The Battle For God: Summary and book reviews of The Battle For God by Karen Armstrong, plus links to an excerpt from The Battle For God and a biography of Karen Armstrong.

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.

Media Reviews

San Francisco Chronicle Armstong succeeds--brilliantly--in placing fundamentalist movements in a historical context, showing how each is both a product of its times and typical of recurring trends...With her astonishing depth of knowledge and readily accessible writing style, makes an ideal guide in traversing a subject that is by its very nature complex, sensitive and frequently ambiguous. Her unwavering respect for the great faiths and their followers balances nicely with her apparent disdain for extremism in all its forms.   New York Times Book Review Hers is one of the most penetrating, readable and prescient accounts to date of the rise of the fundamentalist movements in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.   Boston Globe A useful and rewarding book.   Baltimore Sun Excellent...This is a book that will prove indispensable, not only for the student of comparative religion, but also for anyone who seeks insight into how these powerful movement affect global politics and society today and into the future...Highly intelligent and highly readable book.   Kirkus Reviews Former nun Armstrong has done it again. As in her justly acclaimed A History of God (1993), she has written a well-researched, highly informative, accessible, and otherwise superb study of the three great Western monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam)....[It] is so well written that it is must reading for anyone with a serious interest in contemporary religion.   Booklist Provocative...Combining synoptic and interpretive historical manners, Armstong, author of the widely read and well-received History of God, produces another splendid book.   Publishers Weekly Armstrong is a masterful writer, whose rich knowledge of all three Western traditions informs the entire book, allowing fresh insights and comparisons. Michael Wolfe, author of The Hadj and One Thousand Roads to Mecca Karen Armstrong takes the bull by the horns in this richly detailed study of Fundamentalism's many faces through the ages. Part One reveals the roots; Part Two explores the process by which Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have each occasionally devolved from creative faith to destructive fanaticism. The book is a timely reminder that religious ideologies and secular advocates of the nation state, having helped create each other, must moderate their conflicts or pay the price -- in violence at the expense of spirit. Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People and How Good Do We Have to Be? An impressive achievement. Armstrong has mastered a mountain of material, added some brilliant insights of her own, and made it accessible to the general reader.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by rachel
Armstrong brilliantly documents the rise of fundamentalism in Christianity, Islam, and Judiasm with clear and objective prose. I had fallen for the widely-held belief that fundamentalism was a throw-back to earlier belief systems. She refutes...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Ethan "Strange"
Karen Armstrong's work is brilliant. In this work, she avoids many biased statements that would have been tempting for anyone with any beliefs at all. After some consideration, I found that most of the areas in which I felt she strayed from the...   Read More

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