sixtyPercent: Cochlear Implants, Aviation, Technlology, and Philosophy 2006/01/21
A History of God
It has been a few days since my last post, but I have a good excuse: I've been reading. My last few book review posts have concerned novels or memoirs -- easy reading for a winter afternoon. In fact, I have a habit of just sitting down at night and reading those sort of books in one shot. Not so with this post's topic: Karen Armstrong's A History of God. Though it is only about 400 pages long, I spent two weeks taking in this book, and should probably have gone a bit slower.
Why so slow? There are certainly plenty of new words in unfamiliar languages, and I frequently flipped back a few pages or checked the glossary to be sure I understood the topics. But trying to appreciate the meaning of words like kalam or logos or "hesychasm in context or remember who al-Ghazzali'' is was only a small part of what slowed me down. Mostly I just wanted to appreciate every page of what is one of the finest works of non-fiction I've ever read. I'm in no position to judge, but Karen Amstrong must be one of the most skilled writers in her field. (If not, then I can't wait to read the best).
Enough gushing -- here's what blew me away. The book is about the 4000 year evolution of the concept of "God" -- from the beginnings of monotheism to the present day. She traces the rise of various schools of thought in each of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, with some comparisons to Hinduism and Buddhism as well. In each era we learn how successive societies used, adapted, ignored or rebelled against different notions of "God", and the effects the religious thought had on that society (and others).
Growing up in the West, I am aware that the dominant culture has a certain view of "God", and that this view does not dominate worldwide. I am also aware of some of the other spiritual concepts found in other societies. Having read Armstrong's book, I now know what I lacked was a comprehensive context in which to examine these various beliefs, and an understanding of the history of their evolution. Perhaps these concepts are old news to anyone with a couple of "History of Religion" college classes under their belts, but I doubt I could have appreciated this book as much during my undergraduate years.
For instance, I suspected, but could never name or put into context the debate between a personal, "old man in the sky" sort of God versus a more mystical, transcendent concept not so connected to the day-to-day experience. Armstrong charts the history of these debates in all three western Monotheistic traditions. Another striking concept (to me) is due to al-Ghazzali, an 11th century Muslim thinker, who I knew nothing about prior to reading this book. According to Armstrong, al-Ghazzali stated among other things, that some people possess the prophetic spirit, and some do not. In other words and to paraphrase Sartre, some people have "a God-shaped hole" and some do not -- almost like a genetic trait. Looking at spirituality as a genetic predisposition had never occurred to me before, though it seems obvious now.
A History of God was published in 1993 (you read this blog to keep up with the very latest trends, right?) -- and I already have Armstrong's more recent The Battle for God on my night stand. Stay tuned, and I'll let you know how this God character turns out.
by David Creemer : 2006/01/21 : Categories books life : 0 trackbacks : 1 comment (permalink)
