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The Battle for God
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 200.9
EAN: 9780345391698
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0345391691
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 480
Publication Date: January 30, 2001
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: January 30, 2001
Studio: Ballantine Books
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Editorial Review:
About 40 years ago popular opinion assumed that religion would become a weaker force and people would certainly become less zealous as the world became more modern and morals more relaxed. But the opposite has proven true, according to theologian and author Karen Armstrong (A History of God), who documents how fundamentalism has taken root and grown in many of the world's major religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Even Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism have developed fundamentalist factions. Reacting to a technologically driven world with liberal Western values, fundamentalists have not only increased in numbers, they have become more desperate, claims Armstrong, who points to the Oklahoma City bombing, violent anti-abortion crusades, and the assassination of President Yitzak Rabin as evidence of dangerous extremes.
Yet she also acknowledges the irony of how fundamentalism and Western materialism seem to urge each other on to greater excesses. To "prevent an escalation of the conflict, we must try and understand the pain and perception of the other side," she pleads. With her gift for clear, engaging writing and her integrity as a thorough researcher, Armstrong delivers a powerful discussion of a globally heated issue. Part history lesson, part wake-up call, and mostly a plea for healing, Armstrong's writing continues to offer a religious mirror and a cultural vision. --Gail Hudson
In our supposedly secular age governed by reason and technology, fundamentalism has emerged as an overwhelming force in every major world religion. Why? This is the fascinating, disturbing question that bestselling author Karen Armstrong addresses in her brilliant new book The Battle for God. Writing with the broad perspective and deep understanding of human spirituality that won huge audiences for A History of God, Armstrong illuminates the spread of militant piety as a phenomenon peculiar to our moment in history.Contrary to popular belief, fundamentalism is not a throwback to some ancient form of religion but rather a response to the spiritual crisis of the modern world. As Armstrong argues, the collapse of a piety rooted in myth and cult during the Renaissance forced people of faith to grasp for new ways of being religious--and fundamentalism was born. Armstrong focuses here on three fundamentalist movements: Protestant fundamentalism in America, Jewish fundamentalism in Israel, and Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt and Iran--exploring how each has developed its own unique way of combating the assaults of modernity.Blending history, sociology, and spirituality, The Battle for God is a compelling and compassionate study of a radical form of religious expression that is critically shaping the course of world history.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Outstanding, Lucid, most helpful
This is the Go-To text on Fundamentalism in religions. Very insightful, very well written, very understandable. Characteristic performance by a good author.
Rating:  - Decent history but painted over with a progressive ideology.
First and foremost, in `The Battle for God', Karen Armstrong demonstrates her knowledge of religious history by chronicling the manner in which religious adherents of the three monotheisms have struggled to preserve their faith against growing challenges presented to them since the Enlightenment. In doing so, she offers an explanation on how the modern Fundamentalist movement has come into existence, and why at the turn of the 21st Century it poses such a severe threat to the values of modern culture. ... Read More
Rating: - a mixed bag- better re distant past
Pretty good in the first half, since it gives a lot of information about premodern religions (and also, of course, because I'm not knowledgeable enough to spot whatever factual errors there are). She doesn't tie it all together in one neat theoretical pile; but her discussion is interesting enough to camouflage that.
Her distinction between mythos (narratives which are of moral value regardless of their factual accuracy) and logos (pure reason) makes sense to me, even though I question her ... Read More
Rating: - A manual on the rise of fundamentalism for the religious and irreligious alike
A carefully crafted history of fundamentalism from a erudite, deep thinker. Enlightening in view of present global tensions especially.
Norman Gage Western Australia
Rating: - The Battle for God
I found the book somewhat difficult to stick with. It sort of drug on for me.
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