Over 700,000 copies of the original hardcover and paperback editions of this stunningly popular book have been sold. Karen Armstrong's superbly readable exploration of how the three dominant monotheistic religions of the world—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—have shaped and altered the conception of God is a tour de force. One of Britain's foremost commentators on religious affairs, Armstrong traces the history of how men and women have perceived and experienced God, from the time of Abraham to the present. From classical philosophy and medieval mysticism to the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the modern age of skepticism, Armstrong performs the near miracle of distilling the intellectual history of monotheism into one compelling volume.

凱倫• 阿姆斯特朗（Karen Armstrong），曾在修道院修行七年之久，後到牛津大學學習並獲得博士學位。她是英國最具盛名的宗教評論傢之一，著作包括《佛陀》《軸心時代》《穿越窄門》《初創世界》《聖戰》《默罕默德》等。