Book Review: The History of God

Incredible book! I read this over my summer vacation break and I was blown away by the level of scholarship and yet accessibility retained. Truly lays out the narrative of one God of many from the people of Uz through Yahweh to the Trinity and then the Unity of Allah. Definitely one to keep on the shelf. The author's background as a nun and then her further education in the history of religions is obvious. The theme I noticed coming across this was how in the beginning, that these religions promoted an egalitarian ideal, with gender equality ( to a point ) and social justice being at the core. They were, at the outset, religions of the weak and oppressed. and yet over time familiar power structures laid themselves over ( either through the Judaic priesthood or the co-opting of the Christian faith by the Roman Emperor Constantine).

The level of scholarship meant also a lot of names and movements to remember ( well to forget), but the suggested reading list will provide fodder for my library for months!