The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing the Sacred Text
- ISBN-10
- 0345812344
- ISBN-13
- 9780345812346
- Category
- Religion
- Pages
- 448
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2019-11-05
- Publisher
- Knopf Canada
- Author
- Karen Armstrong
Description
In this timely and important book, one of the world's leading commentators on religious affairs examines the lost art of Scripture as a medium to lift humanity and change our perception of reality while evading logical explanation. 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.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation: Find True Peace in Jesus
By Robert J. MorganPonder His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them ...
-
The Lost Art of Disciple Making
By LeRoy EimsThere is no instant maturity. This book examines the growth process in the life of a Christian and considers what nurture and guidance it takes to develop spiritually qualified workers in the church.
-
The Lost Art of Faith: How to Decode Yourself and Biblical Scripture to Harness Real Lasting Power
By Eric Dupre'This book is a tool to help humans reveal, heal, and then to rebuild yourself and your life so you can then teach others to do the same and live lives worth living. I didn't arrive by taking a traditional route but I arrived nonetheless.
-
Recovering the Lost Art of Reading: A Quest for the True, the Good, and the Beautiful
By Leland Ryken, Glenda MathesThis is particularly problematic for Christians, as many find it difficult to read even the Bible consistently and attentively. Reading is in desperate need of recovery.
-
The Art of Reading Scripture
By Richard B. Hays, Ellen F. Davisinclination of the thought of the human ] heart is purely evil all the time ” ( Gen 6 : 5 ) — is the very ... in prison ( " Christians and Unbelievers " ) : " Christians stand by God in his hour of grieving " ; and in a letter ( of July ...
-
The Case for God
By Karen ArmstrongThe Eden story is certainly not a morality tale; like any paradise myth, it is an imaginary account of the infancy of the human race. In Eden, Adam and Eve are still in the womb; they have to grow up, and the snake is there to guide ...
-
Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World
By Stephen BatchelorIn this collected volume of Stephen Batchelor's writings on these themes, the author explores the complex implications of Buddhism's secularization.
-
The Lost Books of the Bible and The Forgotten Books of Eden
By Rutherford Hayes PlattThough apocryphal in nature, these books--suppressed by the Church Fathers--are fascinating and beautifully written. Here you can read for yourself many of the manuscripts which were excluded from the Canon...
-
The Lost Art of Meditation: Deepening Your Prayer Life
By Sheila PritchardThis is the first in a series of in-depth Closer to God books to complement our "Closer to God" Bible reading guides.
-
Holy Bible (NIV)
By , Various AuthorsThe NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978.