Mother of God

Nov 18, 2024 11:44 PM

Author:Miri Rubin

Mother of God

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is one of the most powerful, influential and complex of all religious figures. The focus for women, the inspiration of faith, the subject of innumerable paintings, sculptures, pieces of music and churches, Mary is so entangled in our world that it is impossible to conceive of the history of Western culture and religion without her.

Miri Rubin's Mother of God is a major work of cultural imagination. Mary's role in the Gospels is a relatively minor one, and yet in the centuries during which Christianity established itself she emerged as a powerful, strange and ungovernable force, endlessly remade and reimagined by wave after wave of devotees, ultimately becoming 'a sort of God', in ways that have always made some Christians uneasy.

Whether talking about the vast public festivals celebrating Mary that sweep up entire communities or the intense private agony of individual devotion, Rubin's book is a triumph of sympathy and intelligence. Throughout Christianity's journey from mysterious origins to global religion, the Mother of God has been a profound presence in countless lives - Mother of God is the story of that presence and a book that raises profound questions about the human experience.

Reviews

Guyatt, with a twinkle in his pen, an open mind and a determination to give Rapture believers a fair hearing, has produced a provocative book

—— Daily Mail

Arresting and entertaining

—— Sunday Telegraph

Funny and frightening investigation

—— Scotland on Sunday

A wonderfully readable survey

—— The Tablet

Wise and funny

—— Catholic Herald

strangely gripping...frightening stuff

—— Sunday Express

Aslan offers an invaluable introduction to the forces that have shaped Islam [in this] eloquent, erudite paean to Islam in all of its complicated glory

—— Los Angeles Times Book Review

Wise and passionate . . . an incisive, scholarly primer in Muslim history and an engaging personal exploration

—— The New York Times Book Review

Acutely perceptive . . . For many troubled Muslims, this book will feel like a revelation, an opening up of knowledge too long buried

—— The Independent

Thoroughly engaging and excellently written . . . While [Aslan] might claim to be a mere scholar of the Islamic Reformation, he is also one of its most articulate advocates

—— The Oregonian

A revelation, an opening up of knowledge too long buried, denied and corrupted by generations of men ... Muslim keepers of the latter will rage against Reza Aslan as his careful scholarship and precise language dismantles their false claims and commands ... Aslan is acutely perceptive

—— The Independent

A rather beautiful account of the birth and evolution of Islam ... Lucid and illuminating ... Fascinating

—— Metro

Aslan is an engaging writer, his strength lies ... as an observer of contemporary challenges facing Islam ... Sensitive and generous

—— FT Magazine

Enthralling. A book of tremendous clarity and generosity of spirit

—— Jim Crace

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