Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths

by Karen Armstrong

Book Overview

"SPLENDID . . . Eminently sane and patient . . . Essential reading for Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike."--The Washington Post Venerated for millennia by three faiths, torn by irreconcilable... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679435964
• Release Date: May 1996
• Publisher: Knopf
• Length: 471 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 1.8" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Highly informative, yet entertaining!

This book provides a very balanced view of the factors leading to the present day situation in Jerusalem. Although somewhat heavy on the religious influences, not inappropriately so, since this is what made Jerusalem what it is today. I would have liked to have learned more about the situation with the Armenians in that quarter of the city throughout the turmoil of the last few hundred years. The many maps of the changing city were outstanding. Excellent!

A history and a meditation

While this is a superb, fair-minded and empathetic history of the city which will be enlightening to all except very knowledgeable specialists, it is at the same time Karen Armstrong's meditation on the "sacred geography" conceived by the three faiths in its spiritual and its material form. She is very sympathetic to and receptive of the spiritual ideals of all three faiths, and is dismayed by how so often they have all been debased by bitter rivalries (between as well as within religions), by demands for exclusivity and domination, as well as by the "idolatry to see a shrine or a city as the ultimate goal of religion". This is something the wisest theologians - few, alas, in number - have taught. At the same time, however, a material shrine is one expression of one's spiritual identity, so that the perceived threat or the destruction of a shrine - let alone expulsions and exile - are experienced as violations of one's spiritual identity. She shows that the potency of religious symbolism is such that even secular nationalism (to which she perhaps does not pay quite enough attention) has recourse to it. She shows how the best periods in the history of the city have been those few when the rulers of one faith or ethnicity have respected the faith, ethnicity and buildings of another. She is not optimistic that such wisdom is available in Jerusalem in the near future.

All Sides of the Story

In books concerning hot conflicts like the Middle East, it is commonplace to cover only part of the story or to concentrate on one set of events more so than others. This is understandable of course since most people with adequate interest in a topic typically have made up their minds and favor one of the conflicting sides. Not so with this book. I read this book with a critical eye, begging to find any evidence that the author is partial to anyone anyone, but in all of the 430 pages I could not find a single biased reference nor any significant omissions. By writing this wonderful comprehensive and well-researched history of Jerusalem, Karen Armstrong has done all of us concerned about the city a great favor. Throughout the 5000-year history of the city, this book describes in an unbiased tone the enormously interesting history of this hotly contested city. Many remarkable and little-known facts are can be found here. For example, I was surprised to learn that the history of Jerusalem extended for 2000 years before King David, its purported "founder". The book covers all the different eras of the city: the Canaanite, Egyptian, Israelite, Babylonian, Greek, Roman, Muslim, and Crusader eras. The last two chapters focus on the 20th century history of the city. Though the author was a former catholic nun, she displays no bias whatsoever towards Christianity. The book displays the history of the city equally from the points of view of all three religious groups that care about it: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Thus the book dwells in detail about the extreme agony of the Jews for their loss of the city and their being forbidden to enter it during Byzantine Roman rule. The book also illustrates the relative tolerance of early Islam and how Jews for the first time were allowed to return to Jerusalem under Islamic rule and coexist in peace with Christians and Muslims. If the author displays a bias against anyone, it is against extremists from all religions who are today fanning the flames of conflict and threatening the peace of the city.The book is a definite page-turner, packed full of information, and well worth a read if you cared about understanding the "whys" and the "how comes" behind the daily headlines. If you liked this book, you'll like Karen Armstrong's other books, especially "A History of God" which, surprisingly, contains little repetition or overlap with this book, unlike many similarly prolific authors.

Very even-handed approach to a tough topic

As one who has studied and read much on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, I greatly appreciated Armstrong's even-handedness in this book. It made it a pleasure to read. She has a way of making history so much fun.

If you're going to Jerusalem, you must read this book.

If you're like me, you'll buy Karen Armstrong's Jerusalem just after purchasing your plane ticket to the historic city. And you'll try to read it before you leave. My advice: wait until you're on the plane to begin reading--no guilt for not getting to it before departing. The early chapters are better read while en route, and the later chapters "live" while sur rounded with the three faiths that have made Jerusalem the most interesting city in the world. The old city still has the same flavor, I'm sure, as it did centuries ago. The Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchur are all infinitely more meaningful after reading Armstrong's history. So save the money that local guides want to charge you and read Armstrong's book, muster your self-control (if you have any) and wait until you're on your way to the holy city to read her rich account of Jerusalem, a city that still needs our prayers to live up to its name--"city of peace."