Having enjoyed Karen Armstrong’s memoir, I went out and bought her newest book, The Case for God. It was written as a response to that spate of “new atheist” books that appeared a few years back. I haven’t read those books, but I understand that their chief complaint is that religion just isn’t logical enough. Armstrong’s rejoinder depends on comparing and contrasting premodern and modern ways of construing the world. By buying into the modern view that rational thought trumps all other ways of experiencing reality, she says, the new atheists have overlooked whole regions of human consciousness.I sympathize with Armstrong’s position, and after getting to know her via her memoir I wanted to like this book, but I’m sorry to say that I didn’t. Her argument is full of one unwarranted generalization after another, and references, where given, are too often to secondary sources. It’s a fascinating subject — religion and the rise of rationalism — and it justifies surveying some fascinating material, but this particular attempt at addressing the issue is a long way from satisfying.
Karen Armstrong. The Case for God. New York: Anchor (Random House), 2010. Paperback. 432 pages. ISBN 9780307389800. $16.95.
