Karen Armstrong Reading Response 1

After reading the first four chapters in Armstrong's book I find it a unique outlook at not only the origins of Jerusalem but the origins of religion. The chapters were filled with a breadth of information which sometimes made it a little difficult to read, but overall information provided is great. One of the most interesting points that I found was the longing of man for a higher being to give purpose and value to the world's existence. This desire leads to sacred sites, temples, and is the undertone for organized religion. A fact I found interesting was the importance of mountains and hills as they were seen as places close to divinity; a correlation that can be drawn to the holy factor of Jerusalem itself. The author makes an excellent point in illustrating that the early history of Israel and Jerusalem is more fiction than fact being written thousands of years after the events. This is something I never took into account I kind of always figured that the writers of those stories were writing maybe not from first hand but maybe a few years past the experience. With that much time transpiring the stories would more or less be seen as legends and not historical fact. By far the idea that the Israelites were not monotheistic and shared a respect for other religious traditions, was the most shocking. I guess I had believed that the Israelites followed only one God a fact that the author quickly disproved. Through looking at this particular point it was like the author was showing how two different religions could co-exist in the same space while still being respectful and honorable. The ambiguity of Jerusalem is starting to get a little more clearer.