A History of God

Karen Armstrong

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Paperback

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English

Vintage
05 February 1999

Religion & beliefs; Nature & existence of God; Interfaith relations

The bestselling and seminal work from one of our foremost commentators on religion.

The idea of a single devine being - God, Yahweh, Allah - has existed for over 4,000 years. But the history of God is also the history of human struggle. While Judaism, Islam and Christianity proclaim the goodness of God, organised religion has too often been the catalyst for violence and ineradicable prejudice.

In this fascinating, extensive and original account of the evolution of belief, Karen Armstrong examines Western society's unerring fidelity to this idea of One God and the many conflicting convictions it engenders. A controversial, extraordinary story of worship and war, A History of God confronts the most fundamental fact - or fiction - of our lives.

By: Karen Armstrong
Imprint: Vintage
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 196mm, Width: 130mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 400g
ISBN: 9780099273677
ISBN 10: 0099273675
Pages: 560
Publication Date: 05 February 1999
Recommended Age: From 0 years
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Karen Armstrong is one of the world's leading commentators on religious affairs. She spent seven years as a Roman Catholic nun in the 1960s, but then left her teaching order in 1969 to read English at St Anne's College, Oxford. In 1982, she became a full time writer and broadcaster. She is a best-selling author of over 15 books. An accomplished writer and passionate campaigner for religious liberty, Armstrong has addressed members of the United States Congress and the Senate and has participated in the World Economic Forum.

Reviews for A History of God

Whether he is called God, Yahweh or Allah, the idea of a single divine being has existed for over 4000 years. In this wide-ranging, fascinating, readable work Karen Armstrong traces the history and changing nature of the idea of one god. She looks mainly at Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but also at pagan, Hindu and Buddhist conceptions of 'ultimate reality', and at atheism, the rejection of the idea of god. This is not 'a history of the ineffable reality of God itself... but a history of the way men and women have perceived him from Abraham to the present day'. (Kirkus UK)