
The Great Transformation
The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $27.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Karen Armstrong
-
By:
-
Karen Armstrong
About this listen
From one of the world's leading writers on religion and the highly acclaimed author of the best-selling A History of God, The Battle for God, and The Spiral Staircase, comes a major new work: a chronicle of one of the most important intellectual revolutions in world history and its relevance to our own time.
In one astonishing, short period - the ninth century BCE - the peoples of four distinct regions of the civilized world created the religious and philosophical traditions that have continued to nourish humanity into the present day: Confucianism and Daoism in China; Hinduism and Buddhism in India; monotheism in Israel; and philosophical rationalism in Greece. Historians call this the Axial Age because of its central importance to humanity's spiritual development. Now, Karen Armstrong traces the rise and development of this transformative moment in history, examining the brilliant contributions to these traditions made by such figures as the Buddha, Socrates, Confucius, and Ezekiel.
Armstrong makes clear that despite some differences of emphasis, there was remarkable consensus among these religions and philosophies: each insisted on the primacy of compassion over hatred and violence. She illuminates what this "family" resemblance reveals about the religious impulse and quest of humankind. And she goes beyond spiritual archaeology, delving into the ways in which these Axial Age beliefs can present an instructive and thought-provoking challenge to the ways we think about and practice religion today.
A revelation of humankind's early shared imperatives, yearnings, and inspired solutions - as salutary as it is fascinating.
Excerpt from The Great Transformation:
"In our global world, we can no longer afford a parochial or exclusive vision. We must learn to live and behave as though people in remote parts of the globe were as important as ourselves. The sages of the Axial Age did not create their compassionate ethic in idyllic circumstances. Each tradition developed in societies like our own that were torn apart by violence and warfare as never before; indeed, the first catalyst of religious change was usually a visceral rejection of the aggression that the sages witnessed all around them.... All the great traditions that were created at this time are in agreement about the supreme importance of charity and benevolence, and this tells us something important about our humanity."
©2006 Karen Armstrong (P)2006 Books on TapeCritic reviews
"Dazzling prose with remarkable depth and judicious breadth." (Publishers Weekly)
"This could very possibly be one of the greatest intellectual histories ever written." (Library Journal)
"A lucid, highly readable account of complex developments occurring over many centuries....A splendid book." (The New York Times)
"Armstrong at her best - translating and distilling complex history into lucid prose that will delight scholars and armchair historians alike." (The Washington Post Book World)
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Case for God
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that it called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable?
-
-
Great recasting of how God should be interpreted
- By John Doyle on 02-18-11
By: Karen Armstrong
-
Fields of Blood
- Religion and the History of Violence
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 20 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the first time, religious self-identification is on the decline in American. Some analysts have cited as cause a post-9/11 perception: that faith in general is a source of aggression, intolerance, and divisiveness - something bad for society. But how accurate is that view? With deep learning and sympathetic understanding, Karen Armstrong sets out to discover the truth about religion and violence in each of the world’s great traditions, taking us on an astonishing journey from prehistoric times to the present.
-
-
Rethinking Violence and Religion
- By Milton Big Elk on 11-05-14
By: Karen Armstrong
-
The Lost Art of Scripture
- Rescuing the Sacred Texts
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 24 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this timely and important audiobook, one of the most trusted and admired writers on the world of faith examines the meaning of Scripture. The sacred texts have been co-opted by fundamentalists, who insist that they must be taken literally, and by others who interpret Scripture to bolster their own prejudices. These texts are seen to prescribe ethical norms and codes of behavior that are divinely ordained: They are believed to contain eternal truths. But as Karen Armstrong shows, such a narrow, peculiar reading of Scripture is a relatively recent, modern phenomenon.
-
-
Good religious history; complete recording
- By Claudia on 02-03-20
By: Karen Armstrong
-
Muhammad
- A Prophet for Our Time
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Islam: A Short History comes an important addition to the Eminent Lives book series. A former Roman Catholic nun and winner of a Muslim Public Affairs Council Media Award, Karen Armstrong shows how Muhammad's life can teach us a great deal about our world. More is known about Muhammad than any other major religion founder, yet he remains mysterious.
-
-
down to the man
- By David S. on 05-10-12
By: Karen Armstrong
-
The Great Transformation
- The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time
- By: Karl Polanyi
- Narrated by: David Pickering
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this classic work of economic history and social theory, Karl Polanyi analyzes the economic and social changes brought about by the great transformation of the Industrial Revolution. His analysis explains not only the deficiencies of the self-regulating market, but the potentially dire social consequences of untempered market capitalism. New introductory material reveals the renewed importance of Polanyi's seminal analysis in an era of globalization and free trade.
-
-
Self regulating markets eventually fail
- By Robert Ziegler on 02-15-25
By: Karl Polanyi
-
Sacred Nature
- Restoring Our Ancient Bond with the Natural World
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the beginning of time, humankind has looked upon nature and seen the divine. In the writings of the great thinkers across religions, the natural world inspires everything from fear, to awe, to tranquil contemplation; God, or however one defined the sublime, was present in everything. Yet today, even as we admire a tree or take in a striking landscape, we rarely see nature as sacred.
-
-
More of a political piece than a spiritual one
- By Amazon Customer on 01-26-23
By: Karen Armstrong
-
The Case for God
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that it called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable?
-
-
Great recasting of how God should be interpreted
- By John Doyle on 02-18-11
By: Karen Armstrong
-
Fields of Blood
- Religion and the History of Violence
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 20 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the first time, religious self-identification is on the decline in American. Some analysts have cited as cause a post-9/11 perception: that faith in general is a source of aggression, intolerance, and divisiveness - something bad for society. But how accurate is that view? With deep learning and sympathetic understanding, Karen Armstrong sets out to discover the truth about religion and violence in each of the world’s great traditions, taking us on an astonishing journey from prehistoric times to the present.
-
-
Rethinking Violence and Religion
- By Milton Big Elk on 11-05-14
By: Karen Armstrong
-
The Lost Art of Scripture
- Rescuing the Sacred Texts
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 24 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this timely and important audiobook, one of the most trusted and admired writers on the world of faith examines the meaning of Scripture. The sacred texts have been co-opted by fundamentalists, who insist that they must be taken literally, and by others who interpret Scripture to bolster their own prejudices. These texts are seen to prescribe ethical norms and codes of behavior that are divinely ordained: They are believed to contain eternal truths. But as Karen Armstrong shows, such a narrow, peculiar reading of Scripture is a relatively recent, modern phenomenon.
-
-
Good religious history; complete recording
- By Claudia on 02-03-20
By: Karen Armstrong
-
Muhammad
- A Prophet for Our Time
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Islam: A Short History comes an important addition to the Eminent Lives book series. A former Roman Catholic nun and winner of a Muslim Public Affairs Council Media Award, Karen Armstrong shows how Muhammad's life can teach us a great deal about our world. More is known about Muhammad than any other major religion founder, yet he remains mysterious.
-
-
down to the man
- By David S. on 05-10-12
By: Karen Armstrong
-
The Great Transformation
- The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time
- By: Karl Polanyi
- Narrated by: David Pickering
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this classic work of economic history and social theory, Karl Polanyi analyzes the economic and social changes brought about by the great transformation of the Industrial Revolution. His analysis explains not only the deficiencies of the self-regulating market, but the potentially dire social consequences of untempered market capitalism. New introductory material reveals the renewed importance of Polanyi's seminal analysis in an era of globalization and free trade.
-
-
Self regulating markets eventually fail
- By Robert Ziegler on 02-15-25
By: Karl Polanyi
-
Sacred Nature
- Restoring Our Ancient Bond with the Natural World
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the beginning of time, humankind has looked upon nature and seen the divine. In the writings of the great thinkers across religions, the natural world inspires everything from fear, to awe, to tranquil contemplation; God, or however one defined the sublime, was present in everything. Yet today, even as we admire a tree or take in a striking landscape, we rarely see nature as sacred.
-
-
More of a political piece than a spiritual one
- By Amazon Customer on 01-26-23
By: Karen Armstrong
-
The Battle for God
- A History of Fundamentalism
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Lisa Armytage, Karen Armstrong
- Length: 22 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late 20th century, fundamentalism has emerged as one of the most powerful forces at work in the world, contesting the dominance of modern secular values and threatening peace and harmony around the globe. Yet it remains incomprehensible to a large number of people. In The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong brilliantly and sympathetically shows us how and why fundamentalist groups came into existence and what they yearn to accomplish.
-
-
The most important book you haven’t read yet
- By D. A. Vail on 12-29-20
By: Karen Armstrong
-
The Great Transformation
- The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In one astonishing, short period–the ninth century BCE–the peoples of four distinct regions of the civilized world created the religious and philosophical traditions that have continued to nourish humanity into the present day: Confucianism and Daoism in China; Hinduism and Buddhism in India; monotheism in Israel; and philosophical rationalism in Greece. Historians call this the Axial Age because of its central importance to humanity’s spiritual development.
-
-
WTF
- By A.B. Normal on 06-12-11
By: Karen Armstrong
-
Buddha
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This rich, timely, and highly original portrait of the Buddha explores both the archetypal religious icon and Buddha the man. In lucid and compelling prose, Armstrong brings to life the Buddha's quest, from his renunciation of his privileged life to the discovery of a truth that he believed would utterly transform human beings and enable them to live at peace in the midst of life's suffering.
-
-
Eminently Listenable
- By JerryT on 01-23-05
By: Karen Armstrong
-
David Lynch
- The Man from Another Place (Icons)
- By: Dennis Lim
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a pop culture icon, cult figure, and film industry outsider, master filmmaker David Lynch and his work defy easy definition. Dredged from his subconscious mind, Lynch's work is primed to act on our own subconscious, combining heightened, contradictory emotions into something familiar but inscrutable. No less than his art, Lynch's life also evades simple categorization, encompassing pursuits as a musician, painter, photographer, carpenter, entrepreneur, and vocal proponent of Transcendental Meditation.
-
-
Essential listening for Lunch fans
- By Michael P. Mesaros on 08-14-18
By: Dennis Lim
-
God
- A Human History
- By: Reza Aslan
- Narrated by: Reza Aslan
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In layered prose and with thoughtful, accessible scholarship, Aslan narrates the history of religion as one long and remarkably cohesive attempt to understand the divine by giving it human traits and emotions. According to Aslan, this innate desire to humanize God is hardwired in our brains, making it a central feature of nearly every religious tradition. As Aslan writes, "Whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless if we are believers or not, what the vast majority of us think about when we think about God is a divine version of ourselves."
-
-
His best work yet
- By Jeff M on 11-15-17
By: Reza Aslan
-
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Karen Armstrong believes that while compassion is intrinsic in all human beings, each of us needs to work diligently to cultivate and expand our capacity for compassion. Here, in this straightforward, thoughtful, and thought-provoking book, she sets out a program that can lead us toward a more compassionate life.
-
-
An Accessible, Digestible Manifesto About Kindness
- By Lizzie on 01-15-14
By: Karen Armstrong
-
The Qur'an
- A Biography: Books That Changed the World
- By: Bruce Lawrence
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few books in history have been as poorly understood as the Qur'an. In this audiobook, the distinguished historian of religion Bruce Lawrence shows precisely how the Qur'an is Islam. He describes the origins of the faith and assesses its influence on today's societies and politics. Above all, he emphasizes that the Qur'an is a sacred book of signs that has no single message. It is a book that demands interpretation and one that can be properly understood only through its history.
-
-
Not quite enough
- By Leigh A on 06-27-07
By: Bruce Lawrence
-
Islam
- A Short History [Modern Library Chronicles]
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author and renowned religious scholar Karen Armstrong presents a concise and articulate history of Islam, the world's fastest-growing faith. Beginning with the Prophet Muhammad's flight from Medina and concluding with an examination of modern Islamic practices and concerns, Armstrong delivers an unbiased overview. She contends that no religion is more feared and misunderstood by the Western world as Islam, and firmly challenges the notion that these two civilizations are on a collision course.
-
-
Read the Book, pass on the audible!
- By J********** on 08-21-06
By: Karen Armstrong
-
Religion in Human Evolution
- From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age
- By: Robert N. Bellah
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Religion in Human Evolution is a work of extraordinary ambition—a wide-ranging, nuanced probing of our biological past to discover the kinds of lives that human beings have most often imagined were worth living. It offers what is frequently seen as a forbidden theory of the origin of religion that goes deep into evolution, especially but not exclusively cultural evolution.
-
-
extremely biased
- By Kristen on 04-24-24
By: Robert N. Bellah
-
How Jesus Became God
- The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a book that took eight years to research and write, leading Bible scholar Bart D. Ehrman explores how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty Creator of all things. Ehrman sketches Jesus's transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus's followers had visions of him after his death - alive again - did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God.
-
-
Wishing for a bit more meat on the bones
- By Darwin8u on 04-09-14
By: Bart D. Ehrman
-
The Selfish Gene
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands to rethink their beliefs about life.
-
-
Better than print!
- By J. D. May on 07-31-12
By: Richard Dawkins
-
Miracles and Wonder
- The Historical Mystery of Jesus
- By: Elaine Pagels
- Narrated by: Eunice Wong
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Early in her career, Elaine Pagels changed our understanding of the origins of Christianity with her work in The Gnostic Gospels. Now, in the culmination of a decades-long career, she explores the biggest subject of all, Jesus. In Miracles and Wonder she sets out to discover how a poor young Jewish man inspired a religion that shaped the world.
-
-
I had high hopes for this title
- By Christine on 04-02-25
By: Elaine Pagels
minor complaint
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
tl;dr Get if you're new to the topic, are interested in the extension to Greek religion/philosophy, or are heavily into the topic; otherwise find something else to occupy your time and Audible credits.
Okay, but nothing new
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Worth the Journey
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a very informative, perspective enriching content, however, I found the style the content is presented in and the vocal performance were very formal and dry. I found it a bit lacking in personality and humor that could have made it a more pleasant experience for the listener/reader.
This book is definitely worth the investment and time for serious students of comparative religion and philosophy.
For serious study.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So far so good
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Informative Solid Listen
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
long and detailed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Makes you take a deep look at your inner self. .
Superb - Religiously
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Armstrong is the perfect reader for this text.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.