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| God: A Brief History: Bowker, John |
Title: God: A Brief History | ISBN : 978-0-7894-8050-7 |
Author: John Bowker | Publisher: Dorling Kindersley, DK Publishing Inc. | Year: 1st edition (May 1, 2002) | ISBN-13 : 978-0789480507 | Pages: 404 | Language : English | file: pdf
God: A Brief History by John Bowker
Not just in words, but
in art, dance, music and silence -- this book is the perfect overview
for viewing divinity from every perspective. The history of God cannot
possibly be told. How can you write the history of One who is outside
time and space, and who has no beginning and no end? Nevertheless, the
desire to understand and experience the divine is a fundamental human
need. For billions of people, through many millennia, the quest to
answer the basic questions of existence -- Why are we born? What will
happen to us when we die? and how should we live out lives? -- has
become a search for God. A Brief History of God explores the myriad ways
in which humans have sought connection to the divine from the dawn of
history to the present -- not just through religion and philosophy, but
in art and literature, in music and dance, and in science.
Having already written a lushly illustrated overview of the beliefs and practices of the world's religions (World Religions,
also from DK), Bowker turns his attention to God and produces a book
chock-full of facts, stories, legends and illustrations about the ways
that religious traditions have developed their beliefs in God. Bowker
first examines the ideas of Nietzsche, Feuerbach, Freud and others to
demonstrate that all individuals and societies grapple with the meaning
of God. In roughly chronological order, Bowker surveys the history of
belief in God in animistic religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese
religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He explores various aspects
of this belief, such as the meaning of dharma, the concept of wisdom and
the nature of pilgrimage. Yet Bowker's book contains numerous problems.
First, he never explains what he means by God. Is God the same as the
Sacred or the Divine? Without a clearer explanation, many of the
religions that he examines—Buddhism, for example—cannot be said to have a
God. Second, does God indeed have a history? That implies that God
would have had a beginning and will have an end, which runs counter to
the notion that God is eternal and ahistorical. Third, because he does
not provide a clear definition of God, Bowker levels the differences
among the world's religions so that it appears that the God of Judaism
is the same as the God of Hinduism. At best, Bowker provides a
superficial overview of the history of belief in God for the "religion
lite" crowd.
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Having already written a lushly illustrated overview of the beliefs and
practices of the world's religions (World Religions, also from DK),
Bowker turns his attention to God and produces a book chock-full of
facts, stories, legends and illustrations about the ways that religious
traditions have developed their beliefs in God. Bowker first examines
the ideas of Nietzsche, Feuerbach, Freud and others to demonstrate that
all individuals and societies grapple with the meaning of God. In
roughly chronological order, Bowker surveys the history of belief in God
in animistic religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese religions, Judaism,
Christianity and Islam. He explores various aspects of this belief,
such as the meaning of dharma, the concept of wisdom and the nature of
pilgrimage. Yet Bowker's book contains numerous problems. First, he
never explains what he means by God. Is God the same as the Sacred or
the Divine? Without a clearer explanation, many of the religions that he
examines Buddhism, for example cannot be said to have a God. Second,
does God indeed have a history? That implies that God would have had a
beginning and will have an end, which runs counter to the notion that
God is eternal and ahistorical. Third, because he does not provide a
clear definition of God, Bowker levels the differences among the world's
religions so that it appears that the God of Judaism is the same as the
God of Hinduism. At best, Bowker provides a superficial overview of the
history of belief in God for the "religion lite" crowd.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The former dean of Trinity College, Cambridge University now at Gresham
College, Bowker (The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions) quotes a poem
by R.S. Thomas to explain the purpose of his book: "the better
ventilating of the atmosphere of the closed mind." Throughout, he opens
doors to many spiritual and religious traditions, describing ways in
which people "have made their own discoveries of God and have developed
and changed our understanding of who and what God is, and of how God
became real to them." The result is a fascinating, all-purpose book,
beautifully illustrated in the DK manner. After the introductory
material, the text is divided into sections on the religions of India,
the religions of other Asian countries, and the Abrahamic religions
(Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). With articles like "Jihad and
Martyrdom," "Temples of India," "From Tagore to Gandhi," "Sex and
Tantra," "Kabbalah," "Thealogy (feminist theology)," and "Celtic
Christianity," the range is obviously wide. The maps, time lines, and
comprehensive index are also helpful, and readers are encouraged to
explore further with the help of a very good bibliography. Though
similar information can be found in many introductory books on world
religions, including the more traditional The Cambridge Illustrated
History of Religions (edited by Bowker; see review below), this work
lends itself more to pleasure reading than reference and will appeal to
the casual reader interested in the variety of colorful religious
rituals and symbols presented here. Highly recommended for high school
and public libraries as well as undergraduate collections in academic
libraries. Gary P. Gillum, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, UT
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
John Bowker was Dean of Trinity college, Cambridge, from 1984 to 1991.
He is currently a Fellow of Gresham College, London, and Honorary Canon
of Canterbury Cathedral. He is also Adjunct Professor of Religion at
North Carolina State University. Professor Bowker's extensive knowledge
of languages, both ancient and modern, enables him to translate
religious script hitherto unknown to the modern world. His many books
include The Meaning of Death (which won the HarperCollins Religious book
Award in 1993), the Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, an
Introduction to Jewish Interpretations of Scripture, and Jesus and the
Pharisees. He also wrote the bestselling titles World Religions and The
complete Bible Handbook, published by Dorling Kindersley. A consultant
to UNESCO, Professor Bowker has presented a number of prestigious
television programs on contemporary religion for the BBC, including the
highly acclaimed Worlds of Faith series.
BOWKER, John (Westerdale) 1935-
PERSONAL: Born July
30, 1935, in London, England; son of Gordon Westerdale and Marguerite
Bowker; married Margaret Roper (a university lecturer), June 22, 1963;
children: David Charles. Education: Oxford University, B.A., 1958. Hobbies and other interests: Books, painting, poetry.
CAREER: Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, England, fellow, 1962-74, assistant lecturer, 1965, lecturer, 1969; University of Lancaster, Lancaster, England, professor of religious studies, 1974-85; Trinity College, Cambridge, dean, 1984-91; Gresham College, London, England, professor of divinity, 1992-97, fellow, 1997—. Wilde Lecturer, 1972-77 and Hanson Lecturer, Oxford University,; Staley Lecturer, Rollins College, 1978-78; also lecturer at University of Cardiff, Newcastle University, University of Toronto, and other schools.
MEMBER: Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (vice president, 1980); Christian Action on AIDS (president, 1987-91); Culture and Animals Foundation, 1984-92.
AWARDS, HONORS: HarperCollins Religious Book Award, 1993, for The Meanings of Death.
WRITINGS:
The Targums and Rabbinic Literature: An Introduction to Jewish Interpretations of Scripture, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1969.
(Contributor) Making Moral Decisions, SPCK (London, England), 1969.
Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1970.
The Sense of God: Sociological, Anthropological, and Psychological Approaches to the Origin of the Sense of God, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1973, 2nd edition, Oneworld (Rockport, MA), 1995.
Uncle Bolpenny Tries Things Out, Faber (London, England), 1973.
Jesus and the Pharisees, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1973.
The Religious Imagination and the Sense of God, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1978.
Worlds of Faith: Religious Belief and Practice in Britain Today, Ariel Books, 1983.
(Editor) Senses and Culture: The Function and Management of Aggression and Cooperation in Biocultural Evolution, Zygon, 1983.
Licensed Insanities: Religions and Belief in God in the Contemporary World, Darton, Longman & Todd (London, England), 1987.
Is Anybody out There?: Religions and Belief in God in the Contemporary World, Christian Classics (Westminster, MD), 1988.
Hallowed Ground: Religions and the Poetry of Place, SPCK (London, England), 1993.
Is God a Virus? SPCK (London, England), 1995.
The Meanings of Death, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1993.
World Religions: The Great Faiths Explored and Explained, DK (New York, NY), 1997, revised edition, 2003.
(Editor) The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1997, published as The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, 2000.
What Muslims Believe, Oneworld (Boston, MA), 1998.
The Complete Bible Handbook, DK (New York, NY), 1998.
The Religious Imagination and the Sense of God, Clarendon Press (New York, NY), 2000.
(Editor) The Cambridge Illustrated History of Religions, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2002.
God: A Brief History, DK (New York, NY), 2002.
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