Rating: 
Summary: not very good...
Review: A reader from New England
ur right on
I was looking forward to this book.
What a waste!
Rating:
Summary: PC and deprecating
Review: A conscientious survey obviously based on committed and extensive study, but marred throughout by the author's predilection for the politically correct and the related deprecation of her own culture and society, and by an apparent absence of direct personal experience in her chosen subject.
Rating: 
Summary: Thorough, but biased
Review: This book really captured my attention at first. The first chapter is very informative. Unfortunately, it goes downhill from there. The author presents the facts, but she can't leave her opinion out of them. It's quite obvious that she is resentful of the religious life she abandoned. While there is no doubt that religion has its dark side, this book is not supposed to be an expose. As a history of the idea of God, it's at its finest when it sticks to the well-researched facts. When the author gets didactic and starts to editorialize, it just gets annoying.
Rating:
Summary: Every Author's Dilemma.
Review: Every Author must choose her audience. Some write for "HER" audience (Sometimes called "preaching to the choir"). Some write for the curious. To write for the curious, one should write at the introductory level; eschewing jargon for clarity. If one picks up this book only to find out "what all the noise is about", this is the wrong book. Just reading the Introduction had me in the dictionary and encyclopedia.
If you can read this book without recourse to reference texts, you don't need to read it. Same stuff, different day
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.
| 
