Reza Aslan on "God: A Human History" (live)

VromansBookstore.com/Random House; Dhr. Seven, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Our favorite Muslim, scholar Reza Aslan

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth and host of Believer Reza Aslan explores humanity's quest to make sense of the divine and sounds a call to embrace a deeper, more expansive understanding of "GOD."

In Zealot, Christian Bible scholar Reza Aslan replaced the staid, well-worn portrayal of [the historical] Jesus of Nazareth [who differs from the fantasy Jesus Christ] with a startling new image of the man in all his contradictions. In his new book, Aslan takes on a subject even more immense: God, writ large.

• Monday, Nov. 27, 2017, 7:00 pm
• All Saints Church, 132 N. Euclid Ave.
• Pasadena, California 91101 (626) 449-5320

In layered prose and with thoughtful, accessible scholarship, Aslan narrates the history of religion as one long and remarkably cohesive attempt to understand the divine by giving it human traits and emotions.

According to Aslan this innate desire to humanize God is hardwired in our brains, making it a central feature of nearly every religious tradition.

There is no God! - Cressida

As Aslan writes: "Whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless of whether we're believers or not, what the vast majority of us think about when we think about God is a divine version of ourselves." But this projection has consequences.

We bestow upon [our] God not just all that is good in human nature -- our compassion, our thirst for justice -- but all that is bad in it: our greed, our bigotry, our penchant for violence.

Don't listen to her. There's a God

All of these qualities inform our religions, cultures, and governments. More than just a history of our understanding of God, this book is an attempt to get to the root of this humanizing impulse in order to develop a more universal spirituality.

Whether you believe in one God (no god but God), many gods [the correct view], or no god at all [also ultimately correct but conventionally inaccurate], God: A Human History will challenge the way you think about the divine and its role in our everyday lives.

 

"Breathtaking in its scope and controversial in its claims, God: A Human History shows how humans from time immemorial have made God in their own image, and argues that they should now stop. Writing with all the verve and brilliance we have come to expect from his pen, Reza Aslan has once more produced a book that will prompt reflection and shatter assumptions."

-Bart D. Ehrman, author of How Jesus Became God

 

Lies My Teacher Told Me

Tickets include one signed copy of God: A Human History. All books will be signed by Reza Aslan prior to the event; therefore, signed copies will be handed out at check-in. He will personalize after the event for those wanting a name in their book.

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