"Strange as it may seem, the idea of 'God' developed in a market economy in a
spirit of aggressive capitalism," Karen Armstrong asserts in her fascinating
work A History of God. Armstrong considers herself a "historian of ideas," and
with this broad view she gives a compelling account of the correspondences among
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the historical, philosophical,
intellectual, and social developments through the ages that both shaped them and
were shaped by them.
Religion is "highly pragmatic," Armstrong finds. Any particular idea of God must
work for the people who develop it. Consequently, as the times have changed, so
have our ideas about God. "Understanding