Superb kaleidoscopic history of religion, from an English nun- turned-scholar. Armstrong (Holy War, 1991, etc.) was a nun in the early 1960's but left her convent in 1969 as part of the great wave that defected from religious life at that time. Although her faith grew progressively weaker, her fascination with religion didn't abate, and, even as a nonbeliever, she continues to pursue theological studies. Here, her basic message is that ``religion is highly pragmatic. We shall see that it is far more important for a particular idea of God to work than for it to be logically or scientifically sound.'' In an extraordinary survey, Armstrong traces the development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from their inception to the present day, and shows how they were created and shaped by their historical surroundings—which, in turn, they helped form and alter. Although this approach is standard among religious scholars, Armstrong uses it to particular advantage in underscoring the historical correspondences among the three faiths- -for example, examining the messianic fervor that surrounded the career of the Sabbatai Zevi (the 12th-century rabbi who built up an enormous apocalyptic cult among diaspora Jews prior to his imprisonment and conversion to Islam) in light of the early Christian response to the crucifixion of Jesus or of Jeremiah's prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem. It's particularly in the mystical traditions, according to Armstrong, that the different faiths corroborate each other—in large part, she says, because the mystical apprehension of the divine is more abstract and therefore less dependent upon the traditional symbols by which most religions distinguish themselves. There are major gaps in Armstrong's history—she pays little attention to the Christian churches of the 20th century—but she manages against the odds to provide an account that's thorough, intelligent, and highly readable. Magisterial and brilliant.
Pub Date: Oct. 6, 1993
ISBN: 0-679-42600-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1993
An accessible, light-pedaling survey.
A generally historical, fun look at life during the time of Jesus.
Scholars, Korb (co-author: The Faith Between Us: A Jew and a Catholic Search for the Meaning of God, 2007) fairly notes, have differing theories about first-century Palestine, and he keeps the simmering debates and minutiae within long-winded footnotes. Well-versed in biblical studies—he spouts Josephus and Garry Wills with equal fluency—the author features folksy translations from the Gospels in koine Greek, a kind of “lowest common denominator” of the time that was nothing like Homer’s language but allowed the illiterate peasants to communicate in the agora. The Jewish revolt would gear up by 66 CE, but between Jesus’ birth and mid-first-century CE, when nationalist groups began to agitate against the Roman authorities, life was pretty quiet in Palestine. Korb notes that inhabitants of Palestine were God-fearing Jews and that the tight, humming economy kept tiny villages like Nazareth oriented toward the Roman capital—yet the coins they used were aniconic, or without graven images. The people were observant of Sabbath and religious practices and kept kosher, and most were illiterate. Families valued boys over girls, who were a burden if unmarried; marriages were arranged, and divorces were tolerated. People used ritual baths for purification as part of their godliness, although after 70 CE, with the destruction of the Second Temple, no more baths were built in Palestine. Another intriguing tidbit: Leprosy as we now know it, in its bacterial form, has never been discovered in human bones in Palestine, thus it was probably a catchall in the biblical era for psoriasis or eczema. As for miracles, Korb skirts the issue altogether (“I find the ground rather shaky myself”).
An accessible, light-pedaling survey.Pub Date: March 18, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59448-899-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2010
GENERAL HISTORY | ANCIENT | WORLD | HISTORY
BOOK REVIEW
Bestselling historian and novelist Fleming (Remember the Morning, p. 1049) offers a solid popular history of America's era of unrest, revolution, and constitutional government (176389) in this lavishly illustrated companion volume to a three-part PBS series airing in November. How to make a familiar story into something new? Fleming starts from an old but often forgotten historical perspective—the idea that individuals matter—by personifying English folly and American resistance in two men named George. In contrast to histories centered more on American responses, Fleming stresses the role of the young King George III, who alienated able ministers such as William Pitt, sought out toadies to head his government, and rammed confiscatory tax (and increasingly anti-American) policies through an unrepresentative, corrupt Parliament. In contrast, the drive for American liberty was spearheaded by the incorruptible George Washington, who accepted civilian control of the military (despite his constant complaints about Congress) and continually renounced opportunities to become a Cromwellian dictator. Although Fleming includes an affectionate portrait of Benjamin Franklin, he concentrates his account on military events, with gripping details on key battles (e.g., when falling sleet ruined much of his men's gunpowder just before the battle of Trenton, Washington gave the order to use the bayonet). Numerous sidebars highlight such matters as daily life in the late colonial period (only 200 out of 3,500 practicing doctors in America on the eve of revolution had medical degrees), the evolution of ``Yankee Doodle,'' the war's high casualty rate, and the long-neglected role of such racial/ethnic groups as the Irish, Jews, and blacks (a group that by 1779 comprised almost 15 percent of America's army). The book's one irony, given its title, is that Fleming devotes little attention to the differing conceptions of liberty throughout the colonies. Lacking in analytical depth, but packed with narrative insight into personalities and often delicious minutiae. (300 color illustrations) (Book-of-the-Month Club main selection; History Book Club selection)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-670-87021-8
Page Count: 394
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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