The Case for God

Armstrong, Karen

3.85

9,024 ratings by Goodreads

ISBN 10: 0307702375 ISBN 13: 9780307702371

Publisher: Random House, 2009

Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that it called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable? Why is it that atheists and theists alike now think and speak about God in a way that veers so profoundly from the thinking of our ancestors?

Answering these questions with the same depth of knowledge and profound insight that have marked all her acclaimed books, Armstrong makes clear how the changing face of the world has necessarily changed the importance of religion at both the societal and the individual level. And she makes a powerful, convincing argument for drawing on the insights of the past in order to build a faith that speaks to the needs of our dangerously polarized age. Yet she cautions us that religion was never supposed to provide answers that lie within the competence of human reason; that, she says, is the role of logos. The task of religion is “to help us live creatively, peacefully, and even joyously with realities for which there are no easy explanations.” She emphasizes, too, that religion will not work automatically. It is, she says, a practical discipline: its insights are derived not from abstract speculation but from “dedicated intellectual endeavor” and a “compassionate lifestyle that enables us to break out of the prism of selfhood.”
From the Hardcover edition.

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Review:

"The time is ripe for a book like "The Case for God, " which wraps a rebuke to the more militant sort of atheism in an engaging survey of Western religious thought." --Ross Douthat, "The New York Times Book Review"
"Armstrong's argument is prescient, for it reflects the most important shifts occurring in the religious landscape." --Lisa Miller, "Newsweek"
"A thoughtful explanation, well-sourced and impressively rooted in the writings of theologians, philosophers, scholars and religious figures through the ages. . . . If Armstrong is out to bring respect to both reason and faith in the search of that transcendent meaning, she has done well." --Repps Hudson, "St. Louis Post-Dispatch"
""The Case for God "is Armstrong's most concise and practical-minded book yet: a historical survey of hwo rather than what we believe, where we lost the "knack" of religion and what we need to do to get it back." --Michael Brunton, "Ode"
"In over a dozen books [Armstrong] has delivered something people badly want: a way to acknowledge that faith can be taken seriously as a response to deep human yearnings without needing to subscribe to the formality of organized belief." --"The Economist"
""The Case for God" should be read slowly, and savored." --Karen R. Long, "Cleveland Plain Dealer"
"Armstrong's thesis is provocative, and her book illuminates a side of Christianity that has recently been overshadowed." --Margaret Quamme, "Columbus Dispatch"
"Armstrong is ambitious. "The Case for God "is an entire semester at college packed into a single book--a voluminous, dizzying intellectual history. . . . Reading "The Case for God, "I felt smarter. . . . A stimulating, hopeful work. After I finished it, I felt inspired, I stopped, and I looked up at the stars again. And I wondered what could be." --Susan Jane Gilman, NPR's "All Things Considered"
"Karen Armstrong's book is simply superb. Wide-ranging, detailed, well researched meticulously argued and beautifully written, it is a definitive analysis of the role of religious belief and transcendence in our history and our life." --Dr. Robert Buckman, author of "Can We Be Good without God?"
"Karen Armstrong, in writing "The Case for God, " provides the reader with one of the very best theological works of our time. It brings a new understanding to the complex relationship between human existence and the transcendent nature of God. This is a book that is so well researched and so deep with insight and soaring scholarship that only Karen Armstrong could have written it. The Case for God should be required reading for anyone who claims to be a believer, an agnostic or an atheist." --The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane, D.D., Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Washington, D.C.
"No one is better qualified or more needed than Karen Armstrong to enter the hot public debate between believers and non-believers over the existence of God. Her latest book, eagerly awaited and received, rings out with the qualities she brings to all of her work--"The Case for God "is lucid, learned, provocative, and illuminating. Indeed, Armstrong once again does what she always does best by shining a clear light on the deepest mysteries of the religious imagination." --Jonathan Kirsch, author of "The Harlot by the Side of the Road"
"Challenging, intelligent, and illuminating--especially for anyone reflecting on current discussions of atheism, often characterized as conflict between religion and science." --Elaine Pagels, co-author of "Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity"
"With characteristic command of subject and crispness, the prolific and redoubtable independent British scholar and former nun takes yet another run at the world's religious history. . . . She's conceptual, humanistic and exceedingly well-read. . . . [An] articulate and accessible sweep through intellectual history. The "unknowing" of the mystics has its virtues and its place, but being well-read and knowledgeable makes one powerful and persuasive book. --"Publishers Weekly "(starred review)
"Celebrated religion scholar Armstrong creates more than a history of religion; she effectively demonstrates how the West (broadly speaking) has grappled with the existence of deity and captured the concept in words, art and ideas. . . . A brilliant examination. . . . [An] accessible, intriguing study of how we see God." --"Kirkus Reviews "(starred review)
"The new book by premier contemporary historian of religion is a history of God. . . . Presenting difficult ideas with utter lucidity, this registers at once as a classic of religious and world history." --Ray Olson, "Booklist "(starred review)
"Armstrong offers a tour de force. . . . Highly recommended for readers willing to grapple with difficult but clearly articulated concepts and challenges to the 'received' ways of perceiving religion. A classic." --Carolyn M. Craft, "Library Journal"
" "
"One of our best living writers on religion. . . . Prodigiously sourced, passionately written." --John Cornwell, "Financial Times"
"Karen Armstrong is one of [a] handful of wise and supremely intelligent commentators on religion. . . . As in so much of the rest of her hugely impressive body of work, Karen Armstrong invites us on a journey through religion that helps us to rescue what remains wise from so much that to so many . . . no longer seems true." --Alain de Botton, "The Observer"

"The time is ripe for a book like The Case for God, which wraps a rebuke to the more militant sort of atheism in an engaging survey of Western religious thought." Ross Douthat, The New York Times Book Review
"Armstrong's argument is prescient, for it reflects the most important shifts occurring in the religious landscape." Lisa Miller, Newsweek
"A thoughtful explanation, well-sourced and impressively rooted in the writings of theologians, philosophers, scholars and religious figures through the ages. . . . If Armstrong is out to bring respect to both reason and faith in the search of that transcendent meaning, she has done well." Repps Hudson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"The Case for God is Armstrong's most concise and practical-minded book yet: a historical survey of hwo rather than what we believe, where we lost the "knack" of religion and what we need to do to get it back." Michael Brunton, Ode
"In over a dozen books [Armstrong] has delivered something people badly want: a way to acknowledge that faith can be taken seriously as a response to deep human yearnings without needing to subscribe to the formality of organized belief." The Economist
"The Case for God should be read slowly, and savored." Karen R. Long, Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Armstrong's thesis is provocative, and her book illuminates a side of Christianity that has recently been overshadowed." Margaret Quamme, Columbus Dispatch
"Armstrong is ambitious. The Case for God is an entire semester at college packed into a single book a voluminous, dizzying intellectual history. . . . Reading The Case for God, I felt smarter. . . . A stimulating, hopeful work. After I finished it, I felt inspired, I stopped, and I looked up at the stars again. And I wondered what could be." Susan Jane Gilman, NPR's "All Things Considered"
"Karen Armstrong's book is simply superb. Wide-ranging, detailed, well researched meticulously argued and beautifully written, it is a definitive analysis of the role of religious belief and transcendence in our history and our life." Dr. Robert Buckman, author of Can We Be Good without God?
"Karen Armstrong, in writing The Case for God, provides the reader with one of the very best theological works of our time. It brings a new understanding to the complex relationship between human existence and the transcendent nature of God. This is a book that is so well researched and so deep with insight and soaring scholarship that only Karen Armstrong could have written it. The Case for God should be required reading for anyone who claims to be a believer, an agnostic or an atheist." The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane, D.D., Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Washington, D.C.
"No one is better qualified or more needed than Karen Armstrong to enter the hot public debate between believers and non-believers over the existence of God. Her latest book, eagerly awaited and received, rings out with the qualities she brings to all of her work The Case for God is lucid, learned, provocative, and illuminating. Indeed, Armstrong once again does what she always does best by shining a clear light on the deepest mysteries of the religious imagination." Jonathan Kirsch, author of The Harlot by the Side of the Road
"Challenging, intelligent, and illuminating especially for anyone reflecting on current discussions of atheism, often characterized as conflict between religion and science." Elaine Pagels, co-author of Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity
"With characteristic command of subject and crispness, the prolific and redoubtable independent British scholar and former nun takes yet another run at the world's religious history. . . . She's conceptual, humanistic and exceedingly well-read. . . . [An] articulate and accessible sweep through intellectual history. The "unknowing" of the mystics has its virtues and its place, but being well-read and knowledgeable makes one powerful and persuasive book. Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Celebrated religion scholar Armstrong creates more than a history of religion; she effectively demonstrates how the West (broadly speaking) has grappled with the existence of deity and captured the concept in words, art and ideas. . . . A brilliant examination. . . . [An] accessible, intriguing study of how we see God." Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"The new book by premier contemporary historian of religion is a history of God. . . . Presenting difficult ideas with utter lucidity, this registers at once as a classic of religious and world history." Ray Olson, Booklist (starred review)
"Armstrong offers a tour de force. . . . Highly recommended for readers willing to grapple with difficult but clearly articulated concepts and challenges to the 'received' ways of perceiving religion. A classic." Carolyn M. Craft, Library Journal

"One of our best living writers on religion. . . . Prodigiously sourced, passionately written." John Cornwell, Financial Times
"Karen Armstrong is one of [a] handful of wise and supremely intelligent commentators on religion. . . . As in so much of the rest of her hugely impressive body of work, Karen Armstrong invites us on a journey through religion that helps us to rescue what remains wise from so much that to so many . . . no longer seems true." Alain de Botton, The Observer