Axial Ageism
Archive: Hodgepodge
Pop historian Karen Armstrong's notion of the Axial Age takes a beating:
Armstrong does not believe the Axial sages had all the answers. None of them was a woman, for a start, and none had to deal with the militant secularism of our time. She implies that she can improve on their efforts. With great respect, I doubt it. Her 'Axial Age' is already as dated as the existentialism which its inventor, Karl Jaspers, thought would replace traditional faith. We shall see whether Karen Armstrong's Axialism finds as many disciples as the sages of old - or even any at all.
Daniel Johnson reviews The Great Transformation by Karen Armstrong.
In one of the most revealing passages, Armstrong writes that ''to find that our own faith is so deeply in accord with others is an affirming experience.” As a historian, I find that I am deeply skeptical when I am told that an ancient person's thoughts are ''deeply in accord” with my own. Unfortunately, Armstrong lacks such skepticism, which is ironic, given her repeated praise for the skepticism of the ancient sages.
Surveying religions' building blocks
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