Karen Armstrong: The Case for God

The Anniston Star recently said this about the book and author: Karen Armstrong is known for her excellent, even-handed books on religious matters, and The Case For God is her best work yet, focusing mainly on the Christian religion. Almost everyone reading it will find evidence to bolster their beliefs, and faults revealed with them as well. But if they’re honest and open-minded, they’ll also find a lot of things to think about. Opening with an exploration of some of the earliest religious beliefs and rites, Armstrong points out immediately that religion from the start was not meant to have the answers to everything. People of all religions, from Buddhism to Greek gods to Judaism and more, always said the ultimate identity and idea of God could not be understood intellectually, only imperfectly and individually. To understand their gods in terms humans can comprehend, humans must make their gods into nothing more or less than a human ideal — the stereotypical bearded chap in the sky. And in doing so, they cheapen the god into an idol, something imperfectly understood yet followed blindly. Read that article, in full, here. The author was recently a gust on The Brian Lehrer Show, on WNYC Radio, an NPR affiliate. Listen to that show below. See also: A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness, The Bible: A Biography (Books That Changed the World), The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions.