The Case for God by Karen Armstrong, Alfred A. Knopf, publisher.
Karen Armstrong is an acclaimed scholar of world religions and an astonishingly prolific author.
The Case for God, although lengthy and complex, is at the same time lucid and eloquent. The volume contains informative and enlightening chapters on such subjects as faith and reason, atheism, unknowing, death of God, science and religion and silence.
For many readers, her response to the recent outspoken critics of religion will be of greatest interest.
In her introduction to the book she writes, “There is a long religious tradition that stressed the importance of recognizing the limits of our knowledge, of silence, reticence and awe. That is what I hope to explore in this book. One of the conditions of enlightenment has always been a willingness to let go of what we thought we knew in order to appreciate truths we had never dreamed of. We may have to unlearn a great deal about religion before we can move on to new insight.”
She asserts that nothing about God can be put into words. The mystery at the heart of religious belief is ineffable, unapproachable by reason or language. God is a metaphor or symbol for the kind of spirituality that flows from immersion in the realms of art or music.
That almost mystical enhancement, the result of sustained effort and practice, is the kind of religion beyond words that can make modern men and women more forgiving, courageous, selfless and helpful.
Much of this seems beyond what the average person would regard as meaningful or useful religious belief. Avowed atheist Richard Dawkins has said that Armstrong must be living in a dream world if she expects fundamentalists of all religious faiths to accept her abstruse, rarified approach to God.
More than 800 years ago, some rabbis, in their opposition to the teachings of Maimonides, argued that a God concept, purged of all anthropomorphism is too abstract to be comforting. “The God of the philosophers is too remote” to be addressed as “Thou.” Absolute logic demolishes faith, and no amount of post-logical rationalizing can restore the trust with which the unsophisticated pietist turns to God.
Maimonides’ impact on Judaism was least enduring in the realm of theology and philosophy.
The Case for God offers open-minded seekers for new religious insights much to contemplate and digest.
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Shattering Glass by Nancy-Gay Rotstein, Penguin Press.
The author of this absorbing novel, first published some years ago, now available in a splendid new enlarged format, has attracted the attention of readers in 10 countries.
Nancy Gay-Rotstein, acclaimed for her books of poetry, has had extensive experience in the fields of law, politics, business and the arts.
Shattering Glass is the cautionary tale of three successful women who have overcome a variety of obstacles to attain gratifying high positions at an unenviable cost in family dysfunction and breakdown.
Was it all worth it – the strivings, unsavoury compromises, neglect of children, conflict with husbands and unwelcome pangs of conscience?
At the book’s conclusion, sharing in the ambience of an Italian spa, Judy, Dede and Barbara are startled by an unexpected ambiguous telegram. Each fears the ominous message it bears. Suddenly, readers are confronted with their anxiety, guilt and multiple fears.
The author, with an unerring ear for dialogue, a poet’s gift for language and the limning of character has written a creative work that resonates long after the book has been completed.
