so-soYeah I had some problems with this book. Not with the sweep of history which is excellently researched and presented. My issue is twofold. First, Holland in a previous history "In the Shadow of the Sword" examined the history of the early history of Islam and took obvious pleasure in showing the holes in the traditional history of this religion. In this book he avoids such a deep dive into early Christian history, which is equally subject to a
Oblomov26 divergence from the traditional "accepted" telling. What is an acceptable treatment of one faith is obviously not appropriate for another. Rather he decides to concentrate on what Christianity has given mankind, but then defines this bequest so widely that he can argue for example that Atheism could only exist in a world influenced by Christianity. So I owe my Atheism to Christianity? Really? 5y
Jas16 Yeah I would have some problems with that argument as well. 5y
Dogearedcopy That‘s really interesting in that I had a professor in Islamic studies at Georgetown (she was also a Muslim) who espoused the sane tenet— that atheism was husbanded by Christianity. Now I‘m wondering if there is an academic corps in religious studies who believe this (prior to the post I thought she had held a rogue position) (edited) 5y
iread2much Fascinating! I suppose one could argue that religious intolerance is going to most severely affect atheists, so which ever religion would be more tolerant in general would be cradle atheists. I suggest reading it might be enlightening on this topic![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png)
God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism 5y
God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism