History of God | 
pickWhoa - it's A Lot! The writing was engaging, but there was so much repetition that honestly I skimmed a whole lot. The repetition was due to the many scholars tweaking of theory through the ages, and not poor writing.
I learned a lot, had some beliefs reaffirmed, changed my mind completely on some others, and had some questions answered; though now I have different ones.
All in all avery worthy read!
@ChaoticMissAdventures
#NFNR
"In the beginning, human beings created a God who was the First Cause of all things and Ruler of heaven and earth."
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl
After 24 years on the ol' #TBR shelf, it's time 📖
I'm either going to be sucked in or wake up dreading to read 🤷🏻♀️ Let's see how this goes
#NFNR #Nonfiction
pickI highly recommend this book on how God has been perceived throughout the centuries in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Ms Armstrong posseses the rare gift of presenting and explaining complex theories and ideas in understandable, readable language.
"Human beings cannot endure emptiness and desolation; they will fill the vacuum by creating a new focus of meaning." Let's hope the substitute is not fundamentalism or despair.
"Civilization could lead to universal peace when a generous, liberal society was created by a ruler like Akbar who made bigotry impossible."
Instead of dividing people with a rhetoric of hate for and fear of 'the other', this is what we should work towards: a generous, liberal, unified society, in which we don't force each other to be, believe and live in a certain way, but respect each other's differences.
26 years later...I don‘t think the Cold War really ended, but had a thaw. We may not be locked in an unending nuclear standoff, but tines still aren‘t great. Still facing down ecological disaster, despite all the ostriches in positions of power. Maybe some good news on the AIDS front, not sure.
Definitely still valid concerns all around.
pickWoo, boy, this took some doing! A very informative book that gave me a lot to think about, but it‘s very tough to get through.
Some negatives: I found some of the layout difficult, as the chapters follow different ideas in times and traditions that overlap, so in some sections there‘s a lot of “we‘ll discuss this in the next chapter.” Also, inconsistent in giving dates for key figures or their works.
Cont in comments
“Science demands the fundamental belief that there is a rational explanation for everything; it also requires an imagination and courage which are not dissimilar to religious creativity.”
While I like this quote, I‘m not quite sure about the first part. There are plenty of scientists who are also people of faith. This just feeds the idea that science and religion are fundamentally opposed and irreconcilable.
“Humankind cannot bear very much reality.”
Boy, isn‘t that the truth.
First - Yahweh was the original social justice warrior. I find that interesting, and wish so-called Christian conservatives understood that.
Second - and possibly explaining the quandary of the first - “the religion of compassion is followed only by a minority; most religious people are content with decorous worship in synagogue, church, temple and mosque.”
pickI finished reading this book recently. The book serves as a decent informative source concerning the concept of GOD. It provides a historical touch while depicting people's POVs about GoD.
pickI've always enjoyed reading Karen Armstrong's perspective on the history of religion. #history
This is an older book off my shelf. What do fellow Littens think about me showing some of my pre-litsy reads? I have a lot of them.
#nonfiction My first association for #heaven is God. I'm an atheist, but I am interested in developing/reasons/the evolution of beliefs and religions.
#rockinmay
