The Lost Art of Scripture
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- €6.99
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- €6.99
Publisher Description
'An amazingly wide-ranging book, showing that the world's religious texts can be a force for good today' John Barton, author of A History of the Bible
In our increasingly secular world, holy texts are at best seen as irrelevant, and at worst as an excuse to incite violence, hatred and division. The Quran, the Torah and the Bible are often employed selectively to underwrite arbitrary and subjective views. They are believed to be divinely ordained; they are claimed to contain eternal truths.
But as Karen Armstrong, a world authority on religious affairs, shows in this fascinating journey through millennia of history, this narrow reading of scripture is a relatively recent phenomenon. Armstrong argues that only by rediscovering an open engagement with their holy texts will the world’s religions be able to curtail arrogance and intolerance. And if scripture is used to engage with the world in more meaningful and compassionate ways, we will find that it still has a great deal to teach us.
‘Magisterial… A dazzling accomplishment’ New York Times
‘Glorious… Armstrong is the most articulate and generous-hearted exegete of religion writing in English at the present time’ A.N. Wilson, New Statesman
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Religious historian Armstrong (A History of God) examines the world's major religions to make her case that modern humanity has lost track of what scripture meant in the past and, in the process, departed from the compassionate heart of those faiths in her most profound, important book to date. She notes that scriptural narratives had never claimed to be accurate factual accounts; therefore, dismissing them as having no value because they don't conform to "modern scientific and historical norms" is a mistake. Armstrong traces the development of scriptural canons in India and China, as well as in the monotheistic faith traditions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, and how religions grappled with social inequity, which she views as inevitable in preindustrial economies and inexcusable now. Along the way, she shows how "in all cultures, scripture was essentially a work in progress, constantly changing to meet new conditions," a rebuttal to contemporary rigid literalist readings. Both nonbelievers and believers will find her diagnosis that most people now read scripture to confirm their own views, rather than to achieve transformation on the mark. "It is essential for human survival that we find a way to rediscover the sacrality of each human being and resacralise our world." This is an instant classic of accessible and relevant religious history.
