Summary Of A History Of God By Karen Armstrong

The History of God A History of God: The 4,000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam tells the story of, as the title might suggest, how the idea of God was created and how it has been altered by religious groups and people throughout history. The author, Karen Armstrong, does this by starting with the first Jews and their belief in pagan gods, and going as far as questioning wether God has a place in modern society at all. Mrs. Armstrong was a part of a devout Roman Catholic family, but often she found that hell seemed a more potent reality than God and that had created fear in her and left her with little confidence in her religion. As she got older her fear subsided and left the religious life, but she also gained interest with the idea of God and religion as a whole. In A History of God she focuses on how the three major monotheistic religions formed and perceived their ideas of God. The first chapter, In the Beginning,
People began to question the truth behind religion and wanted more proof of God. Science had began explaining other phenomena, and scientists and philosophers wanted to verify God in the same way. Though atheism was not yet something to be shared, the idea was there for many Europeans and the spreading of these thoughts invited historians to examine the history of the church. A new religion of reason was created called Deism, which discarded many mysteries of religion. The idea of God was not rejected, the cruel God of the doctrines and the orthodox was. Voltaire, often called the embodiment of Enlightenment, wanted a simple religion that had a God who was a grand design for people to become more efficient and moral. Another form of devotion also arose which encouraged people to find the religion of the heart, and included a God that was within the heart. After this period many mystics claimed that God was no longer out