Karen Armstrong Critique

10189496
Queen's University
RELS131
October 25 2015 A History of God Novel Critique Karen Armstrong's novel, A History of God, is a well known and prominent chronicle of how the Abrahamic traditions have developed over the past four thousand years. In this book, Armstrong addresses how the three most commonly practiced monotheistic religions; Islam, Judaism and Christianity, have been shaped and developed throughout history. Like many pieces of literature, this book has positive characteristics, as well as negative. However, as readers begin to process this book in a critical manner, several flaws become more pronounced. Despite its rich historical content, readers of this book are exposed to an inordinate amount of bias and opinion shaped
There are some sections in this novel that seem almost immature, and there are multiple instances where Armstrong has insulted an individual who holds a conflicting opinion or theory. An example of this can be found on page 305 where she says: "Newton had clearly no understanding of the role of mystery in the religious life," in reference to Isaac Newton, who had a more empirical approach to God. She regularly occupies this condescending tone, and it seems as though she believes her opinions are absolute facts and that they cannot be argued. In addition to her stance on Newton, she also criticizes Milton in regards to his epic Paradise Lost. She states that it is "difficult to respect his shoddy thinking" due to the fact that Milton's view of God was anthropomorphic. Using excerpts and phrases from other pieces of literature and then continuing to dismiss their ideologies is a common occurrence in A History of God. This makes it incredibly challenging to read due to the fact that she is continually contradicting her statement that there is no definite meaning of God, and that it is continually
The simplification of such complex concepts makes it easier for readers who have little to no prior religious understanding to comprehend the basic themes of this novel. For this reason, Armstrong's work has been highly popular among individuals who are seeking a deeper understanding of their faith, or other widespread religions. This aside, it is not a reliable academic text. An overwhelming amount of statements and claims made in this book are coloured by opinion, and are in fact, not of any legitimate substance. Any one reading this novel must interpret it with a grain of salt, and it should not be used to contribute to any scholarly studies. Armstrong plucks what she deems to be important from religious texts, and implements it into her writing, yet she misses crucial facts while doing so. For example, there are inadequate references to the Israelites Exodus from Egypt, considering the grave importance placed on this story in Judaism. This leads one to enquire what other facts may have been left out, or over emphasized. Academic texts are meant to be impartial, yet A History of God is at times warped to prove an opinion of