From the bestselling author of A History of God and The Great Transformation comes a balanced, nuanced understanding of the role religion plays in human life and the trajectory of faith in modern times. Why has God become incredible? Why is it that atheists and theists alike now think and speak about God in a way that veers so profoundly from the thinking of our ancestors? 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 has been referred to 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. With the same depth of knowledge and profound insight that have marked all her acclaimed books, Armstrong answers these questions and offers a balanced, nuanced understanding of the role religion plays in human life.