The lost art of Scripture : rescuing the sacred texts / Karen Armstrong.
Material type: TextPublisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2019Copyright date: ©2019Edition: First editionDescription: 605 pages ; 25 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780451494863
- 0451494865
- Rescuing the sacred texts
- 208/.2 23
- BL71 .A76 2019
Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Bedford Public Library Non-Fiction | Non-Fiction | 208.2 ARM | Available | 32500001787325 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Today the Quran is used by some to justify war and acts of terrorism, the Torah to deny Palestinians the right to live in the Land of Israel, and the Bible to condemn homosexuality and contraception. The significance of scripture may not be immediately obvious in our secular world, but its misunderstanding is perhaps the root cause of many of today's controversies.
In this timely and important book, one of the most trusted and admired writers on the world of faith examines the meaning of scripture. The sacred texts have been coopted by fundamentalists, who insist that they must be taken literally, and by others who interpret scripture to bolster their own prejudices. These texts are seen to prescribe ethical norms and codes of behavior that are divinely ordained: they are believed to contain eternal truths. But as Karen Armstrong shows in this chronicle of the development and significance of major religions, such a narrow, peculiar reading of scripture is a relatively recent, modern phenomenon. For most of their history, the world's religious traditions have regarded these texts as tools that enable the individual to connect with the divine, to experience a different level of consciousness, and to help them engage with the world in more meaningful and compassionate ways.
At a time of intolerance and mutual incomprehension, The Lost Art of Scripture shines fresh light on the world's major religions to help us build bridges between faiths and rediscover a creative and spiritual engagement with holy texts.
"A Borzoi book."
Includes bibliographical references (pages [511]-578) and index.
Part one: Cosmos and society. Israel: remembering in order to belong -- India: sound and silence -- China: the primacy of ritual -- Part two: Mythos. New story; new self -- Empathy -- Unknowing -- Canon -- Midrash -- Embodiment -- Recitation and intentio -- Ineffability -- Part three: Logos. Sola scriptura -- Sola ratio -- Post-scripture.
"Today the Quran is used by some to justify war and acts of terrorism, the Torah to deny Palestinians the right to live in the Land of Israel, and the Bible to condemn homosexuality and contraception. The significance of Scripture--the holy texts at the centre of all religious traditions--may not be immediately obvious in our secular world but its misunderstanding is perhaps the root cause of most of today's controversies over religion. In this timely and important book, one of the world's leading commentators on religious affairs examines the meaning of Scripture. Today holy texts are not only used selectively to underwrite sometimes arbitrary and subjective views: they are seen to prescribe ethical norms and codes of behaviour that are divinely ordained--they are believed to contain eternal truths. But as Karen Armstrong shows in this fascinating trawl through millennia of religious history, this peculiar reading of Scripture is a relatively recent, modern phenomenon--and in many ways, a reaction to a hostile secular world. For most of their history, the world's religious traditions have regarded these texts as tools for the individual to connect with the divine, to transcend their physical existence, and to experience a higher level of consciousness that helped them to engage with the world in more meaningful and compassionate ways. Scripture was not a 'truth' that had to be 'believed.' Armstrong argues that only if the world's religious faiths rediscover such an open and spiritual engagement with their holy texts can they curtail the arrogance, intolerance and violence that flows from a narrow reading of Scripture as truth."-- Provided by publisher.
Excerpt provided by Syndetics
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
Highly regarded and sometimes embattled for her studies on religion (e.g., The Case for God), Armstrong examines the meaning of sacred texts in a world where the Quran has been used to justify terrorism, the Torah to deny Palestinians the right to live in Israel, and the Bible to condemn homosexuality. She argues that narrow reading of sacred texts to bolster certain beliefs is a recent phenomenon missing what the texts were meant for: a way to connect with the divine. With a 75,000-copy first printing.Publishers Weekly Review
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. (Nov.)CHOICE Review
Scripture is an art form designed to achieve the moral and spiritual transformation of the individual and society; if it does not inspire ethical or altruistic behavior it remains incomplete. Today this art form is getting lost. This is Armstrong's thesis. In contrast to modern pundits who disdain and frequently distort religion, Armstrong (currently an ambassador to the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations) brings enormous erudition and an impressively broad perspective in taking religion seriously and on its own terms. She points out that scriptures have been events performed, memorized, recited, ritualized, pondered, required, forbidden, resurrected, buried, left unsaid, bowdlerized, canonized, elaborated on, surrounded by sacred meals, or read in solitude. Scriptures have transformed, repeated, looked within, searched outside, and demanded justice, balance, action, inaction, silence, and proclamation. To remember the scriptures has often meant to belong to one's own community while honoring the stranger, even protecting the enemy. In recent times scriptures have been rejected, taken literally, weaponized, and evangelized and have been intolerant and ecumenical. The reality of scriptures reaches beyond the intellect. It is the product of the right brain even when studied with the left brain. Armstrong discusses all of this, covering millennia of universal history in a refreshingly readable, persuasive form. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. --Daniel A. Brown, emeritus, California State University, FullertonBooklist Review
Armstrong, one of the premier authors on religion, here takes on sacred texts their evolution, their necessity, and how they are used and misused in today's turbulent world. She begins, rather unexpectedly, with a discussion of left- and right-brain functions, reminding us that the former deals with the pragmatic and empirical, while the latter addresses the elements of transcendence the arts, nature, love, and religion. How these two neurological differences have affected humanity's perceptions of reality and the development of sacred texts informs the book throughout. Never one to play small ball, Armstrong then offers readers a penetrating look at scriptures from major world religions as well as smaller religious groups like the Jains. Interlaced with the scriptures' stories are reflections on how they helped and hindered their adherents and the overlapping effects they had on each other and the world Though she writes with panache, the book is, at times, more academic than some readers will want. But there are always surprising bits of history and flashes of insight, and a formidable postscript discusses scripture's ultimate purpose and how it's often twisted to fit today's sensibilities.--Ilene Cooper Copyright 2019 BooklistKirkus Book Review
The forgotten value and purpose of sacred scripture.In her latest, esteemed religion writer Armstrong (Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence, 2014, etc.), an ambassador for the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations, once again demonstrates her encyclopedic knowledge of the world's religions. Here, she argues that modernityand its tendency toward rationalism, literalism, and left-brain thinkinghas robbed religions worldwide of the mystical and elastic power of scripture. The author champions "the forward-thrusting dynamic of scripture, which has no qualms about abandoning the original' vision but ransacks the past to find meaning in the present." Throughout most of history, Armstrong shows, scripture did just that. It changed over time and in so doing helped adherents cope with changing times. In recent centuries, this quality has been altered, and "scripture, an art form originally to be interpreted imaginatively, had now to be as rational as science if it was to be taken seriously." Armstrong argues that the trend of many movements to return to the source of the faith traditions behind their scriptures led believers to look backward when they most needed to look ahead. This mistaken view of scripture was further compounded by modernity's elevation of science and reason, forcing people of faith to read scriptures literally as opposed to allegorically. Literalism, argues the author, leads either to fundamentalism or skepticism, either of which have negative consequences for any religion. Though the author adroitly switches among Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, and many other faith traditions, Western religions and Western thought are her primary reference points. Armstrong's grasp of global religious history and thought is beyond impressive, but the depth of her analysis will overwhelm many general readersthough the 25-page glossary is helpful. For those willing to travel this road with the author, the journey is expansive and worthwhile and will make them reconsider what scripture means to those who admire it.Excellent reading for religious scholars and students. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.Author notes provided by Syndetics
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 and received a degree at Oxford University.(Publisher Provided)