The Future of God: The Reclaiming of Spirituality's Mystical Roots/Cassette

Rating:
Summary: Another good book of Karen Armstrong
Review: A good one, if you like the clear definition style of Karen Armstrong. This book looks at faith and believes system outside of the common day practices of the different religions. I enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: Speculation by an eminent historian of monotheistic religion
Review: This audio tape is an exploration of monotheistic religions, written and read by Karen Armstrong, the author of numerous scholarly and well-received books on monotheism ("A History of God", "The Battle for God", "Islam: A Short History"). Unlike Armstrong's previous works, "The Future of God" does not focus exclusively on the historical development of monotheistic religions, but it also contains intriguing speculation as to what may lay ahead, extrapolating from their rich past. I can think of no better qualified person to engage in such speculation than Karen Armstrong; to have any credibility in predicting the future, one must have a clear grasp of the past.

As always, Armstrong counterbalances the ethnocentric Western view of religion with contrasting views from Islam, Judaism, and even Buddhism. She reminds her Western listeners that idea of a god who is objective and exists outside ourselves is somewhat peculiar to the West, and is even "eccentric" when compared to Judaism, Islam, and Greek and Russian orthodoxy.

An important theme that runs throughout the tape is that of change; while most adherents of a religion view their creed as essentially fixed, having been revealed in effectively its final and current form, Armstrong continually reminds us that this is a complete fiction. Each of the major religions has undergone enormous transformations over time, and are indeed still in the process of change. For example, Armstrong points out that many of the early prophets were actually polytheists; while they chose to worship a single god, they fully acknowledged the existence of others. Also, the notion of a personal god, with human traits, is a relatively late addition.

Armstrong argues that the idea of a personal god has been useful in the early stages of a religion, but that it ultimately proves to be problematic and limiting; that it must eventually be abandoned for more abstract and mystical notions. This leads to Armstrong's most unexpected--even startling--proposal; that modern atheism is potentially a prelude to a new religious outlook with an even deeper appreciation for god. She likens atheism to a sorbet that cleanses the palette in preparation for more delicious things to come. Armstrong notes that "If we look back at history, we'll see that when people were called atheists this usually marked a religious transition, one of those quantum leaps to an entirely new era of religiosity and spirituality. Thus, in the early stages of their history, Jews, Christians, and Muslims were all called atheists by their pagan contemporaries, not because they didn't believe in god (obviously they did), but because they denied current conceptions of the sacred that were dear to the pagan world."

As the initiators of all religious movements, throughout history, were castigated as atheists, might we not reason that the atheists of today are in fact at the vanguard of a new epoch of religious views? A fascinating idea, to be sure. Indeed, on might view Secular Humanism as such a movement, although Armstrong does not make that connection explicitly.

Perhaps my only complaint about the tape is that it lacks the traditional references that allow a reader to explore the background material to a greater depth. Admittedly, this is rather hard to do on an audio tape, yet there were times when a brief pointer to the relevant literature would have been extremely helpful. As one example, Armstrong states categorically that the book of Genesis is a myth, and that it was quite deliberately written as such. As this is a topic of heated debate (at least in the US), it would have been appropriate for Armstrong to mention the evidence or body of work that, in her view, establishes this fact.

I found Armstrong's ideas to be quite thought provoking, so I feel the tape is well worth the cost. I believe that anyone who has read and enjoyed Armstrong's books would also enjoy this tape (even though it contains but a small fraction of what is contained in her larger volumes). I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Speculation by an eminent historian of monotheistic religion
Review: This audio tape is an exploration of monotheistic religions, written and read by Karen Armstrong, the author of numerous scholarly and well-received books on monotheism ("A History of God", "The Battle for God", "Islam: A Short History"). Unlike Armstrong's previous works, "The Future of God" does not focus exclusively on the historical development of monotheistic religions, but it also contains intriguing speculation as to what may lay ahead, extrapolating from their rich past. I can think of no better qualified person to engage in such speculation than Karen Armstrong; to have any credibility in predicting the future, one must have a clear grasp of the past.

As always, Armstrong counterbalances the ethnocentric Western view of religion with contrasting views from Islam, Judaism, and even Buddhism. She reminds her Western listeners that idea of a god who is objective and exists outside ourselves is somewhat peculiar to the West, and is even "eccentric" when compared to Judaism, Islam, and Greek and Russian orthodoxy.

An important theme that runs throughout the tape is that of change; while most adherents of a religion view their creed as essentially fixed, having been revealed in effectively its final and current form, Armstrong continually reminds us that this is a complete fiction. Each of the major religions has undergone enormous transformations over time, and are indeed still in the process of change. For example, Armstrong points out that many of the early prophets were actually polytheists; while they chose to worship a single god, they fully acknowledged the existence of others. Also, the notion of a personal god, with human traits, is a relatively late addition.

Armstrong argues that the idea of a personal god has been useful in the early stages of a religion, but that it ultimately proves to be problematic and limiting; that it must eventually be abandoned for more abstract and mystical notions. This leads to Armstrong's most unexpected--even startling--proposal; that modern atheism is potentially a prelude to a new religious outlook with an even deeper appreciation for god. She likens atheism to a sorbet that cleanses the palette in preparation for more delicious things to come. Armstrong notes that "If we look back at history, we'll see that when people were called atheists this usually marked a religious transition, one of those quantum leaps to an entirely new era of religiosity and spirituality. Thus, in the early stages of their history, Jews, Christians, and Muslims were all called atheists by their pagan contemporaries, not because they didn't believe in god (obviously they did), but because they denied current conceptions of the sacred that were dear to the pagan world."

As the initiators of all religious movements, throughout history, were castigated as atheists, might we not reason that the atheists of today are in fact at the vanguard of a new epoch of religious views? A fascinating idea, to be sure. Indeed, on might view Secular Humanism as such a movement, although Armstrong does not make that connection explicitly.

Perhaps my only complaint about the tape is that it lacks the traditional references that allow a reader to explore the background material to a greater depth. Admittedly, this is rather hard to do on an audio tape, yet there were times when a brief pointer to the relevant literature would have been extremely helpful. As one example, Armstrong states categorically that the book of Genesis is a myth, and that it was quite deliberately written as such. As this is a topic of heated debate (at least in the US), it would have been appropriate for Armstrong to mention the evidence or body of work that, in her view, establishes this fact.

I found Armstrong's ideas to be quite thought provoking, so I feel the tape is well worth the cost. I believe that anyone who has read and enjoyed Armstrong's books would also enjoy this tape (even though it contains but a small fraction of what is contained in her larger volumes). I recommend it.