Armstrong explains in the interview that the idea of the Bible as the bedrock of Christian doctrine is relatively new, being an innovation of the Protestant Reformation, and the idea that it is the literal word of God is even newer, dating mostly from the 19th century evangetical protestant movements. She points out that, as a modern Catholic, she was taught that the church hierarchy was the ultimate Christian authority and that the Bible was of relatively lesser importance. Throughout her extensive religious education, the says, the Bible was actually referred to rather rarely.

In fact, during most of Christian history, the Bible was not considered a consistent document to be taken literally. In all of this Armstrong is essentially correct.

The so-called “religious wars” were largely political and were almost never based on direct biblical interpretation, although the Bible has been and still is used as an excuse for the persecution of various minorities, such as Jews, Native Americans, Africans, and homosexuals. I find it very hard to believe, however, that the fading away of religion would somehow herald a new Golden Age of harmony and tolerance. If religion and the Bible not exist, people would no doubt just come up with another excuses.

Armstrong didn’t say this in the interview, but it is also true that contemporary religious fundamentalism is not based on a close reading of the Bible. Fundamentalists ignore, for example, the disjunction between the Old and New Testaments, something that Jesus and Paul themselves emphasized. Jesus’ teachings are not based on Mosaic law and in fact American fundamentalists seem much more focused on the Old Testament than the New, pretending that these deep doctrinal differences do not exist.

In any event, few people in contemporary life besides religious scholars like Armstrong treat the Bible as anything other than as a book of familiar quotations to bolster a particular point of view. The idea that it is a compendium of accumlated knowledge to be pondered and interpreted seems to be largely lost. Like Armstrong’s previous books, this one sounds like a useful, if a bit superficial, corrective to popular misconceptions which, when it comes to religion, are legion.