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| A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Armstrong, Karen) | 
 enlarge | Author: Karen Armstrong
Publisher: Gramercy Books
Category: Book
List Price: £6.54
Buy New: £5.81
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Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 295542
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 496
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.6
ISBN: 0517223120
Dewey Decimal Number: 202.11
EAN: 9780517223123
ASIN: 0517223120
Publication Date: March 2004
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW - ***Delivery usually * 4 - 7 * working days - From Aphrohead of SOUTHPORT, Lancs, UK *** . Priority Airmail used Worldwide on International orders. Thanks from all at Aphrohead.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Heavy Going May 13, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This had some interesting bits, and the author has clearly read very widely. However, it turns into a series of GCSE-type summaries of the thought of "famous religious thinkers through the ages".
I was determined to finish all 460 pages, and did so, but it was mighty hard work.
 Almost Genius...almost March 19, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have read several of Karen Armstrong's books and I have always been stunned by the sheer quantity of research and her no holds barred presentation of the facts. If things get complicated then she presents them as such, she is a master of explaining the entire situation.
A history of god is simply an essential read for anyone who thinks they know anything about any of the monotheistic religions from the casual reader, to the Pope, to the Taliban; they should all sit down and really do their best to understand what is being said here. This is a mountain of a book so vital in explaining and stripping away the millennia of misunderstanding as to be almost as important as the holy books it is discussing.
My only grumble is her relentlessly bone dry way of writing. I have seen her in interviews and her style is sparkling and engaging her written style however isn't and at times it would be nice if she did pause for breath and even use some of her lightness of speech in her extremely dense text. It seems to be a deliberate choice a bit like Newton writing the Principia in Latin to stop the riff raff from understanding it. That's why it doesn't get the full 5 stars for me.
However style to one side this book could do a lot of good for the world if more of the people it is written for actually sat down and read it.
 Fantastic!! September 4, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a brilliant book tracing the history of monotheism from Abraham (2000 BCE), through Moses (1200 BCE), the Israelite prophets, Jesus and the Prophet Muhammed (C7th CE), and the diverse conceptions these figures had of the Ultimate Divine Reality - Yahweh, Allah or God. But she doesn't stop there - further chapters on the 'God of the Philosophers' outline how scholars attempted to reconcile faith (revelation) with Greek rationalism, 'The God of the Mystics' how the experience of God was internalised by people of all 3 Abrahamic faiths, and then 'The Death of God?' takes the conception of the Divine right through to modern day. A truly encyclopaedic work, well-written and highly authoritative - as well as sympathetic to non-Western conceptions of religion - this book is a must-read for all who seek a deeper understanding of one of the great ideas of human history.
A Balanced Look At The Monotheistic Religions April 14, 2007
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
Karen Armstrong's "A History of God" is a tremendous resource for those interested in the history of religions in general, and in monotheism in particular. She looks not only in the different religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in particular), but also in the way that man's perception of God changed within each religion over time. Starting with the early history of man and religion, she proceeds right through to religion as of the early 1990's. The book was first published in 1993, so you will not find any references to September 11th or any of the polarizing events that have happened as a result. Instead you will find a much more even look, which is useful in and of itself.
While this book is a tremendous reference, unfortunately it does have a significant weakness as a reference, and that is that the text itself is not all that organized. Her choices for the eleven chapters are fine, but you will find no sections or subsections within the chapters. Instead each chapter is just a long recitation with no breaks, and this can make referring back to a section rather difficult. The book does have a decent index which helps. Also, there is a very good bibliography which also helps with additional research on a topic.
The writing is a little uneven. Some sections are very well done, and others are a bit more difficult to follow, however the writing is never poor. In particular, her discussion of the early history of each of the major monotheistic religions is very well done, and it gives the reader a good understanding of what those religions were like before they started adapting to other forces in the world. The polytheistic origins of Judaism, the lack of divinity in Christ, and the equality of women to men in Islam are just a few of the topics which would undoubtedly shake up those with fundamentalist beliefs.
The only other slight negative I can think of is with regards to some inconsistency in the area of religion today. In her introduction, as well as in the last chapter, she refers to polls which indicate that 99 percent of the people in the U.S. believe in God. She never provides a reference to these polls. The problem is that in that same last chapter `Does God Have a Future?' she discusses the movement of people away from belief in God. These two concepts seem to be at odds with one another, and she never addresses this contradiction. While there may be polls which show such a small number of atheists, the polls that I have seen show that atheists/agnostics make up 8.4% of the population in 1990 and are up to 15.0% of the population in 2000. This data seems to support the rest of her discussion in the chapter better than the polls she mentions.
I would definitely recommend this book to pretty much everybody. It is a window into our past and a tremendous reference for those interested in world history as well as those who are studying religion.
I found God. December 18, 2006
15 out of 20 found this review helpful
Before this book I had always been one of those 'non-religious spiritualist' types, which means, searching for answers with little or no knowledge of the question.
The great wealth of religious philosophy in this book shows me the way & adds eloquence to the way I feel about God. I am still not pursuaded to subscribe to any particular doctrine, but feel I am at least on the path, if not very far along it. For all those who feel there must be something more than the physical realm, though are disuaded by the gimic of God this book displays a rich & varied perception of God throughout history & explains the risks of a flawed theology.
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