Seems like she has made up her mind in regards to Islam at least...
Reading the Book: Karen Armstrong - The Bible
by mentallyfree31 16 Replies latest jw friends
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Violia
I read " the Battle for God" by Karen Armstrong. She explained the development of religions and it was one of the sources that helped remove the mystery around the Bible for me. I recall her disscussion of how the secular jew developved , one lone person who was an outcast from his commuunity b/ c of this. It is never easy to break away from the pack. It was not an extremely easy read for me, but it was worth it.
I will look that up, the charter for compassion. I really do believe in the Golden Rule and karma, to me one in the same.
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I quit!
Islam is a religion of success. Unlike Christianity, which has as its main image, in the west at least, a man dying in a devastating, disgraceful, helpless death.
I haven't read her so I'm not in a position to say to much about her opinions but the above statement makes me wonder if she really has any clue about Christianity. Chistianity doesn't end with Jesus's death on the cross that is near the begining of the story. She is either being very biased or she is ignorant of what Christians believe. I would think in this day and age where we have movies like Star Wars where Obi-Wan Kenobi is killed and comes back stronger than before and Lord of the Rings books/ movies where Gandalf dies and comes back as Gandalf the White she would at least see the parallel and get the point. I'm not saying she has to believe it but she should at least understand it if she is going to speak or write about it. I would think that someone who writes on Christianity and other religions would have some awareness of the resurection stories that predate Christianity and that the point of a resurection story isn't about the death but the triumph over death by resurection.
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wobble
Dear I Quit,
please do Karen the courtesy of reading her books, she is very well aware of Christian doctrine from its start until today.
I do not get the impression that she believes in a personal God, most people who have researched Theology and religions as well has she has ,do not.
I think she believes in something closer to the Jewish concept of En Sof (Hebrew- "without end") which interests me.
Her books are so so informative and educational that they should be a "must read" for all, especially XJW's !
(p.s I do not think she wrote the " Jesus Hoax" ? her biographic memoir "The Spiral Staircase" is a good read, it is her journey from "faith" to compassion.)
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lovelylil2
I own and have read her book the history of God and I really enjoyed it. I agree with wobble karen does not believe in a personal God like Christians do but I don't feel she is against any religion as long as it is beneficial to people and not used to abuse or dominate others. Which in fact is what most religion today is used for.
I agree with her thoughts on Islam, many Christians today misunderstand this religion. Anyway, her books are very interesting. Peace, Lilly
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mentallyfree31
Thanks for the other suggestions from Karen Armstrong. I will try to check out some of them also in the future.