God." Just background, probably unnecessary at this point.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It highlighted many things in the history of Christianity that I was unaware of, as well as really laid out some of the fundamentals in the split between the Western Christian Church and Eastern Christian Church that I have never really gotten a grasp of. But the book, from my perspective, earns its salt with its discussion of Islam and Judaism. Growing up in a predominantly Christian society and in the West, its hard to get a lot of information about these religions. Judaism is important only in the "Old Testament." After Jesus, Judaism's development is irrelevant in education. Similarly, you learn about Islam simply in a history class as being on the other sides of the Crusades, but nothing substantive about their development. In every class I have had where religious history has been discussed, Judaism is again limited to the pre-Jesus events and history, and Islam is limited to Muhammad, their Prophet. Its not that these times are not significant for the history of these two religions, buts its like the equivalent of not paying attention to Christian history after Jesus . . . so no Paul, no Bishop Iraneus, no Council of Nicea, no Reformation, no Vatican II, no whatever. I think we rely on things that happened after Jesus within Christianity to continue Christians' development of their belief structure and their religion as a whole.
I think Islam and Judaism is the same, and this book provided great detail about the development of these religions. There are stories of Judaism's development and interaction with mysticism and the rise of Kabbalism, Judaism's reaction to the scientific revolution, how the rise of anti-semitism in Europe led to an increase in Zionist tendencies, and how the Holocaust effected the Jewish image of God. Similarly, we learn how the followers of Muhammad continued his thoughts, the utmost importance of the creation of a just society to Muslims, how the scientific revolution affected the Muslim view of God, and even a great discussion of mysticism within Islam.
The book also describes in good detail the rise of fundamentalism in all three religions in the past half century, with a myriad of possible causes and explanations. What's really fascinating, is that each religion has had its own brand of mysticism at one point or another, each its own fundamentalism, and each a significant (or many significant) person(s) after the religion's founder that influenced the direction of the religion (Islam - Muhammad; Judaism - Moses; Christianity - author argues that Paul is actual founder of the religion of Christianity, which based on how much of Christian thought is based on Paul's argument, is at least a grounded position). Its also interesting note how each reacted to the modernity of scientific thought, and in particularly, how Christianity, which during its development allowed for a more literal translation of its scriptures, led to such conflict in western societies between religious and scientific thought that didn't exist in these other religions because God was less an anthropomorphic being, than a representational, or symbolic Being. The other religions seemed to accept the limitations of human mind and language when explaining God earlier in their history than Christianity, which the author argues made for less conflict in those religions and the discoveries of modern science in the last two centuries or so. I found interesting that the author posits that this could be one of the reasons that today's concept of atheism, of belief in no God, is much more prevalent in the Christian societies than in others. Something to chew on...
Anyway, as I said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There was so much information, and for someone who approaches these things from a historical and philosophical perspective more than a faith based perspective I guess, it gave me just an unbelievable amount of information to digest and think about, ideas, concepts, and explanations that give me much to process as I continue my own path in a religious world.
Before I say anything about the book, I think its important to note that the book is not a faith book, or a spiritual commentary book, or even a book commenting on religion in today's society. It is, quite simply, a history book, looking at the history and development throughout time of the concept of monotheism among Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. It would be no different than reading a book about the history of Western Philosophy, it summarizes the view points of the various thinkers involved. I only mention this because the book, from a historical or academic sense, points to inconsistencies or questionable judgments made by developers of each of these religions, which some may not like, so they should probably avoid this book I suppose. I can read the book very openly because I view religion as a man made creation to understand the existence of something divine, with each religion coming to different conclusions and representations. Because of this view point, I can dissect each religion's history as it is a philosophical school of thought, and believe that I am not tearing down or criticizing "God." Just background, probably unnecessary at this point.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It highlighted many things in the history of Christianity that I was unaware of, as well as really laid out some of the fundamentals in the split between the Western Christian Church and Eastern Christian Church that I have never really gotten a grasp of. But the book, from my perspective, earns its salt with its discussion of Islam and Judaism. Growing up in a predominantly Christian society and in the West, its hard to get a lot of information about these religions. Judaism is important only in the "Old Testament." After Jesus, Judaism's development is irrelevant in education. Similarly, you learn about Islam simply in a history class as being on the other sides of the Crusades, but nothing substantive about their development. In every class I have had where religious history has been discussed, Judaism is again limited to the pre-Jesus events and history, and Islam is limited to Muhammad, their Prophet. Its not that these times are not significant for the history of these two religions, buts its like the equivalent of not paying attention to Christian history after Jesus . . . so no Paul, no Bishop Iraneus, no Council of Nicea, no Reformation, no Vatican II, no whatever. I think we rely on things that happened after Jesus within Christianity to continue Christians' development of their belief structure and their religion as a whole.
I think Islam and Judaism is the same, and this book provided great detail about the development of these religions. There are stories of Judaism's development and interaction with mysticism and the rise of Kabbalism, Judaism's reaction to the scientific revolution, how the rise of anti-semitism in Europe led to an increase in Zionist tendencies, and how the Holocaust effected the Jewish image of God. Similarly, we learn how the followers of Muhammad continued his thoughts, the utmost importance of the creation of a just society to Muslims, how the scientific revolution affected the Muslim view of God, and even a great discussion of mysticism within Islam.
The book also describes in good detail the rise of fundamentalism in all three religions in the past half century, with a myriad of possible causes and explanations. What's really fascinating, is that each religion has had its own brand of mysticism at one point or another, each its own fundamentalism, and each a significant (or many significant) person(s) after the religion's founder that influenced the direction of the religion (Islam - Muhammad; Judaism - Moses; Christianity - author argues that Paul is actual founder of the religion of Christianity, which based on how much of Christian thought is based on Paul's argument, is at least a grounded position). Its also interesting note how each reacted to the modernity of scientific thought, and in particularly, how Christianity, which during its development allowed for a more literal translation of its scriptures, led to such conflict in western societies between religious and scientific thought that didn't exist in these other religions because God was less an anthropomorphic being, than a representational, or symbolic Being. The other religions seemed to accept the limitations of human mind and language when explaining God earlier in their history than Christianity, which the author argues made for less conflict in those religions and the discoveries of modern science in the last two centuries or so. I found interesting that the author posits that this could be one of the reasons that today's concept of atheism, of belief in no God, is much more prevalent in the Christian societies than in others. Something to chew on...
Anyway, as I said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There was so much information, and for someone who approaches these things from a historical and philosophical perspective more than a faith based perspective I guess, it gave me just an unbelievable amount of information to digest and think about, ideas, concepts, and explanations that give me much to process as I continue my own path in a religious world.
No comments:
Post a Comment