Share
Organize
Explore
has ALL you need!
A community for book lovers to create their own bookshelves, share and explore books.
Sign Up for FREE!
A History of God
The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Armstrong, Karen)
(5)
Book Description
Over 700,000 copies of the original hardcover and paperback editions of this stunningly popular book have been sold. Karen Armstrong's superbly readable exploration of how the three dominant monotheistic religions of the world—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—have shaped and altered theContinue
2 Reviews
-
― Andyberschauer said on Oct 9, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback
-
―
綠函數達人 said on Oct 8, 2007 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback
Book Details
-
Rating:
(5)
-
4 stars
-
3 stars
-
2 stars
-
1 star
-
4 stars
- English Books
- Hardcover 496 Pages
- ISBN-10: 0517223120
- ISBN-13: 9780517223123
- Publisher: Gramercy
- Pub date: Mar 02, 2004
- Dimensions: 22 cm x 14 cm x 4 cm Just how big is that?
- Also available as: Paperback, Audio CD, Audio Cassette, School & Library Binding and Others
- In other languages: other languages
Similar books
Prices Change currency & sellers
| ISBN | Edition | List | Sale | Seller |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9780517223123 | Hardcover | $9.99 | -- | Amazon US |
| £6.91 | -- | Amazon UK | ||
| $14.98 | -- | Amazon CA | ||
| ¥1273.00 | -- | Amazon JP | ||
| €8.24 | -- | Amazon FR | ||
| Other editions → | ||||
| + 1 copy tradable: → | ||||
Kellyo 
Andyberschauer 
Hyperbolenator 
SPQRfan 
Jstocks 
Disorderlyvision 
Ruby (rubybooks) 
Superb, with crucial omissions
In a 400-page book covering 4000 years of western religion, you just can't cover everything. Karen Armstrong does a fabulous job of presenting various schools of religious interpretation - God of the Philosophers, God of the Mystics, etc., showing not only how complex religion is, but also how dyna ... (continue)
In a 400-page book covering 4000 years of western religion, you just can't cover everything. Karen Armstrong does a fabulous job of presenting various schools of religious interpretation - God of the Philosophers, God of the Mystics, etc., showing not only how complex religion is, but also how dynamic, fluid and subjective it is.
In this narrative, we see how the Big 3 western religions start from what is effectively a very similar, if not common, foundation of Greek tradition, and evolve along distinct, yet similar, paths on different time scales. While different paths are taken, Armstrong concludes the 3 religions have evolved what amounts to remarkably similar conceptions of God. Much of this, I have to confess, was over my head. That said, the key themes come through rather nicely.
Many reviews lament the lack of information on their favorite topic - Gnosticism, Taoism, etc - or decry Armstrong as a no-nothing. Well, I can't see the finger-pointers' credentials in their profile, so will discount accordingly. The omission I will complain about is the politics. Armstrong takes Christianity from a fledgling faith to a power having the backing of the Roman Empire with only a couple flip sentences about Constantine adopting it, and that its ascension was unclear, but couldn't have been achieved without the Romans.
I suppose this book focussed on the 'whats,' 'wheres' and 'whens' of religious evolution rather than the 'hows' and 'whys'. Like I said, in 400 pages you can only cover so much...
Is this helpful?