God: A Human History

Previously, Aslan wrote of the historical Jesus. At that time, he was a self-proclaimed Christian, although he has returned to Islam. The subtitle of the book is A Human History, and it is clear that gods have been created in man’s image. It is interesting to discover the history of so many of our stories and myths and how they came to be re-used in service of conquests and country building. One can make many extrapolations to today’s evangelical politics. It is a well-researched volume with one hundred and twenty-two footnotes, citations, and an index. The conclusion of the author is that many religions create a fear of god rather than an exploration of the world and the god within us. He came to that conclusion through Sufism. It is the spiritual path of devotion and mysticism. This book is certain to enlarge the understanding of the historical basis of religion and why we need to move to a deeper understanding of our own selves.