Against Fundamentalism: The Silence of the Divine in the Work of Karen Armstrong

Abstract

In The Case for God (2009), Karen Armstrong argues that fundamentalism is a symptom of a modern society infatuated with logos, the cure for this ailment lies in a rehabilitation through mythos, a tradition found and nurtured in the mystic traditions of all religions. Armstrong places a special emphasis on the mystic traditions in the West, particularly in the Greek orthodox tradition of negative or apophatic theology, describing how the silence of negative theology affirms the radical otherness of the divine. This, in turn, brings humility to humanity and fosters compassionate action in the world. In this way, negative theology can act as a therapy for a neurotic modernity. Through tracing the triumph of logos, the lost heritage of mythos and its manifestation in the discipline of negative theology, Karen Armstrong’s work is invaluable as she attempts to overcome the polarization of modern fundamentalism/secularism divide. However, her account and description of the birth of the ‘modern god’ in inadequate. Whilst advocating the silence and peace of the apophatic tradition, Armstrong does not take seriously the radical otherness of God in Protestant theology. Through the work of Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher who stands in the Augustinian and Lutheran tradition, I argue that the true implications of God’s otherness becomes clear. I suggest that Armstrong’s ‘unknown god’ of mythos and ‘modern god’ of logos may have more in common than Armstrong allows in her own work.