{"product_id":"the-lost-art-of-scripture-rescuing-the-sacred-texts","title":"The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing the Sacred Texts","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eToday the Quran is used by some to justify war and acts of terrorism, the Torah to deny Palestinians the right to live in the Land of Israel, and the Bible to condemn homosexuality and contraception. The significance of scripture may not be immediately obvious in our secular world, but its misunderstanding is perhaps the root cause of many of today's controversies.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this timely and important book, one of the most trusted and admired writers on the world of faith examines the meaning of scripture. The sacred texts have been coopted by fundamentalists, who insist that they must be taken literally, and by others who interpret scripture to bolster their own prejudices. These texts are seen to prescribe ethical norms and codes of behavior that are divinely ordained: they are believed to contain eternal truths. But as Karen Armstrong shows in this chronicle of the development and significance of major religions, such a narrow, peculiar reading of scripture is a relatively recent, modern phenomenon. For most of their history, the world's religious traditions have regarded these texts as tools that enable the individual to connect with the divine, to experience a different level of consciousness, and to help them engage with the world in more meaningful and compassionate ways.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt a time of intolerance and mutual incomprehension, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Lost Art of Scripture\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e shines fresh light on the world's major religions to help us build bridges between faiths and rediscover a creative and spiritual engagement with holy texts.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“[An] unusual, often dazzling, blend of theology, history, and neuroscience”\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A penetrating look at scriptures . . . She writes with panache . . . There are always surprising bits of history and flashes of insight.”\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In her most profound, important book to date . . . Both nonbelievers and believers will find her diagnosis—that most people now read scripture to confirm their own views, rather than to achieve transformation—on the mark . . . This is an instant classic of accessible and relevant religious history.”\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e[starred]\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e“As in Armstrong’s many previous works of popular religious-historical synthesis, the breadth of knowledge on display is formidable.”\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e—\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHarper’s\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e“A manifesto . . . A panoramic tour of religious history . . . Armstrong is an exceptional storyteller, and \u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Lost Art of Scripture\u003c\/span\u003e is an amazing story. It is, admirably, a compendium of religious philosophy.”\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003e—\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e“In her latest, esteemed religion writer Armstrong . . . once again demonstrates her encyclopedic knowledge of the world’s religions. . . . Armstrong’s grasp of global religious history and thought is beyond impressive . . . For those willing to travel this road with the author, the journey is expansive and worthwhile and will make them reconsider what scripture means to those who admire it. Excellent reading for religious scholars and students.”\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e—\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Formidable . . . serious and inspiring . . . exhilarating, challenging and curiously comforting . . . Written not only with intellectual rigor and an accessible turn of phrase, but also with love.”\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProspect Magazine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e“A glorious journey . . . Armstrong is the most articulate and generous-hearted exegete of religion writing in English at the present time.”\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—The New Statesman\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e“Armstrong is on good form in \u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Lost Art of Scripture.\u003c\/span\u003e It exhibits her well-known and admired characteristics as a writer: an ability to be both authoritative on all the major faiths, and studiedly neutral as to which offers the best solutions\/worst failings; a reasoned insistence that religion today is misunderstood, as much by the religious as by their critics; and a passionate appeal to our fractious and fractured world to embrace religion’s core message . . . It makes for a compelling read, impressive in the range of its scholarship, but always cogently expressed for those prepared to commit to the search to understand.”\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e—The Sunday Times\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e“Rich and wide-ranging . . . A fascinating read . . . This is a treasure chest of social and religious history. Armstrong’s lucid prose makes her many-stranded story remarkably straightforward to follow . . . a learned and stimulating book.”\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e180\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Karen Armstrong","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45247574704328,"sku":null,"price":180.0,"currency_code":"ILS","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0507\/3679\/1752\/files\/lost_scripture.jpg?v=1793714828","url":"https:\/\/educationalbookshop.com\/products\/the-lost-art-of-scripture-rescuing-the-sacred-texts","provider":"EducationalBookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}