I just finished Karen Armstrong’s excellent book A History of God and before that I read Robert Wright’s Evolution of God. Both present the historical perspective of the God debate.
What I find interesting is that conception of God has evolved throughout the ages. From the God of the intellectuals to that of the mystics, man has been able to perceive God for his own enrichment. In a way, this history also illustrates the evolution of mans’ political and economic struggles throughout history. When you think about it man meets new people, fights with others, and learns to cooperate with others.
Whether or not God exists will always be up for debate, but it gives me great comfort to know that man has always struggled with the issues that religion deals with today and yet civilization still survives. Religion will always give man a connection with history, which I see as one of its greatest legacies.
