Karen Armstrong

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Maryland

The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

A study of the deity of the world's three dominant monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In a dynamic interplay between religion and society's ever-changing beliefs, values, and traditions, human beings' ideas about God have been transformed. Ideas about God have been molded to apply to the spiritual needs of the people who worship him in a particular place and time. The author explores and analyzes the development and progression of the various perceptions of God from the days of Abraham to present times--Adapted from book jacket.

A History of God

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California

"As soon as they became recognizably human, men and women - in their hunger to understand their own presence on earth and the mysteries within and around them - began to worship gods. Karen Armstrong's masterly and illuminating book explores the ways in which the idea and experience of God evolved among the monotheists - Jews, Christians and Muslims." "Weaving a multicolored fabric of historical, philosophical, intellectual and social developments and insights, Armstrong shows how, at various times through the centuries, each of the monotheistic religions has held a subtly different concept of God. At the same time she draws our attention to the basic and profound similarities among them, making it clear that in all of them God has been and is experienced intensely, passionately and often - especially in the West - traumatically. Some monotheists have seen darkness, desolation and terror, where others have seen light and transfiguration; the reasons for these inherent differences are examined, and the people behind them are brought to life." "We look first at the gradual move away from the pagan gods to the full-fledged monotheism of the Jews during the exile in Babylon. Next considered is the development of parallel, yet different, perceptions and beliefs among Christians and Muslims. The book then moves "generationally" through time to examine the God of the philosophers and mystics in all three traditions, the God of the Reformation, the God of the Enlightenment and finally the nineteenth- and twentieth-century challenges of skeptics and atheists, as well as the fiercely reductive faith of the fundamentalists of our own day." "Armstrong suggests that any particular idea of God must - if it is to survive - work for the people who develop it, and that ideas of God change when they cease to be effective. She argues that the concept of a personal God who behaves like a larger version of ourselves was suited to mankind at a certain stage but no longer works for an increasing number of people." "Understanding the ever-changing ideas of God in the past and their relevance and usefulness in their time, she says, is a way to begin the search for a new concept for the twenty-first century. Her book shows that such a development is virtually inevitable, in spite of the despair of our increasingly "Godless" world, because it is a natural aspect of our humanity to seek a symbol for the ineffable reality that is universally perceived."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The 4,000-year quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Category - Non Fiction / Religion

Format - Hardcover

Condition - Good

Listed - 6 months ago

Ships From - Maryland

Est. Publication Date - Mar 2004

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

ISBN: 9780517223123

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Category - Non Fiction / Religion

Format - Hardcover

Condition - Good

Listed - 6 months ago

Ships From - Maryland

Est. Publication Date - Mar 2004

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

ISBN: 9780517223123

Publisher Description

A History of God

By:

$5.00

Meet the seller

Discover more

A History of God

By: Karen Armstrong

Pango Buyer Protection

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Additional titles by Karen Armstrong

'A History of God' readers also enjoyed:

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