Armstrong Reading 1

I must admit that before I started reading this book, I was a little worried about how dense the material would be considering how much there is to cover. I imagined that it would have a very history textbook sort of approach. But Karen Armstrong does a wonderful job of conveying the material in a very accessible manner. I particularly enjoyed the introduction section in which she outlines the relationship between religion and the human experience and the role of mythology. By establishing this great framework of the human connection to the sacred, the holy city, mythology, symbolism, and artwork, Karen Armstrong provides a better way to understand the various strands of religious history that shaped Jerusalem.
Having grown up in the household of a theologian, I am more or less familiar with most of the biblical stories that are covered in the first chapters. However, reading these chapters made me realize how vaguely and out of context I knew them. The thing that struck me the most throughout the readings were the connections I was making through the smallest details such as the roots of words.
For example, completely unrelated from the biblical aspect, the thing that first caught my attention was the way Karen Armstrong wrote the word "disease" in the intro. She phrased it as "dis-ease." Although I probably should have made that connection years ago, I never did, and the word makes so much more sense now.
Also, the word "bethel." I actually know a building named bethel, owned by a very religious person. The fact that it means beth-house and El-God, hence house of God, makes so much more sense now as well.
And lastly, the fact that El, El Shaddai, and El Elyon were initially terms for different Gods is something that shocked me. I have heard all these terms used in reference to the same God and just assumed that it was always so. I find the merging of the various Gods into one larger identity on some level very beautiful.