ebooks The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions by Karen Armstrong in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Outstanding review of the spiritual origins of humanityBy Shawn Thompson aka the intimate apeWhether you believe in religions or not; spirituality or not; this book has a wonderful range of clear; uncluttered; undogmatic and useful insights for the open; enquiring mind about the spiritual origins of humanity. The book is vastly useful because of the intelligent perspective it gives across the origins of spirituality in different places and different cultures and the way it balances and compares the different origins. Armstrong gives us the sense of putting different pieces together in the puzzle of the underlying urge for spirituality in human beings.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. "The Great Transformation" is Simply... Great.By Andrew Lvovsky“The Great Transformation” discusses a novel look on the early religions that shaped us into the human beings we are today. This covers an epoch from around 1600 B.C.E. to 200 B.C.E. Karen Armstrong focuses on a central theme surrounding Karl Jaspers’ proposed “Axial Age” and invites the reader to analyze key spiritual developments. She envelops the ideals of the early religions quite well; mixing already-known religious notions with a universal underlying message. Armstrong has been known to speak strongly on human compassion or the Golden Rule; and each chapter seems to incorporate this.Dr. Armstrong starts the book from when the first humans began to resemble an Axial movement. The book’s organization is a bit different from others; since each chapter encompasses a central theme rather than a certain people. Slowly but surely; the book starts to pick up and cover different messages for each period of time. For example; there is one chapter that discusses the notion of self-kenosis; which is the process of emptying all the thoughts from one’s mind and submitting to a divine will.While I do wish that Armstrong could’ve organized each chapter or part by each separate culture; I do understand why she didn’t do so. It makes sense to want to see what each culture’s beliefs were at a certain time period. The supporting evidence was laid out well; and usually at the end of each chapter; she would relate the evidence to how significant it was to the Axial Age.After reading this book; I can definitely say that I recommend “The Great Transformation” to anyone who is interested in seeing how early religions and philosophies were all intertwined in one form or another. It is a very interesting read; and Armstrong does a fantastic job with laying down her arguments and specifying certain areas of uncertainty.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Brilliant Study of Axial AgeBy Carrington LuddKaren Armstrong's brilliant study of the Axial Age offers a vast overview of the development for the first of concepts that we identify today with some of the major religions and think of as normal human(e) ideas. She ranges over nine or ten centuries studying the cultures of Israel; Greece; China and India and comparing their development in great detail from the ninth to the second century BCE. But then she goes on to discuss how this major shift in world thinking continues to influence today; even as she treats in less detail major shifts since the Axial one. Perhaps the book is a bit too long; a bit repetitious; but it is full of original insights and I daresay no one reading it will be as thoroughly conversant will all four major cultures as Armstrong is. Bravo; bravo!