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The Lost Art of Scripture

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The Lost Art of Scripture

By: Karen Armstrong
Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
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Brought to you by Penguin.

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. So what value, if any, can scripture hold for us today? And if our world no longer seems compatible with scripture, is it perhaps because its original purpose has become lost?

Today we see the Quran being used by some to justify war and terrorism, the Torah to deny Palestinians the right to live in the Land of Israel, and the Bible to condemn homosexuality and contraception. The holy texts at the centre of all religious traditions 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. For hundreds of years these texts were instead viewed as spiritual tools: scripture was a means for the individual to connect with the divine, to transcend their physical existence, and to experience a higher level of consciousness. Holy texts were seen as fluid and adaptable, rather than a set of binding archaic rules or a ‘truth’ that has to be ‘believed’.

Armstrong argues that only by rediscovering an open engagement with their holy texts will the world’s religions be able to curtail arrogance, intolerance and violence. 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.

©2019 Karen Armstrong (P)2019 Penguin Audio
Religious Studies

Critic Reviews

"One of our best living writers on religion." (Financial Times)

"Karen Armstrong is a genius." (A.N. Wilson)

"Karen Armstrong is one of the handful of wise and supremely intelligent commentators on religion." (Alain De Botton)

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Interpreting the role of scripture for all

Helen Armstrong has a depth of understanding across all religions that is perhaps unsurpassed. Her knowledge in the role of ritual and scripture in preparing and activating the human mind across all versions of religion is enlightening. During the narration we are essentially taken on a journey through the history of conscious thought and it's associated meaning. Her outline is that while scripture is at the core of any religion. it's intent is to encourage equality and the desire to look after a fellow person who is considered worse off than yourself. Her premise suggests this is driven by the inequity of the evolving agrarian economy, with the minority haves, making money from the majority have nots.

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It was a long slog, but glad I persevered

This is a mighty work. If you're looking for a spiritual dip into each of the religions, then you'll be disappointed. it's very academic, written by an academic. But this is a strength - the author leaves you to draw your own conclusions. I feel I've just been given a bird's eye view of the major scriptures and philosophies known to us, and that bird's eye view is valuable in putting my own favoured ones into perspective. In the final chapter she does pull it together and draw some conclusions well worth considering. I left this book feeling a larger person for the experience. That's quite a contribution made by a great scholar.

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