Well, boning up on history. And I'll drop the silly, "boning" references. They make me smile because I'm thinking of an irrelevant episode of The Simpsons.

That aside, I'm reading a book I just found this weekend, which I'm sure I'll bludgeon the forum with from time to time. However, rather than pulling quotes from the first few days of reading this, as I did with Burton's Lucifer, I thought I'd just mention it in case anyone else is familiar.

The book is by Karen Armstrong (whose name, coincidentally, I recall seeing in Burton's footnotes.) It's called A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Knopf, 1993).

Namely, if anyone's read it, I'd love some commentary.

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:

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The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur eggs was a joke the paleontologists haven't seen yet. (Good Omens, Gaiman & Pratchett)

I have the book and I think it is very much in your style, I think you will enjoy it, although I found it a bit ambiguous in places. I have already quoted/paraphrased a little bit from it in this forum (as my alias Wizard). Specifically stories from the holocaust, page 430.

I have also seen Karen in live debate and I have her on video as well.

Have fun.


[This message has been edited by Cris (edited April 03, 2000).]

Cris--

Thank you ... I'm impressed with what little I've read so far (less than the first chapter). If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you about something that appears early in that first chapter: Some have actually claimed that [God] has died .... They speak of a "God-shaped hole" in their consciousness where he used to be, because, irrelevant though he may seem in certain quarters, he has played a crucial role in our history and has been one of the greatest human ideas of all time. To understand what we are losing--if, that is, he really is disappearing--we need to see what people were doing when they began to worship this God ....

* Did you find the theme of loss apparent throughout? I ask because, though some find such notions true, I still find it one Hell of a notion to publish, especially in a tome such as this.

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:

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The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur eggs was a joke the paleontologists haven't seen yet. (Good Omens, Gaiman & Pratchett)

It has been some six years since I read this, but no, I don’t recall such a theme as being particularly pervasive. She touches on a wide variety of topics with extensive historical support and I remember her views and approach being refreshingly different from the mainstream. I also felt she was quite impartial in the way she would discuss both sides of the issues.

I don’t recognize the ‘God-shaped hole’ in myself and am wondering if that is something she feels from being a Catholic nun for seven years.

Thanks much ... In a way, the God-shaped hole might be inherent to leaving such an Order. Even the mundane events of daily life are, allegedly, wholly centered on God while within the Order.

But I had thought her early mention of loss was quite striking, so I had been wondering if it became a theme. Again, I thank you for your comments.

peace,
Tiassa :cool:

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The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur eggs was a joke the paleontologists haven't seen yet. (Good Omens, Gaiman & Pratchett)

Tiassa,

Another book that you might find interesting in your boning spree is -
" God: A Biography" Vols 1+2
Jack Miles / Paperback / Random House, Incorporated / March 1996

This is one of the books that gave my faith a major wobble. The authors approach is from a literary/historical angle.

Take care

Stretch--

That is a mighty big bone to tackle. But I actually put that title onto a reading list; of the many I've made up over the years, this one list seems to be the only one I've followed. Thank you, kindly.

thx,
Tiassa :cool:

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The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur eggs was a joke the paleontologists haven't seen yet. (Good Omens, Gaiman & Pratchett)