A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam Paperback – August 9, 1994

I sometimes wonder if the stage of our life when we first encounter a book affects our relationship to that book. I mean that had I encountered this book when I was much younger, I would not have been receptive to her arguments nor would I have been able to appreciate the depth of her scholarship. Make no mistake, this is a scholarly book that I enjoyed thoroughly. The title of this book is somewhat misleading: it is not a history of God, per se, but it is an erudite discussion of Woman and Man's relationship with God over the last 4000 years. Since I have been pursuing a similar quest over the last seven decades, Ms. Armstrong's magnificent manuscript has answered many of my questions and feelings about religion. It has enlightened me and cleared my head somewhat. It is not an easy book but will be worth the time and effort. Kudos to Ms. Armstrong.

What a masterwork Karen Armstrong has achieved in "A History of God." As audacious a title as could be, Armstrong rises to the task and delivers an incredibly well researched, respectful, reflective, expounding, and even-handed survey of sacred topics. We journey with her through time chronologically, examining different eras in the God concept.We begin with the earliest Mesopotamian civilizations and their pagan rituals and see how similar the Babylonian creation myth is to that of Genesis. We continue with her in amazing depth and analysis through the emergence of YWH, the birth and life of Christ, the resulting debates on the nature of the trinity, and encounter the initial split that remains today between Eastern and Western Christianity. Then onto the Muhammad and the revelations of Islam, the philosophical interpretations of God through learned reasoning, the development of Mysticism as an ethos in monotheism, the reformers of the Middle Ages, and how the genius of the enlightenment changed the perspective of humanity toward God.The second to last chapter is entitled "The Death of God?" and in it we encounter the strongest late-millenial arguments for the utter non-existence of God. In the final chapter, "Does God Have a Future?", Armstrong shares her sentiment that although the specificity of the God concept has changed again and again, there is remarkable consistency in the ongoing quest to discover our spirit and its relation to something more. Even in an examined, profane world, hope in a greater mystery remains. She appropriately ends her dense, academic treatise with a poem. Thomas Hardy's "A Darkling Thrush" is a deeply touching four-stanza ode to a birdsong for the hope it brings to a man brought down by the cold, dark, grey world around him.What may sound heretical when here described does not feel that way through Armstrong's words. She addresses topics like a true scholar and attempts as best one could to synthesize complex theological issues so that they can be compared and contrasted. She returns to common themes, connecting them across the ages, and gives social and political context to powerful religious movements in history.This is one of the finest books I have read, it makes the most of the medium on several fronts. It is a must read for anyone interested in Theology.

The book is separated by 11 chapters.~ Chapters 1-2 (In The Beginning, One God).The author begins by exploring the most primitive conceptions of the divine. She delves into the Axial Age (800 - 200 BCE) and explains the Aristotelian god, Buddhism conceptions (Nirvana, Atman, Brahman), the old polytheistic pagan religions, and the important revelations and that have become expedient in the doctrines and worship of the major religions of the world today (Moses, Abraham, etc). Also - and perhaps most importantly - the author explains how monotheism and the praising of one god came about.~ Chapters 3-5 (A Light to the Gentiles, Trinity: The Christian God, Unity: The God of Islam)As you can probably expect, these chapters explore the roots of the major Abrahamic religions. It is interesting to see the trials and tribulations each one endured. You can expect to read about the evolution of ideas between the religions, how they relate to each other, and their ever-evolving conceptions of outsiders.~ Chapters 6-8 (The God of the Philosophers, The God of the Mystics, A God for Reformers)Perhaps the most interesting sections of the text. In these chapters, history is amalgamated with philosophy: the author explores the 3 major conceptions of God, with how they came about, and then ties them to their implications, doctrines, and perceptions. To explain each briefly: The God of the philosophers came about when God got caught up in the mix of philosophy. As civilizations started to advance, philosophers took it upon themselves to look at and try to prove the existence of God rationally. The philosopher's God was one that can be proven through inquiry and rational thought, and one that should be liable to discourse. For some time many religious sects adopted this game plan for God, for example, the Faylasufs. The God of the Mystics was an alternative: it can not be proven through rational thought because it lay beyond experiment and observation. The God of the Mystics was one that could be felt deep inside us, and in nature, even though it's essence itself was impenetrable. The God for Reformers is a more contemporary, personal, and rule imposing entity. This God was used to reform certain societies and their norms; it was the centerpiece for theocratic empires.~ Chapters 9-11 (Enlightenment, The Death of God?, Does God Have a Future?)If there's history in any sense in these chapters, it is not the main goal of them. These chapters talk about the enlightenment era with its advent of science and technology. This was the time in history where discoveries were made that shattered preconceived conceptions of the physical world, the solar system, and most importantly our place in it. This was the time where we really started to discover that perhaps life does not have any divine meaning, and by observing natural phenomenon we come to see that there is also no purpose. For the first time, it was possible to become an Atheist. Many prominent intellectuals came to abhor the idea of a creator, or master engineer, that that twists and turns the knobs of life and discriminately favors some while punishing others. Much of the general public had severe reservations of how personal God was, and can be, just like the Mystics and the Buddhists. Is God dead? The New Right Christian movement of the late 20th century doesn't seem to portend to any fatality of superstition. Does God Have a Future? Who knows. Apparently the author believes that the God of the Mystics does, which I discuss below.I must concede that what is so prolific about the book is the author's candor. In her sentiment you can detect of a whiff of fate, and thus reckon her intrapersonal disappointment in her tone, but she nevertheless casts her emotions aside to justly display the truth. Much sections of the book reads as if it was written by an atheist. But this doesn't mean that she didn't purvey her opinions. Often you can extrapolate her convictions on matters by the way she alludes to it and by what (I almost said 'who', but that would have been incorrect) she chooses to quote. I'm not an expert on religious matters, but she seemed to be objective - atleast in motivation - for the most part when explicating and trying to explain God's history. I believe that for the most part, such a goal (i.e. objectivity) is not feasible. In the history of divinity and religion; with it's prophets and revelations; there are too many uncertainties to be able to explain these topics without a substantial amount of subjectivity. The whole religious enterprise seems to be subjective. This isn't an existential rejoinder, but an observational truth. It's possible for such experiences to be "real", in the non-materialist and neuron-void sense, but it is not plausible. There is admittedly not a complete material understanding of consciousness and the brain, but there is a fairly adequate scientific understanding of it that takes dominion over the archaic notions of Dualism and non-material "magic" that so many intellectuals have resorted (or succumbed) to in the past when explaining subjective experience and the human mind. It seems that the author, Karen Armstrong, doesn't seem to understand this and I think the contemplative reader is ultimately left in the midst when trying to string together her "God", the one that would purportedly work in the future. She rejects a personal God, and denotes such an idea as unjustifiable, dangerous, and detrimental to religion. So then wouldn't she be a deist? She speaks a lot about deism but doesn't seem to allude to being a deist, per se. She seems to be enthralled by the God of the mystics; the one that lacks shape or form, that can't be anthropomorphized, and is all around us; and that's attainable through introspective practices. She doesn't mention it, but if she doesn't believe that this God created the universe, and is knowledgeable incorporeal entity, than what is the point of God? She seems to insinuate that you need such belief or faith because it attenuates the inner conflict of struggle and inevitable death, but this conclusion is parochial in nature and it does not deserve any kind of fidelity.I would also like to mention, as other reviewers did before me, that she seems to paint Islam in good light. She is in no way a Muslim, but perhaps she felt propelled to be a little persuasive in tonality when speaking on behalf of Islamic religion and Koranic scripture because of prevailing vitriol and inflicted cultural subjectivity in the Western portrait of Islam. This of course was around the time the book was published (1991), and i'm sure although Islam deserves much of it, many academics nevertheless go overboard; that is, doing it fallaciously; in demonizing it. The problem is that Armstrong's fervor shows in this aspect, and often seems to undermine and juxtapose the other major monotheistic religions which seems like an effort to bring them down just to enhance the comparative look of Islam. At one point she seems to blame the downfall of what used to be an open-minded and rationally motivated religion (i.e. Islam) on the Westernization of Islamic territory through Colonialism. This seems like a feeble attempt to deposit blame on other things while simply ignoring requisite facts of an (or at least what came to be an) inherently destructive religion. Maybe some positive light needed to be shedded, because anything that is entirely bad doesn't last long. Even though Islam may have, or have had, some good tenets, I still remain a little skeptical of its exegesis in this text.Note that when I say "seems that the author, Karen Armstrong, doesn't seem to understand this...", i'm coming from my pre-conceived conviction in the fidelity of Materialism (which is what I meant by "this"). In other words, I'm assuming it to be the truth, which many people - especially readers of this book - wouldn't adhere to. Even though I don't necessarily agree with everything the author has to say, the text itself was engaging and I sincerely enjoyed reading it. There is a lot of information to be gleaned and I do recommend it. It deserves a high rating.4.4/5

I have read a number of Karen Armstrong's books and always finish the book believing that I have read a balanced, well-informed and very well-written book. Her own life story (The Spiral Staircase) is also of great interest and a backdrop to what she has written. A History of God was the first of her books that I read. Having previously read the Torah, the bible and the Quran I had no idea how little I knew and understood about these texts, the Quran in particular.