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Religious Book Store > Religious books beginning with B
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The Battle for God |
Author: Karen Armstrong
Published: 2001-01-30 |
List price: $3.00
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As of: December 03rd, 2008 06:55:53 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 very faulty
Fundamentaly flawed. Armstrong makes demonstrably false claims such as "Paul never claimed Christ was God" or "Christ never said he was God". She never deals with the fact the Christ claimed--humbly--to both "Son of God" AND "Son of Man" (Daniel),the Messiah. If you read this book, read also the Kreeft and Tacelli's "Handbook" and other refutations of her historical assertions. And read the Gospels and Paul's letter's (Phil 2:6 for example)carefully seeking truth. Armstrong even goes so far as to say that Christ is an "abrasive figure" in the Gospels. She attacks Margaret Mary Alacoque (sp) with angry zeal. Then she claims that Paul had no theology, but only an emotional zeal. She really hates Christianity profoundly and irrationally but defends Islam to no end. She seems to have deep wounds from dealings with broken Christians that she brings into her work as a historian.
 Science's Dark Twin
I enjoyed this book even more than Armstrong's "History of God", if only because far more of the contents were unfamiliar: I would guess that few English-speakers know much about the evolution of Jewish and Islamic "fundamentalisms", or how Shi'ite political thought has changed over time. Once I would have chosen the Death of a Thousand Cuts over lessons on the history of American fundamentalism; but as it's told here even that seems interesting. Two key ideas shape this book: one I found surprising but convincing; the other leaves me dubious.
The first is that Fundamentalism is the twin of its arch-enemy Science, and could only have arisen when the scientific model of knowledge had become dominant. Traditional communities all saw their Scriptures as a limitless array of multi-layered meanings; it was 19th century science and positivism that limited Scripture to a single "literal" meaning, reducing it to an account of facts. That way believers could hold onto their faith by making it appear to resemble science.
The second is the opposition she sets up between "mythos" and "logos": timeless Truth conveyed by myth and ritual; time-bound Fact explained by science. Fundamentalism, so the argument goes, confuses the two.
This troubles me. The Bible contains only traces of myth, the Qur`an almost none. Isaiah, Ezekiel, the Qur`an, are not scientific fact but they certainly aren't Myth either. Prophetic Revelation, the Divine Word, is what defines Monotheism: and the Prophets were trying to Escape from a cyclical, mythic, ritual worldview...
This book might have been improved if Armstrong had thought a bit more deeply about this issue. Then again, it might have only become confusingly complicated. It covers a narrower field than "History of God" and so of course it goes into more detail: the changing fortunes of the Shi'ite clergy or the fate of anti-Zionist Messianic Orthodox Jews, fascinating for me, may be an alphabetical sleeping-pill for others. But anyone who wants to understand Fundamentalism, which has become a mountain in our midst, couldn't start anywhere better than here.
A compelling and necessary read
This book is a fascinating and surprisingly readable history of emergent fundamentalism in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Armstrong traces monotheistic fundamentalism through the 20th century, and details the economic, social, and political circumstances that motivated its leaders, sustained it through generations, and sometimes lead its followers to violence.
The latter point is why this book is worth reading. Every day in the news we read about violent, religiously motivated attacks, even here in the modern, secular West. Why? In detailing the rise of these modern fundamentalist movements, Armstrong provides key historical context to this question, sheds light on some possible answers, and makes the critical point that ignoring or attempting to trivialize such movements just makes them more militant. At the end of the book she warns that fundamentalists and moderns cannot understand each other on their terms alone, and calls both groups to consider each other with more respect and compassion.
The book is so detailed and thorough I found myself wishing I had read it in high school (where I slept my way through world and US history). I found many key moments in US history brought to life by this book: the Second Great Awakening of the early 1800s, the Scopes Trial of 1925, even the televangelist scandals of the 1980s. I also learned a lot about the history of Iran, Egypt, and Israel, which I am embarrassed to say I had known little about before.
But be warned- this is not relaxing bathtub reading; it's a history textbook, and you may need a few strong cups of coffee to get through it. But it will be worth it.
Outstanding, Lucid, most helpful
This is the Go-To text on Fundamentalism in religions. Very insightful, very well written, very understandable. Characteristic performance by a good author.
 Decent history but painted over with a progressive ideology.
First and foremost, in `The Battle for God', Karen Armstrong demonstrates her knowledge of religious history by chronicling the manner in which religious adherents of the three monotheisms have struggled to preserve their faith against growing challenges presented to them since the Enlightenment. In doing so, she offers an explanation on how the modern Fundamentalist movement has come into existence, and why at the turn of the 21st Century it poses such a severe threat to the values of modern culture. Considering the abysmal knowledge possessed by most Westerners regarding religious Fundamentalism, `The Battle for God' should make a significant contribution in dispelling this blindness.
However, while Miss. Armstrong's grasp of history is praiseworthy, I find it difficult to compliment her approach to sociology and religious essence. Her primary assertion is that militant literalism is a new phenomenon, fabricated as a reaction against the growth of secularism; a bold theory that lacks any substantial evidence. Miss. Armstrong's usage of the term `Fundamentalism' is also too liberal for comfort, strengthening the impression that much of her evaluations on the beliefs of religious adherents through history are coloured by her own `progressive religious' persuasions, and an attempt to historically justify such beliefs.
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