The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions

Very interesting historical review of world religions from 1200 BCE to 0...

Not one of her better works

I liked this book. It has all the information you would ever need about the beginnings of what we have termed religions. It never ceases to amaze me how, after all I have read on world religions, that they all seem related. How did this happen when people were so scattered over the planet....( a good example would be the story of Isis ( not Mary ) and how she would have been the first to...more

I liked this book. It has all the information you would ever need about the beginnings of what we have termed religions. It never ceases to amaze me how, after all I have read on world religions, that they all seem related. How did this happen when people were so scattered over the planet....( a good example would be the story of Isis ( not Mary ) and how she would have been the first to imaculately conceive. Something to think about.   hide

I'm still reading it, but it is taking a while. So far, so good.

‘The Great Transformation’ has cast of thousands with Mohists, Deuteronomists, Sophists, Jainists, Daoists, Zoroastrians etc, etc. You can’t want for variety or vision in this book – it jumps from Palestine to Persia to India to China to the Peloponnesus and back again with nary an intake of breath. However, I think that is probably its biggest problem. Karen...more

‘The Great Transformation’ has cast of thousands with Mohists, Deuteronomists, Sophists, Jainists, Daoists, Zoroastrians etc, etc. You can’t want for variety or vision in this book – it jumps from Palestine to Persia to India to China to the Peloponnesus and back again with nary an intake of breath. However, I think that is probably its biggest problem. Karen Armstrong is a much better writer when she is focused on an individual like Buddha or Moses (or herself). That goes even her ‘History of God’ was about, well, God. This book teaches you a little about a lot – and leaves you with a dry taste. However if you know absolutely nothing about the Axial Age it is a good place to start. Warning – she does treat as historical lots of events for which the only record is a religious text e.g. the Old Testament.   hide

Excellent synopsis of human philosophy and religion. Karen Armstrong delves down deep into a great many approaches to life and shows what makes them tick. More importantly the author highlights the great many similarities between the different world religions. A great read, although for some it may contain too much detail. If you find yourself getting bored halfway through and are going to...more

Excellent synopsis of human philosophy and religion. Karen Armstrong delves down deep into a great many approaches to life and shows what makes them tick. More importantly the author highlights the great many similarities between the different world religions. A great read, although for some it may contain too much detail. If you find yourself getting bored halfway through and are going to abandon; at least read the last chapter. Along with the first chapter, these offer the most inspiration on how to approach the world   hide

Big, deep, and packed with lots of information. A worthy resource for anyone curious about the topic. She does not treat events as historical, but rather explains events from the perception of those living them. When she describes Greek gods and goddesses, for example, she describes them using their point of view and infers that those gods exist. That is simply her style, not an indictment of...more

Big, deep, and packed with lots of information. A worthy resource for anyone curious about the topic. She does not treat events as historical, but rather explains events from the perception of those living them. When she describes Greek gods and goddesses, for example, she describes them using their point of view and infers that those gods exist. That is simply her style, not an indictment of fact or truth. The historical record is external, essentially. It's more about giving a broad picture of how these religious beliefs came to pass and what they meant to the people that practiced them. It's not a polemic charged with dissecting the beliefs of the ancients. Quality stuff, all around.   hide

Decent history of the various early civilizations as it relates to worship practices. WAY too much detail, without really having a point to the book. Many writers (Karen Armstrong included) make religion seem ridiculous in the process of explaining how it evolved over time.

There are so many parallels among our faiths and Armstrong wraps her arms around the big ideas and ties it all together. If you have ever wondered how it weaves together this is a great primer.