The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong
The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong
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The Battle for God
A History of Fundamentalism

Author: Karen Armstrong

Narrator: Lisa Armytage, Karen Armstrong

Unabridged: 22 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/24/2020


Synopsis

In the late twentieth century, fundamentalism has emerged as one of the most powerful forces at work in the world, contesting the dominance of modern secular values and threatening peace and harmony around the globe. Yet it remains incomprehensible to a large number of people. In The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong brilliantly and sympathetically shows us how and why fundamentalist groups came into existence and what they yearn to accomplish.

We see the West in the sixteenth century beginning to create an entirely new kind of civilization, which brought in its wake change in every aspect of life -- often painful and violent, even if liberating. Armstrong argues that one of the things that changed most was religion. People could no longer think about or experience the divine in the same way; they had to develop new forms of faith to fit their new circumstances.

Armstrong characterizes fundamentalism as one of these new ways of being religious that have emerged in every major faith tradition. Focusing on Protestant fundamentalism in the United States, Jewish fundamentalism in Israel, and Muslim fundamentalism in Egypt and Iran, she examines the ways in which these movements, while not monolithic, have each sprung from a dread of modernity -- often in response to assault (sometimes unwitting, sometimes intentional) by the mainstream society.

Armstrong sees fundamentalist groups as complex, innovative, and modern -- rather than as throwbacks to the past -- but contends that they have failed in religious terms. Maintaining that fundamentalism often exists in symbiotic relationship with an aggressive modernity, each impelling the other on to greater excess, she suggests compassion as a way to defuse what is now an intensifying conflict.

About The Author

Karen Armstrong is one of the foremost commentators on religious affairs in both Britain and the United States. She spent seven years as a Roman Catholic nun, took a degree at Oxford University, teaches at Leo Baeck College for the Study of Judaism, and received the 1999 Muslim Public Affairs Council Media Award. Her previous books include the best-selling A History of God: The  4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths; and In the Beginning: A New Interpretation of Genesis.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Joseph on September 09, 2007

Great information, but watch out for Armstrong's premise If I could, I would give Armstrong's book 3½ stars because it *is* an excellent source of information dealing with fundamentalist-like religious sects from Columbus' time and on. Armstrong writes eloquently and her material is well-organized an......more

Goodreads review by Mira on March 09, 2017

highly recommended......more

Goodreads review by Clif on November 01, 2013

Are you confused by all the religious groups in the news? Fundamentalists, Pentecostals, Haredim, Shii, Sunni, Lubavitcher, Satmar, Wahhabis, the Muslim Brotherhood? Are you also confused by the demands of religious fundamentalists? They rant and rave and call for destruction of what seems to many Am......more

Goodreads review by Matt on September 11, 2011

In the Battle for God, Armstrong tries to chronicle the evolution of fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The scope of the book was impressive, and I feel like I know a lot more about how religious sects evolve from a sociological/historical perspective. However, I had a lot of proble......more

Goodreads review by Eric_W on April 11, 2009

Made a couple of minor changes: Rarely does one come across a book that is recognized as erudite, essential, and readable simultaneously. The author of The History of God has brilliantly analyzed the rise of fundamentalism as a reaction to the emphasis on logos of the Enlightenment as opposed to myt......more


Quotes

"One of the most penetrating, readable, and prescient accounts to date of the rise of the fundamentalist movements in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam."
--The New York Times Book Review

"EXCELLENT . . . HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND HIGHLY READABLE . . . This is a book that will prove indispensable . . . for anyone who seeks insight into how these powerful movements affect global politics and society today and into the future."
--The Baltimore Sun

"ARMSTRONG SUCCEEDS BRILLIANTLY . . . With her astonishing depth of knowledge and readily accessible writing style, [she] makes an ideal guide in traversing a subject that is by its very nature complex, sensitive and frequently ambiguous."
--The San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle

"A USEFUL AND REWARDING BOOK."
--The Boston Globe