Rating: 
Summary: Editorial Mistakes
Review: I am not going to describe about the book since the title says every thing and undoubtedly she has done a great job. Though for some people it is difficult to accept her logic. I found following mistakes in the book.
1. Page 175 "ALLAHU AKHBAH" the correct word is "Allahu Akbar"
2. Page 176 "AL QAHTAR" should be replaced with "Al Qahhar"
3. Page 216 "SAADIA" to be written as "S'adia"
4. Page 224 "Al - Farrabi" is not correct correct word is Al-Arabi"
5. Page 266 "Hikmat al Ishraq" is written as "Higmat al Ishraq" this is not correct
6. Page 441/442 Abul Kalam Azad was not a Pakistani Theologian He Was an Indian.I hope in next edition you can make these corrections.
Rating: 
Summary: A book for ages
Review: Mrs. Armstrong knows how to take a complex Topic and simplify it and not be too dule. Mrs. Armstrong is the Thinker of the decade
Rating:
Summary: it'd deserve 5 if the author was acurate on Muhammed'life
Review: I'm not going to describe what's in the book as the subject is clear from the tilte and the reviewers did a good job in discussing the book. All I want to say is the auther wasn't accurate when writing about the prophet Muhammed's life. As being Muslim who's kept studying and reading about the prophet Mohammed's life, I can say Armstrong, though she was so neutral, was using her personal logic more than the old Islamic references. Therefore, she failed in many cases to point out the truth. For instance, she mentioned that the prophet was not aware of the old prophets until he got contact with the Jews when he emigrated, which meant after 13 years of his prophecy. This is baisally not correct. Many stories of the old prophets were revealed to in the first years of his inviting people to Islam in order to support him afetr he was mistreated by his people before any contact with any Jews. Another personal mistake is when she said some friendly Jews were telling him many theological Jewish practices after he emigrated. Also this is not true. All the basic Islamic teachings and practices were established before the year of immigration. Further more, she said that the prophet ordered his companions to pray two times than after the imigration three times whih is absoltely not corrcet. The prophet was ordered with other muslims to perform five prayers a day in before the immigration.
However, the book is so serious for those who believe in God and the ones who do no as well. It shows how the concept of God evolved during thousands of years. It's simply book for a critical thinking.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I'm loving this book. Armstrong's knowledge of her subjects is encyclopedic in nature, and her ability to weave together varying threads allows for a highly readable book which sacrifices nothing in complexity. Her willingness to go the extra mile in raising the philosophical and theological problems posed by the social context of the writings pushes the book to 5 stars. Check it out.
Rating:
Summary: Good religious history
Review: A book that is sure to irritate many, A History of God is a history of Western theology, in particular the way the principal Western faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam have thought of God over time. For those who view their religion on a more dogmatic level, this book can provide some uncomfortable insights, especially the idea that God - or humanity's view of God - has changed over time, even within a particular faith. Armstrong definitely knows her material, sometimes too well for easy reading. This book is filled with a lot of historical and theological detail and cannot be read lightly if one is to grasp all that is contained within. Although generally readable, the subject matter makes for slow going at times, and Armstrong does get a bit pedantic at times. Also, while generally objective, she does editorialize every now and then, which interferes with her presentation of the subject. Overall, this is a good book, with some stylistic flaws but filled with plenty of insight into religious history. For those who want to learn more about the development of theology, this is a recommended read.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely informative, but perhaps too much so?
Review: This book is jam packed with historical information relating to theology from the very beginning of mankind. I found it interesting, but just a bit too jam-packed for me. It is tough to keep it all straight, and I kept hoping the author would liven it up a little. It is, however, a truly marvelous study of the religions of the world, their origin, their history, and their evolution as the needs of man changed. A very fascinating subject that the author does extrememly well with. If you are a student of world religions, you will find this book invaluable. If you are looking for a light, entertaining read, perhaps it is better to look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Explains how three religions view God
Review: What Joseph Campbell (The Masks of God, etc.) did for myth and William H. McNeill (The Rise of the West) did for universal history, Armstrong has here done for the idea of God in three historically related religions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Like them also, she tells a story; with great skill she weaves into a single cloth social history, the history of ideas, comparative religion, and sometimes even the clash of empires. At the same time she picks her way carefully through a vast array of scholarly opinion, often without choosing among opposing views; yet she is not afraid to make a choice among possibilities, even to criticize the traditions she is describing. Thus the work has a personal dimension, and one that will sometimes offend conservatives of all three religions. For instance, she considers much of religious orthodoxy to be intellectually idolatrous because it fails to recognize the socially constructed nature of conceptions of the divine. Ideas of God, like all ideas, arise to fulfill human needs which are in turn derived from particular conditions; in accordance with mystical theology everywhere, concepts of God only point to what can never be adequately defined. An important addition to any general library collection.
Rating:
Summary: An Archaeology Expedition for "God"
Review: A History of God is a personal, yet informed, logically sound, wide-ranging, yet mercifully selective, and pragmatic account of four millennia of events and debate surrounding the god of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Karen Armstrong's thesis is not metaphysical; she does not try to prove the existence of any type of god or the validity of any denomination, program, or vision. The book is also not encyclopedic; numerous scholars have offered views not included here (although she graciously includes 10 pages of bibliography, 17 pages of endnotes, a seven-page glossary, and a 24-page index). Armstrong's book is a history of how Jewish, Christian, and Muslim commentators (it is, in this sense, elitist) have attempted to make "God" work for believers throughout four millennia. Her orientating point is West Asia, with occasionally significant glances at Europe and North Africa. This is not a universal account, by any means. Armstrong's use of the word, "oikumene", identifies her focus as more political and economic than theological. The "God" in the title is limited to a region of the world centrally situated between India and Europe. One of the most fascinating results of this orientation, is that Western, Augustinian, Christianity is peripheral to the original ferment occurring in the center. After giving Augustine his due, Armstrong slights Western Christianity, which still gets more space than Buddhism and Hinduism, both inserted to give fair credit for inspiring several developments in the story. For whatever reason, personal or scholarly, therefore, Christianity is ironically placed in the third position in the roll call of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Just as recent scholars and commentators on the subject of globalization have done, Armstrong traces the linkages between Islam in the early middle ages and Europe, and then discusses how the shift during the industrial age affected Judaism and Islam. To reset the balance caused by western industrialization, she purposefully overcompensates with Muslim and Jewish material. If it seems that a great deal of Christian developments are forgotten or abbreviated, it only highlights how industrialization, armed with Christianity, marginalized west Asian society. Armstrong's argument rests on this geographical point. For whatever reason Europe embraced Augustine, it abandoned and ridiculed approaches, that Jewish, Orthodox Christian, and Islamic authors had developed, which Armstrong wants to recover for contemporary, personal, and inter-denominational benefit. But the prejudices accumulated by industrialization and the offshoots of Augustinian Christianity make understanding difficult. What Armstrong wants to recover, is a more mystical, tolerant, and creative, less transcendent, vengeful, personal approach to "God". Beginning with her discussions of the primitive Yahweh cult and the Jewish prophets, Islamic Falsafah, and then again in her section on mystics, Armstrong attacks the notion of a God as just another being like us. Accenting with developments in Buddhism and Hinduism, she builds the conceivable outlines of a mystical monotheism, only to witness western traders and missionaries undermine the society fermenting this vision. Armstrong is trying to salvage what she can from the obliteration in 396 pages. A History of God is not a half-baked theology, flawed pilgrimage, or a cynical hack's grasp for bestseller status. It's another expression of the consequences of globalization during western-led industrialization. Only instead of seeking answers in trade figures and labor statistics, Armstrong tries to resurrect the shards of a vision of "God".
Rating:
Summary: Important Work, But Info Overload for Topic Novices
Review: REVIEW: Karen Armstrong has done a remarkable job in covering such a huge subject and I learned a fair amount reading this book. However, for me as a new comer to the study of religions/theology, the book just offered too much material. I was looking for more of an introduction to the major religions, including their major beliefs, rituals, differences, etc. This book is just too detailed for me to have gotten that information efficiently. There must have been a thousand different people brought up by Ms. Armstrong; I can remember probably less than 5. I would have preferred something more like Brian Magee's "Story of Philosophy" which is an excellent non-academic introduction to philosophy. Armstrong's book is long, thorough, and may be appropriate for the serious student of religion that has already had an introduction, but I don't recommend it as a first read on the topic. STRENGTHS: The author's obvious breadth of readings and knowledge of the topic. The detailed endnotes and index are a plus. WEAKNESSES: For me, the chapters were just too long and monotone. The book could use more organization (e.g. subchapters); graphics, lists, and/or sidebars to make it more interesting and easier to read. Also, I hated the italic font. I couldn't tell the difference between the "h" and the "b". This is normally not a problem, but for someone not used to reading arabic names it's a big issue. WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Serious students of religion that already have an introduction to the major religions and who don't mind reading longer books that may not be easy to read. [feedback welcome]
Rating:
Summary: Dense and not for all tastes
Review: This is an impressive (if selective) overview of theological ideas. But it is heavy going. Keep a dictionary handy, unless words like antinomian, Hellenistic, and apophatic are familiar to you. KA does a great job with truly complex material, but she can only simplify so far. Reading this book is an effort. I learned a lot, but if I had not had a friend reading it too I am not sure I would have finished it on my own.
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