Customer Reviews

God: A Brief History

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This is not really a "history of God." It is more a "history" of the "human search" for God. Big difference. This book is about what God means to people in every generation and in every part of the world who have deepened and extended their knowledge of who God is. This is not a comprehensive history of all that has been thought and believed, it is more an understanding of who and what God is to humans around the globe.

This book explores the ways in which a belief in God began and how it has developed in the major religious traditions of the world. If you believe there is only one true God, you are going to have some problems with the way God is presented in this book. There is even an argument for atheism and a section on the positive role of witches.

This book is really not just about God, it is about a wide variety of topics including ritual, myth, music, science, art, sacrifice, architecture, The religions of India, Asia, Abraham and "In the End." Since many religions have their own dating systems, the dates in this book are given according to the western calendar.

This is really a brief overview of all the religions in the world.

"The claim is sometimes made that belief in God is like belief in fairies or Father Christmas: we may believe in such things when young but grown out of them when we are older and wiser. Phenomenology at the second level shows why that claim is wrong."

I enjoyed the section on Rumi because I've read some of his poetry and now I understand what a sulfi is. Apparently is it a man or woman with a broken heart. Someone who is always sensitive to the heartbreak of the world and who is always sensitive to Divine Beauty. Once the heart breaks open, it goes on breaking forever and there is beauty and majesty and agony in the experience.

"I was snow. I melted in you rays. The earth drank me: mist now, and pure spirit,I climb back to the sun."

A fascinating book on the human search for God.

~The Rebecca Review

The monotheists, finally compelled to curtail their militant approach to conversion, have turned to new methods. Some of these are almost intellectual. Bowker's approach is deft. He simply lists as many gods as he can find evidence for, then insists they are simply expressions of the one he favours. That's "God", of course - the enduring monotheist [and in this case, decidedly "Christian"] version of one of the thousands of deities humanity has invented over the centuries. There are, of course, creative deities, vicious deities, loving deities and hosts of those with specialised roles. Bowker's theme isn't new. Unlike some of his fellows using this approach, he simply ignores the "personality" disparities among the gods. There's only the one, he assumes, then goes on to list - and lavishly illustrate - personifications that carry cognomens that at least provide some identity.

Bowker lines up his gods in a grand geographical and chronological sequence. There are Indian gods, Chinese and Japanese spiritual beings and any others he can adduce. The "pagan" sprites are ignored, presumably since they didn't generate sophisticated artistic representation to warrant inclusion. Shamans in the Amazon could set him straight on this, but it's hard to see Bowker tramping the rain forest to garner "uncivilized" insights. All those peoples [and their deities] he catalogues, presenting brief histories and pictorial examples. In the end, in each case, however, they are all boiled down to his single deity. Olympian jealousies, forces contending for human support, power struggles on Earth and in the skies become no more than way stations in the realisation that all nothing more than temporary manifestations of this deity's struggle for identity. Various personality quirks expressed by these gods don't give them individuality. There's only the one, devising various methods to control human thinking. And keep them in fear.

Monotheism, as its name implies, is quite simple. Devising a single deity allows the commentator to attribute anything and everything to it. Change, exotic departures from a norm of behaviour or manifestation are simply evidence of the one god's power and desire to cover all the bases. It doesn't occur to Bowker that there can be many gods, all invented by the varieties of humans on the planet. Even his one god took generations to find its footing through the writings of many people. Other gods had to be cast aside in order to grant this one all the necessary powers and attributes it now claims. Such a simple idea has, of course, wide appeal. So long as only the one is given to a populace to accept, its strength grows without hindrance. Questioning any aspect of that existence renders the entire concept vulnerable.

Bowker meets the issue of questioners in stalwart fashion. He cannot deny that there are those who find flaws in the tangled ideas of monotheism. He must give them a voice. He then reduces that voice to a whisper. Where earlier adherents to the god saw its evidence in Nature, the new questioners declared these natural characteristics explainable. There's no "divinity" in the tides, in migrating birds or the violence of thunderstorms. So be it, says Bowker, and moves his deity out of the material realm. The god is displaced to some ethereal state in which it is no longer part of the physical world. It's "not an object", he says, it is "the One". By replacing one capital letter with another, Bowker thinks he's brought the idea up to date. In reality, he's only substituted one dogma with another, even less tangible one. This is a beautiful book to look at, but reading it can only lead to depression. Bowker's theme is artificial, his reasoning can only be labelled specious and his capacity for poor logic almost limitless. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

This book focuses on the religions of India, Asia, and "The Religions of Abraham" (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). Each religion is discussed with many 2-4 page sections discussing a particular topic, and including a few pictures, and side bars for quotes. This format lends it self well to introducing a diverse set of personages, but it also prevents a smoothly flowing narrative, so at times the book seems to bounce around. The chaotic effect is not without some merit, and if nothing else, you get an appreciation for the breadth of experiences. In the section on India, the introduction of name, upon name of different Gods, becomes overwhelming,

The breadth of the book is impressive, and the inclusion of poetry, throughout was useful. The photos throughout the book are impressive, and almost as much as the text lend an experiential flavor. Sometimes the book tries to be too biographical, rather than emphasizing concepts. Particularly lacking however, was an introduction of African, Native American, and Latin American expressions of God. He does included Buddhism however, which does not really have a clear notion of God.

Bowker's aim with this book is to provide an overview of God and how human beings relate to him through history. This is an enormous task that many scholars bawk at, and instead choose to remain only with a certain world view, believing it is the only correct one there is to reaching the truth. Thankfully Bowker avoids a parochial viewpoint (he is a Christian) without scoffing unfairly or patronisingly at the idea of God or those who believe in him. He starts sensibly by not trying to define what God is, but rather proposing a way that God may interact with us, all of us (humanity) down through time by using language, signs and the body. Then he examines, with a high degree of fairness and objectivity, the way various world religions have tried to make sense of this experience and also the mystery called 'God.'

For me Bowker's strength is that he avoids the error of asserting his (the Christian) vision of God is the only and perfect way of reaching God. History shows instead there are many different paths to God - some which even deny the existence of the God as understood by the adherents of Abrahamic faiths - yet all seem to reach the same end point. As one Muslim publication I read once said 'There are many paths, but one end point.'

My only gripe with the book is I would like to have seen more on the current debate between religion and science. A couple of pages at the end or beginning covering this important and topical issue would have made the book a little better.

But otherwise this is an excellent book, and one I will give to anyone (even those of my own faith, Christianity) who claims 'it is my way (to God) or the highway.'

I have just started reading this book, but I intend to keep on going. Other reviewers have already pointed to the book's obvious strengths.
On the other hand, there is reason to take a careful look at the book before you decide whether to buy. Bowker often prefers explanations that seem profound only because they are written in deeply confusing academic prose. This applies to Bowker's writing and to some of the sources he quotes.
I think that DK publishers deserve hefty criticism for printing the book in the tiniest font in the world. I normally have no trouble with reading, but this font really gives me a hard time.
I also agree with those who find that the book tries to hook too many facts and factoids together rather than zeroing on a smaller amount of material. Sometimes, for instance, Bowker throws in references to the human brain and its relationship to religion. These references are linked only loosely to the rest of the material and sometimes seem superficial and often irrelevant. Bowker seems to include them to give the appearance that he knows something about anatomy rather than to show a real and intelligible link to the material he is discussing.
Part of the problem with the readability of the book is that Bowker is British, and British and American writers often have clashing ideas as to how to make things intelligible. Besides that, Bowker is off the mark in some important comments he makes about American society and government and their relationship to American spirituality and religion.
I don't mean to dissuade anyone from giving this book a chance. It is a gorgeous book, and it has, as I say, its obvious strengths.

If one can get past the errors that the previous post states about Hinduism, then you will find a good read into the way that we have seen, or even created, God throughout our existence. It can be a little scattered or confusing though as the author tries to fit so much, but if you take your time, it will be worth it.

While the world is attempting to correct aberrations in history, here is John Bowker, trying to misquote and perpetuate the antiquated concept of the Aryan Invasion: ill-conceived by Max Mueller and perpetuated by the narrow-minded British to keep the Indians divided during their notorious Raj.

The global community and Indologists are correcting this grave aberration of historic fraud, and John Bowker is apparently living up to his British heritage - wanting to rub in the divide!

His reference to the time frames: Vedic - 1500 - 1000, and others accordingly, is totally wrong, and thus contributes to the continued stereotyping of Hindus, and Hinduism as a by-product of the so-called Aryan Invasion.

A series of books have been written on this topic alone in the last decade. One book that stands head above shoulders in this area is "The Search of the Cradle of Civilization" ISBN Publisher: Quest Books; ISBN: 0-8356-0741-0.

If an author misses a raging controversy that could explode his work in its face, and he has no inkling of it, I consider my investment in his work a total waste of my money.

This book should be withdrawn from stores immediately.