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The Case For God (2009)

by Karen Armstrong(Favorite Author)

3.83 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0307269183 (ISBN13: 9780307269188)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Knopf

review 1: I really can't add anymore insight or additional comments that were already posted about the book from the other readers. Some people liked it and some people didn't. I guess it was a matter if you are a believer of God or not. The ones who don't believe in God didn't seem to like the book... It was long as I listened to the CD's and I am not sure if I would have been able to get through it if it were on a book. The history of religion was very educational. The book did get bogged down when talking about the different philosophers in the past.
review 2: A work of popular theology. I thought at the beginning that it was aiming to be a survey of all religions of all times. But it was actually only interested in the religions that had influenced Judaism, Ch... moreristianity and Islam. And of those the focus was mainly on Christianity. Particularly the Christianity of Western Europe and the Americas. One of her premises is that Biblical literalism is a recent development. Until the later part of the 19th century everyone saw the text of the Bible as metaphors or stories, not as statements of actual historical fact. Only after the rise of science did anyone think to look for explanations of natural phenomena in the Bible.She believes in a division of spheres, in which science teaches us how the world works, and religion teaches us morality and how to live. The product of a religious life is peace and compassion, and anyone who uses religion as an excuse to cause harm to another is guilty of idolatry, recreating God in their own image to further their own squalid ends.There were a couple of statements that were new to me. One, that Jesus was only one of many rabbis of his time embracing the new morality of the Golden Rule. And the other was that Jesus never claimed divinity, nor did the early Christian church claim it for him. The epithet of "Son of God" was often bestowed on Jewish prophets as an honor, not a mark of divinity.A recurring theme of the book was that God is past knowing, defining, or describing. We can try, and often do, but it's a fruitless quest, and in the end we falter, seeing the uselessness of words, and fall into an awestruck silence.It is ironic that it took her 14 CDs and 17 hours to say this. less

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