Book Review: “The Lost Art of Scripture” by Karen Armstrong

“The Lost Art of Scripture” by Karen Armstrong is one of the most important books I’ve read in a long time. I don’t say that lightly. It’s not an easy read. But it is well worth reading, contemplating, and digesting what the author is saying. Karen Armstrong is a prolific author who has written numerous books on a variety of theological and religious topics. Published in 2019, “The Lost Art of Scripture” does something that I’ve haven’t seen done in other books that I have read — taking the reader on a journey through history across cultures and religious faiths connecting the importance of the concept of scripture (however each faith defines it).

My biggest take away for why comes down to this — the West needs to goes on this journey because we are the ones who have lost the art of Scripture. We’ve gotten too much into our own heads and we’re more concerned with being right, rather than listening. And at the core of what Scripture is all about, it is about listening to the divine. That’s my real quick take of one of her arguments.

Armstrong starts right out at the very beginning of her Introduction talking about left/right hemispheres of the brain and what each side focuses on. While the left hemisphere is more empirical and objective and give humanity many benefits, a heavy focus has cost us too.

“The left brain is by nature competitive; largely ignorant of the work of the right, it tends to be over confident. The right hemisphere, however has a more…