A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Karen Armstrong reflects on her personal journey with religion and God. As a child, she held various strong religious beliefs, such as the presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the reality of Hell, yet these beliefs did not bring her any comfort or confidence in life. She recollects a Roman Catholic definition of God she learned as a child, which she found abstract and distant. Her efforts to seek God more intimately led her to join a religious order, where she delved deeply into religious teachings.

However, she found herself struggling to truly connect with God, often feeling inadequate. Her doubts about various church doctrines grew, and she eventually left the religious life, with her belief in God fading. Despite her personal detachment from faith, her interest in religion persisted. Through her studies, she learned that many religious doctrines evolved over time and were man-made. She initially believed God was a mere projection of human needs, but her extensive studies revealed more nuanced perspectives from various religious thinkers, suggesting that one’s relationship with God is deeply personal and sometimes non-traditional. Some even propose that God is a product of human imagination, yet belief remains a significant part of many people’s day-to-day reality.