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    Summary and Analysis of A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Based on the Book by Karen Armstrong
    Summary and Analysis of A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Based on the Book by Karen Armstrong
    Summary and Analysis of A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Based on the Book by Karen Armstrong
    Ebook55 pages38 minutes

    Summary and Analysis of A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Based on the Book by Karen Armstrong

    By Worth Books

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    About this ebook

    So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of A History of God tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Karen Armstrong’s book.

    Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. 
     
    This short summary and analysis of A History of God by Karen Armstrong includes:
    • Historical context
    • Chapter-by-chapter summaries
    • Detailed timeline of important events
    • Important quotes
    • Fascinating trivia
    • Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work
     
    About A History of God by Karen Armstrong:
     
    A History of God is a rich and comprehensive account of the concept of God across thousands of years of human history. Karen Armstrong, a former nun, focuses on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, with insights into the work of Western history’s great theologians and philosophers.
     
    Can humanity persist without some idea of God? Far from moving into an era of pure atheism, Armstrong believes that God as a construct is more crucial now than ever. God is not “dead,” God has not abandoned us, God merely shape-shifts to adapt to new contexts, whether that context is medieval agrarianism, nineteenth-century romanticism, or twenty-first-century post-modern techno-urbanism.
     
    Armstrong’s in-depth examination of monotheism provides a foundation for the curious novice while not holding back on academic concepts and obscure but fascinating historical accounts.
     
    The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateFeb 14, 2017
    ISBN9781504044035
    Summary and Analysis of A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Based on the Book by Karen Armstrong
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      Summary and Analysis of A History of God - Worth Books

      Context

      Karen Armstrong’s A History of God, published in 1993, represents the culmination of her life’s work as a former nun, researcher, and historian of religion. It was also her most popular book. A few years before its publication, the United States invaded Iraq for the first time in Operation Desert Storm, and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim feelings were on a dramatic rise in both Europe and America. Anti-Western feelings were on the rise in the Arab world as well. Armstrong’s book can be considered prescient on this matter; after the attacks of 9/11/01, animosity toward Muslims (as well as toward Jews and Christians, depending on the country) was becoming far more common than ever before. With the Ayatollah’s fatwa against author Salman Rushdie in 1989, and President George W. Bush’s professed guiding faith in Jesus Christ, as well as less publicized events like the rise of Buddhist fascism in Sri Lanka, there seemed little chance for peace to take root among the different faiths.

      Yet Armstrong’s intent is not simply to advocate for decency and peace among people of various faiths, it is to demonstrate the central idea that the study of the historical place of God in society, instead of knee-jerk judgment of religious believers, can push society in a better direction. Armstrong points out that, historically, when a conception of God no longer worked or fit well into a society, it was simply discarded in favor of a new one. If we can see ourselves, or our cultures, in this process of God’s transformation over time, and recognize that religious fundamentalism and the contemporary fads—such as yoga and meditation—emerge out of quantifiable historical events, some understanding of religion’s place could lead to a less antagonistic and more compassionate world.

      Long ago, a slew of once-antithetical pagan beliefs were unified under Judaism. God was then personalized as Jesus Christ. Scientific or philosophical understanding of God was pursued strongly by Muslim Faylasufs and the ancient Greek philosophers. In the nineteenth century, God was declared dead by logical positivists and academics. And today, although atheism is on the rise, religious fundamentalism seems to be an indelible fact of modernity. Throughout history, God was a central part of the story of human life on earth, and nothing about our present circumstance suggests that will ever change.

      In 2009, Armstrong founded the Charter for Compassion, which urges people of all faiths to embrace one another in understanding. More than 110,000 people have signed on or support it in some way, including major global figures

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