THE CASE FOR GOD
What religion really means
By Karen Armstrong. The Bodley Head. 376 pages. £20.00
ISBN 978-1-847792-034-8
Karen Armstrong was a Roman Catholic nun for seven years before she found she could no longer believe Catholic doctrines. She left her order and is now a highly acclaimed writer and spokesperson on religious issues with at least 15 books to her name. She writes well, is fair and judicious, and is extremely well read. The Case for God is a survey of the development of religion from prehistoric times to the present, focussing on Christianity.
It is not a case, because Armstrong thinks it is mistaken to apply reason to faith. And it is not about god in our sense because Armstrong does not believe in god as a personal being who rules over his creation. But it does have a specific thesis to argue. Armstrong feels that the current clash between atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Christians is totally unnecessary and has arisen only because both sides have misunderstood the nature of religion, hence her subtitle, ‘what religion really means.’
