A few years ago, I read Armstrong's A History of God, which looks at the development of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity comparatively and historically. It was demanding, but ultimately very interesting.
Her journey from Catholic nun to a monotheistic believer in a much more generalized concept of "God" is a fascinating one. I love her inclusiveness and her move away from the "personal" God idea. Her views remind me of Joseph Campbell, who views Christianity as just one of the myths that man uses to get in touch with some primal force, to transcend. In fact, she defines religion as exactly that.
Religion is a search for transcendence. But transcendence isn't necessarily sited in an external god, which can be a very unspiritual, unreligious concept. The sages were all extremely concerned with transcendence, with going beyond the self and discovering a realm, a reality, that could not be defined in words. Buddhists talk about nirvana in very much the same terms as monotheists describe God. |
