On A History of God - Karen Armstrong

Karen Armstrong, over the course of A History of God, builds a historical narrative that explains the possible options mankind has for understanding the concept of 'God' in relation to the three great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This concept has existed for over 4000 years and is best interpreted using the cumulative wisdom of the ages rather than the narrow, tainted, spectrum of the current day (which in this case could mean up to 400 years).

The book moves from the idol worshipping pre-Abrahamic period through the development of the three religions, the philosophy of the Greeks, the Enlightenment, the Reformation and finally closes on the philosophical chaos of the 21st century. The aim is to create a context for religion and throughout the book Armstrong references several themes:

Linguistics: that the lexicon used to describe the elements that comprise our understanding of God, and even the word God itself, are so subjective and weighted in historical context that they can have a negative influence by limiting the parameters of the discussion to an overly familiar description. It is tough to talk about something that may or may not exist in a language that can only reference what we already know.

Anthropomorphism: the attribution of human characteristics to another entity plays a huge role in developing the spectrum in which we understand God. Asking the question of 'does God care' assumes that God can care. Applying familiar characteristics such as love, hate, respect, and loyalty allows a person to empathise with an esoteric concept but at the same time allows an individual to project human emotion that then frames the God in the context of something we know rather than something that lies beyond the mystical realm of comprehension. This is particularly seen in the Gospel, the Torah and the Qur'an where god is often referred to as seeing, hearing, listening and acting (e.g. Noah's flood and turning Rachel into a pillar of salt).

Subjectivity & objectivity: this is a great debate between mysticism and philosophy. Is God a subjective concept that is experienced by an individual or is it a rational belief that can be objectively proved through philosophy? Armstrong leans more towards the personal experience end of the spectrum stating time and time again that attempts to prove God's existence send people to despair ("Reflect upon God's creation but not on his nature or else you will perish" p. 427) because the parameters and logic that the proof require are of a different nature to the entity in question.

Dogma: there are occasions where humans have invoked extremely complex concepts in an attempt to logically explain something that has no logical explanation. The most prominent ones are the discussions on Creationism and the concept of the Christian Holy Trinity (the idea of Jesus as the physical son of a spiritual being and what exactly is the role of the Holy Spirit). Armstrong comes down fairly hard on the tough, depressing agony of Reformist era Christianity taking a view that happiness and joy are essential to mankind's purpose and that the Catholic idea of sin and suppression of sexuality are counter productive.

History: the ability to widen the parameters of discussion is Armstrong's greatest achievement. She presents a case for religion in a state of perpetual flux and that attempts to cling to one 'right way' inevitably cause stress that eventually resolve themselves naturally regardless of the intentions of the participants. Armstrong suggests that the situation Western civilisation finds itself in at the moment is a continuation of the dogmatic application of philosophy to religion. That Western advances in science around 1600 led to an assumption that rationalism is a tool best applied to all aspects of life. Armstrong demonstrates that both Judaism and Islam experimented with this idea but found that in its extremes it was detrimental to the development of the spiritual nature needed to achieve a sense of purpose under the notion of God.

...a conclusion

Armstrong concludes by arguing that adherence to any dogma that does not actively promote compassion can lead down a path of anomie, confusion, frustration, isolation, violence and eventual reform. She states that the search for an Absolute, in whatever form it takes, is a natural human instinct and that humans cannot endure emptiness isolation for long before we start to fill the void with purpose and meaning. Our understanding of God travels the wide road between mysticism and philosophy and that defending particular dogmas is more for our own satisfaction and sense of identity than because of the existence of a specific entity that requires our intervention. Religious understanding is a personal experience that provides purpose and direction but requires intelligence, discipline and order in order to prevent this subjective experience becoming overly emotional and anthropomorphic.