A History of God

A History of God PDF Author: Karen Armstrong
Publisher: Gramercy
ISBN: 9780517223123
Category : God
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A study of the deity of the world's three dominant monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In a dynamic interplay between religion and society's ever-changing beliefs, values, and traditions, human beings' ideas about God have been transformed. Ideas about God have been molded to apply to the spiritual needs of the people who worship him in a particular place and time. The author explores and analyzes the development and progression of the various perceptions of God from the days of Abraham to present times--Adapted from book jacket.

A History of God

A History of God PDF Author: Karen Armstrong
Publisher: Gramercy
ISBN: 9780517223123
Category : God
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
A study of the deity of the world's three dominant monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In a dynamic interplay between religion and society's ever-changing beliefs, values, and traditions, human beings' ideas about God have been transformed. Ideas about God have been molded to apply to the spiritual needs of the people who worship him in a particular place and time. The author explores and analyzes the development and progression of the various perceptions of God from the days of Abraham to present times--Adapted from book jacket.

A History of God

A History of God PDF Author: Karen Armstrong
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780679426004
Category : God
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Explores the ways in which the "idea" and "experience" of God evolved among monotheists--Jews, Christians and Muslims.

A History of God

A History of God PDF Author: Karen Armstrong
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0307798585
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 487

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Book Description
Why does God exist? How have the three dominant monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—shaped and altered the conception of God? How have these religions influenced each other? In this stunningly intelligent book, Karen Armstrong, one of Britain's foremost commentators on religious affairs, traces the history of how men and women have perceived and experienced God, from the time of Abraham to the present. The epic story begins with the Jews' gradual transformation of pagan idol worship in Babylon into true monotheism—a concept previously unknown in the world. Christianity and Islam both rose on the foundation of this revolutionary idea, but these religions refashioned 'the One God' to suit the social and political needs of their followers. From classical philosophy and medieval mysticism to the Reformation, Karen Armstrong performs the near miracle of distilling the intellectual history of monotheism into one superbly readable volume, destined to take its place as a classic. Praise for History of God “An admirable and impressive work of synthesis that will give insight and satisfaction to thousands of lay readers.”—The Washington Post Book World “A brilliantly lucid, spendidly readable book. [Karen] Armstrong has a dazzling ability: she can take a long and complex subject and reduce it to the fundamentals, without oversimplifying.”—The Sunday Times (London) “Absorbing . . . A lode of learning.”—Time “The most fascinating and learned study of the biggest wild goose chase in history—the quest for God. Karen Armstrong is a genius.”—A.N. Wilson, author of Jesus: A Life

God

God PDF Author: Reza Aslan
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0553394738
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of Zealot explores humanity’s quest to make sense of the divine in this concise and fascinating history of our understanding of God. In Zealot, Reza Aslan replaced the staid, well-worn portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth with a startling new image of the man in all his contradictions. In his new book, Aslan takes on a subject even more immense: God, writ large. In layered prose and with thoughtful, accessible scholarship, Aslan narrates the history of religion as a remarkably cohesive attempt to understand the divine by giving it human traits and emotions. According to Aslan, this innate desire to humanize God is hardwired in our brains, making it a central feature of nearly every religious tradition. As Aslan writes, “Whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless of whether we’re believers or not, what the vast majority of us think about when we think about God is a divine version of ourselves.” But this projection is not without consequences. We bestow upon God not just all that is good in human nature—our compassion, our thirst for justice—but all that is bad in it: our greed, our bigotry, our penchant for violence. All these qualities inform our religions, cultures, and governments. More than just a history of our understanding of God, this book is an attempt to get to the root of this humanizing impulse in order to develop a more universal spirituality. Whether you believe in one God, many gods, or no god at all, God: A Human History will challenge the way you think about the divine and its role in our everyday lives. Praise for God “Timely, riveting, enlightening and necessary.”—HuffPost “Tantalizing . . . Driven by [Reza] Aslan’s grace and curiosity, God . . . helps us pan out from our troubled times, while asking us to consider a more expansive view of the divine in contemporary life.”—The Seattle Times “A fascinating exploration of the interaction of our humanity and God.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “[Aslan’s] slim, yet ambitious book [is] the story of how humans have created God with a capital G, and it’s thoroughly mind-blowing.”—Los Angeles Review of Books “Aslan is a born storyteller, and there is much to enjoy in this intelligent survey.”—San Francisco Chronicle

The Case for God

The Case for God PDF Author: Karen Armstrong
Publisher: Knopf Canada
ISBN: 0307372952
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
From the bestselling author of A History of God and The Great Transformation comes a balanced, nuanced understanding of the role religion plays in human life and the trajectory of faith in modern times. Why has God become incredible? Why is it that atheists and theists alike now think and speak about God in a way that veers so profoundly from the thinking of our ancestors? Moving from the Paleolithic Age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the lengths to which humankind has gone to experience a sacred reality that it called God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. She examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. With her trademark depth of knowledge and profound insight, Armstrong elucidates how the changing world has necessarily altered the importance of religion at both societal and individual levels. And she makes a powerful, convincing argument for structuring a faith that speaks to the needs of our dangerously polarized age.

A History of the Concept of God

A History of the Concept of God PDF Author: Daniel A. Dombrowski
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438459378
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
A history of the concept of God through the lens of process thought.

God

God PDF Author: Abby Eagle
Publisher: Abby Eagle
ISBN: 0980419131
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
In 1984 I took Sannyas with Osho, a contemporary mystic, and soon after was introduced to NLP and Hypnotherapy. Osho gave me a breadth and depth of knowledge about religion, and an experience of meditation that I would never have been able to find through normal channels. Most importantly, Osho taught me not to rely upon borrowed knowledge but to make your own existential inquiry into truth – to challenge everything for the ultimate Truth – and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Hypnosis gave me the tools to do just that. I have attempted to present to the reader a new way of understanding faith healing, placebo, mind-body healing, conscious mind, unconscious mind, ego, religion, spirituality, channelling, angels, god, devil, heaven, hell, near death experiences, spiritual experiences and enlightenment – from the framework of NLP, hypnosis, meditation and the science of flow states. The book was written over a period of eight years which gave me time to continually update the notes until it takes the form that you see it now. It explores the concept that we are the meaning maker – that we are the one who give meaning to events that occur in the world; we are the one who gives meaning to the experiences that we have, and to the experiences that others have – meaning is not inherent in the event – we create the meaning – we are the meaning maker. Sometimes that meaning serves us, sometimes it does not. Sometimes that meaning serves us but does not serve others. The book explores the process of giving prestige, of adulation and worship. Of how we may be too quick to create fiction and fantasy based upon ideas that we hold in mind. Of how we may be looking in the wrong direction to find God. However, this book is not a book about God – it is a book based upon my own existential experience. I wrote the book, in part because it maps out my own personal inquiry into truth – and because I want to help wake people up to themselves such that they might realise their true potential – whether you call that Self Realisation, Enlightenment or Self Actualisation. “The unconscious mind is like a silent partner, that is always present, knows your every thought and your every desire, has the power to affect both body and mind at the core of your being, and is always ready to help you, as long as you should just communicate in the right way. Hmm... sounds much like God.” Abby Eagle

The Battle for God

The Battle for God PDF Author: Karen Armstrong
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0006383483
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Book Description
One of the most potent forces bedevilling the modern world is religious fundamentalism. Armstrong explains how and why fundamentalists' understanding of religion and society differs so starkly from that of their contemporaries.

God

God PDF Author: John Bowker
Publisher: DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley)
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
A history of religion explores the ways in which various cultures and civilizations have viewed God, religion, and spirituality through the ages.

A History of the Bible

A History of the Bible PDF Author: John Barton
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143111205
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 642

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Book Description
A literary history of our most influential book of all time, by an Oxford scholar and Anglican priest In our culture, the Bible is monolithic: It is a collection of books that has been unchanged and unchallenged since the earliest days of the Christian church. The idea of the Bible as "Holy Scripture," a non-negotiable authority straight from God, has prevailed in Western society for some time. And while it provides a firm foundation for centuries of Christian teaching, it denies the depth, variety, and richness of this fascinating text. In A History of the Bible, John Barton argues that the Bible is not a prescription to a complete, fixed religious system, but rather a product of a long and intriguing process, which has inspired Judaism and Christianity, but still does not describe the whole of either religion. Barton shows how the Bible is indeed an important source of religious insight for Jews and Christians alike, yet argues that it must be read in its historical context--from its beginnings in myth and folklore to its many interpretations throughout the centuries. It is a book full of narratives, laws, proverbs, prophecies, poems, and letters, each with their own character and origin stories. Barton explains how and by whom these disparate pieces were written, how they were canonized (and which ones weren't), and how they were assembled, disseminated, and interpreted around the world--and, importantly, to what effect. Ultimately, A History of the Bible argues that a thorough understanding of the history and context of its writing encourages religious communities to move away from the Bible's literal wording--which is impossible to determine--and focus instead on the broader meanings of scripture.