Professional Documents
Culture Documents
By Cheryl Petersen
Living in upstate New York, I’ve acclimated to this 2011 winter’s zero degree
weather by reading books inside the warmer house, with a kitty on my lap. I’ve
just finished reading:
• The History of God, by Karen Armstrong
• A People’s History of the World, by Christ Harman
• The Stuff of Thought, a history of language, by Steven Pinker
It’s only a coincidence the books fall into the genre of history, but they
fascinatingly complemented one another, keeping my interest piqued.
Karen Armstrong’s research into the knowledge of God and its impact on the
worlds three main religions—Christianity, Islam, and Judaism—severed theology
from eternity. Theologies are human‐made and fluctuate as often as the weather.
The History of God seemed to agree with my opinion that outmoded doctrines
and restrictive traditions bring disrepute to religions. Armstrong warns against
fundamentalism and encourages faith—a faith and audacity to exchange human
ideologies for transcendent views of God, reality.
Harman’s book, A People’s History of the World, is fat, pregnant with social and
political history apparently forming and reforming human nature. Discourses on
religion and God are scattered throughout the book, pointing to the probability
that the people’s way of life, health, and systems of government indirectly mimic
their concept of God, some good, some not so good.
Reading Pinker’s The Stuff of Thought was like scuba‐diving. It required serious
exertion and concentration; resisting a ponderous oxygen tank from pulling you
backward; remembering to breathe counter‐intuitively through your mouth, and,
abstaining from immediate verbal expressions when glimpsing an awesome view,
in order not to swallow a mouthful of salty water. The history of language is
entirely different from the history of words and Pinker analyzed language from
many perspectives, concluding there is no complete adequate language to convey
truth. Pinker is amazingly practical, humorous, and realistic.
I recommend The History of God to readers who are interested in reconciling
religion to God. Religion can be beneficial when not mistaken for truth.
I recommend A People’s History of the World to readers on the verge of
escaping the prison of repeating deadening past activity.
I recommend The Stuff of Thought to people who value the open‐mindedness
of an educated engaging author.
My conclusion: History serves as a window into nature. But readers must
decide which nature. Trying to understand the human nature is as promising as
understanding falling snow. Admittedly, snow is no longer considered a miracle
but is now known as a component of the water cycle. But this knowledge is
plagued by human concerns. Too little snow causes droughts. Too much snow is a
pain to deal with on the roads. Knowledge of the human nature is not satisfying.
The human struggle against concerns, hunger, suffering, and mind‐numbing
traditions cease only as I use history as a window into the spiritual nature. And, I
did find evidence of spirituality in these good reads! Bravery, balance, insight,
hindsight, compassion, morality, reform, honesty, integrity were not only obvious,
but also inspiring, to the point I felt the reality of the spiritual nature.
Cheryl Petersen authored 21st Century Science and Health. Her blog can be
found online at www.HealingScienceToday.com