Philosophy of Religion Books - Page 2

The Everlasting Man (Dover Books on Western Philosophy)

G. K. Chesterton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 61 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good book ruined by an incompetent publisher 1 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This may have been a fine work in its original form, but this edition (Wilder Publications, 2008) is so shoddy, it isn't worth the effort to try to read it. Based on my own experience with OCR software, I would guess that this publisher scanned an old copy, translated it to text, then reformatted it, and printed it. There is no evidence that anyone proofread it prior to printing. It it doubtful that it was even run through a spell-check program. Periods are missing at the ends of sentences; words are left out; "d", "h", and "b" are confused; apostrophies are inserted randomly (probably fly-spots on the original), "and" repeatedly appears as "an", "modern" almost always appears as "modem", etc. ad infinitum.
I read through about a fourth of the book before giving up in exasperation.

Editorial Review:

A history of humanity, Christ, and Christianity, this 1925 polemic famously converted C. S. Lewis from atheism. Chesterton's view of Christianity — as a rare blend of philosophy and mythology, satisfying to both intellect and spirit — applies to his brilliant book, which appeals to readers' heads as well as their hearts.

The Integral Vision: A Very Short Introduction to the Revolutionary Integral Approach to Life, God, the Universe, and Everything

Ken Wilber

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Suppose we took everything that all the various world cultures have to tell us about human potential—about psychological, spiritual, and social growth—and identified the basic patterns that connect these pieces of knowledge. What if we attempted to create an all-inclusive map that touches the most important factors from all of the world's great traditions?

Ken Wilber's Integral Vision provides such a map. Using all the known systems and models of human growth—from the ancient sages to the latest breakthroughs in cognitive science—it distills their major components into five simple elements, and, moreover, ones that readers can verify in their own experience right now.

In any field of interest, such as business, law, science, psychology, health, art, or everyday living and learning—the Integral Vision ensures that we are utilizing the full range of resources for the situation, leading to a greater likelihood of success and fulfillment. With easily understood explanations, exercises, and familiar examples, The Integral Vision shows how we can accelerate growth and development to higher, wider, deeper ways of being, embodied in self, shared in community, and connected to the planet, which can literally help with everything from spiritual enlightenment to business success to personal relationships.

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Pages 160–161

Being and Time

Martin Heidegger

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Total reviews: 51 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Some Thoughts on Approaching Being and Time 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Martin Heidegger's (1889 -- 1976) "Being and Time" (1927), together with Ludwig Wittgenstein's "Philosophical Investigations" is one of the seminal philosophical works of the Twentieth Century. The work still remains difficult, obscure, and highly controversial. The book, and its author, provoke wildly varying responses. This translation, by Macquarrie and Robinson dates from 1962 and appeared in paperback only in 2008 with a useful introduction by philosopher Taylor Carman. Another translation, by Joan Stambaugh, appeared some years ago; but the Macquarrie and Robinson version, for all its difficulty, has become the standard version in English.

Heidegger spent his early years in a seminary but abandoned Catholicism in 1917-1918. His interest in and ambivalence toward religion permeates "Being and Time." Heidegger was a friend of Edmund Husserl, the founder of the philosophical movement known as phenomenology. "Being and Time" is dedicated to Husserl and includes several laudatory references to him. Heidegger was Husserl's assistant at Freiburg, but he wrote "Being and Time" when he had assumed a position at Marburg. He became Heidegger's successor at Freiburg upon Husserl's retirement in 1928. Before writing "Being and Time", Heidegger was regarded as a brilliant scholar and a charismatic teacher. But he had published little. "Being and Time" made him famous, virtually a celebrity, an accomplishment rare for a philosopher. Heidegger remained in the public eye through what became a notorious life through his political involvement with Nazism, and through a long life after WW II in which he did not expressly repudiate his earlier politics.

Even though Heidegger turned Husserl on his head, the phenomenological influence in "Being and Time" is pervasive. Husserl's background in mathematical logic (and Heidegger's too in his early years) also plays more of a role in "Being and Time", I found, than I first thought when I read the book many years ago. In "Being and Time" Heidegger wrestles with many major philosophers, including Descartes, Aristotle, Kant, Kierkegaard, and Hegel, among others.

Heidegger never completed "Being and Time" as he had originally conceived the work. The book as we have it consists of a long introduction, a section called Part I, titled "The Interpretation of Dasein in Terms of Temporality, and the Explication of Time as the Transcendental Horizon for the Question of Being." Part I has two large Divisions each consisting of many subchapters. The first Division, very simply, develops Heidegger's understanding of "Dasein" and of "Being-in-the-World". The second, and much more emotively charged and difficult Division, deals with temporality, resoluteness, and death. Heidegger completed a third division of Part I, but rejected it as unsatisfactory and never published it. A projected part II of "Being and Time" never appeared, as Heidegger abandoned his original lengthy project for the book.

"Being and Time" is a book that requires substantial patience and concentration to read. The reader must be extraordinarily careful with Heidegger's definitions, as the author invents much of his own terminology and uses familiar terms in unusual ways. Beyond that, the style of the book is extraordinarily dense. Unsympathetic readers and critics find Heidegger wilfully obscure. Some see the book as little more than gibberish. Obscure it is, but not gibberish. While portions of the writing seem to me to resist understanding, study will be rewarded. The form and style of the book are an integral part of Heidegger's teaching, as he encourages the reader to delve deeply into what might be regarded as simple, even trivial, matters and to see things that are close in a new light. The writing is heavily metaphorical with figures derived from theology and terminology that is suggestive of violence and sexuality in many places.

The book does not offer arguments in the sense of a traditional philosophical study. Rather Heidegger follows Husserl in trying to get the reader to see and to look at things afresh. Husserl studied ideals of consciousness while Heidegger turns his message to look at being through man's place in the world. There is a tension in the book, it seems to me, between seeing the world primordially, without the encrustations that have accrued from the Greek way of seeing things, and interpreting the world. Heidegger appears to do both.

Heidegger draws a distinction between ontics and ontology. Philosophers, scientists, and most lay people have thought only ontically -- about existing things. Heidegger wants to open up the question of being -- and draws what is a critically important distinction between existing things and reality -- which does not have the concept of thinghood. He attacks the Aristotelian concept of substance which is basic to much Western thought and the dualism of Descartes. Much of the book is an attempt to dissolve philosophical questions resulting from a substantialist metaphysics.

The book challenges the primacy most thinkers have accorded to the concept of reason and asks its readers to understand "being-in-the-world" and activity as the source of life from which subsequent concepts of reasoning arises. Although Heidegger had disdain for American philosophy, I found that a hard pragmatism underlies much of "Being and Time".

In its concepts of historicity, commitment,the people, and perhaps in its derogation of reason, "Being and Time" could be read as laying a philosophical basis for the Nazism which Heidegger actively supported during the 1930s. This aspect of the work should not be minimized. But neither should the power, originality, and insight of "Being and Time" be denied.

When I began to study philosophy many years ago, the discipline was essentially divided between "analytic philosophy" and "continental" or "existential" philosophy. That division remains today. But some readers have seen parallels between the two broad schools. For me these parallels, particularly the rejection of Cartesianism and of substance metaphysics, come through stronger after the distance of the years. It is worth considering how much changes and how much remains the same in philosophy.

Readers with a good background in philosophy will probably be in a better position to struggle with "Being and Time" than those with little exposure to the subject. On my most recent reading of the book, I read it through and then read a commentary -- there are many excellent studies of "Being and Time". For most philosophical texts, I think the reader should first go to the work itself and try to make sense of it rather than to get one's perspective on the book fixed by a commentary. But study can be done in many ways.

While higly critical of Heidegger for his political activities, the philosopher Karl Jaspers said of him: "In the full flow of his discourse he occasionally succeeds in hitting the nerve of the philosophical enterprise in a most mysterious and marvellous way. In this, as far as I can see, he is perhaps unique among contemporary German philosophers." "Being and Time" is an important book.

Robin Friedman

Editorial Review:

One of the most important philosophical works of our time -- a work that has had tremendous influence on philosophy, literature, and psychology, and has literally changed the intellectual map of the modern world.

The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (Great Books in Philosophy)

William James

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Always providing further insight 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This 1902 publication still takes pride of place as a landmark study and remains one of the most influential books ever on psychology and spirituality. The style is accessible and engaging, consistently interesting with well-reasoned arguments. Religions are not compared; the study is restricted to the experiences of the individual.

James considers the feelings, actions and experiences of people insofar as they understand themselves to be in a relationship with whatever they consider the Divine. It has nothing to do with churches, doctrine or dogma, concerning itself only with the religious experiences of everyday life.

He emphasizes the passionate aspect of religion and its power of adding enchantment to life. Dealing objectively with a wide spectrum of observed and personally related religious experiences, James also quotes from the autobiographical writings of famous authors, theologians and mystics from many traditions including Whitman, Luther, Voltaire, Emerson, Tolstoy and many others.

The terrain of study is clearly identified and circumscribed. Chapter titles include Religion & Neurology, the Reality of the Unseen, the Religion of Healthy-Mindedness, the Sick Soul, the Divided Self & the Process of Unification, Conversion, Saintliness, Mysticism and Philosophy.

In his own words: "Both thought and feeling are determinants of conduct, and the same conduct may be determined either by feeling or thought. When we survey the whole field of religion, we find a great variety in the thoughts that have prevailed there; but the feelings on the one hand and the conduct on the other are almost always the same, for Stoic, Christian and Buddhist saints are practically indistinguishable in their lives. The theories which religion generates, being thus variable, are secondary. If you wish to grasp its essence, you must look to the feelings and the conduct as being the more constant elements."

This book offers a treasure trove of insights, revelation, wisdom and points to ponder that contributes substantially to the reader's understanding of consciousness, psychological processes, mystic states, thought & emotion, and the relationship to the Eternal Divine.

Although it is not a difficult text to grasp, patience is called for since every sentence is loaded with so many layers of meaning that one often has to reread a previous paragraph in order to fully comprehend and properly process the insights and information. A mindful, meditative study of the text will richly reward the reader.

Other works on religion and/or spirituality that I have found illuminating, inspiring or thought-provoking are Bible Mystery and Bible Meaning & The Creative Process in the Individual by Thomas Troward, Religion in the Making by Alfred North Whitehead, The Hidden Power of the Bible by Ernest Holmes, Alter Your Life by Emmet Fox, Cracking the Bible Code by Jeffrey Satinover, The Thirteen Petalled Rose by Adin Steinsaltz and One Cosmos Under God by Robert Godwin.

Editorial Review:

James' masterful treatise on the psychology of individual religious experience was originally composed for the prestigious Gifford Lectures delivered at Edinburgh University in 1901-1902. Emphasising subjective religious experience in its many guises, as opposed to the distinctions among specific creeds or theologies, this trenchant exploration of the religious imagination is still unsurpassed as an overview of the human belief in a transcendent reality, whether personalised as God or viewed impersonally as some higher spiritual reality. As such James' study is relevant to any religious context, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, 'New Age', or any other. James concludes that religious experience is real insofar as it produces real effects on peoples' lives and characters, and therefore it can and should be the subject of serious scientific inquiry.

Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future (Oxford World's Classics)

Friedrich Nietzsche

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Total reviews: 75 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Completely Overrated 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Abstract open ended type of book with Nietzsche's opinions and beliefs on good and evil. Opinions on 'slave morality', philosophy, the will to power with a little bit of history thrown in the mix.

There were some great quotes in here that I did agree with. Then we come towards the middle of the book that contains the maxims and interludes part and all goes wrong...

There were some things in here I extremely disagreed with... regarding women. Where he came up with this I have no idea but it was completely off base... I can see how many parts of this book could be misinterpreted and used in the wrong way.

He talks about individuality but the truth is this is for people who need to be told what to think. If you think like Nietzsche thinks- you are 'better'- he has the mentality of a nazi.

This book is not as dramatic as Zarathustra but it's close. I think he feels if he stresses his point enough maybe you will believe him. This book is the opposite of religion yet the same- on the other end of the spectrum.

The bottom line is these are HIS opinions and shouldn't be taken as truth or fact. It's not a completely bad book though I disagree with most and wouldn't take it too seriously- its a pretentious piece of work.

Editorial Review:

Nietzsche's mature masterpiece, Beyond Good and Evil considers the origins and nature of Judeo-Christian morality; the end of philosophical dogmatism and beginning of perspectivism; the questionable virtues of science and scholarship; liberal democracy, nationalism, and women's emancipation. A superb new translation by Marion Faber, this highly annotated edition is complemented by a lucid introduction by one of the most eminent of Nietzsche scholars, Robert C. Holub.

Fear and Trembling

Soren Kierkegaard

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Provocative but flawed 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Essential reading for anyone with the slightest interest in religion or philosophy. He makes an important point: faith cannot be collapsed into the ethical, taking the Old Testament story of Abraham's aborted sacrifice of Isaac as his proof text. If faith was simply a matter of acting ethically, then we wouldn't need religion, only ethics. That said, I don't like how he makes faith into something so superhuman and difficult that only a few spiritual athletes are capable of it. Which is wrong. Christian faith is available to anyone. Christ said, "come unto me all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." And I don't believe that faith contradicts ethics either, as Kierkegaard suggests. Kierkegaard's message was to a largely Christian society that took faith for granted. He wanted to bring out the radicality of faith, which is a valuable message. But today, when Christian Churches are losing members, we need the evangelical message, to bring people in. Faith is first of all an expression of love for God and our fellow humans, not a leap into the absurd. Kierkegaard used to appeal to me more when I was younger, and I liked the idea of viewing my faith as something radical and even scandalous. Now that I'm more mature, I realize that faith is really about loving and trusting God and loving my neighbor as myself. Yes, there's a sacrifice involved; Kierkegaard is right about that, but trusting God means trusting his goodness and love.

Editorial Review:

First published in 1843 under a pseudonym, "Frygt og Baeven" is written in a quasi-dialogue form in which different facets of Kierkegaard's thought are presented to the reader. Without disclosing his own beliefs Kierkegaard confronts the reader with various ethical and religious attitudes, but leaves the responsibility of choice open. This new edition provides a chronology of the author's life and detailed notes to complement Kierkegaard's analysis of religion.

Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity

Nancy Pearcey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 78 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

“This book continues the Schaeffer-inspired project that Nancy Pearcey and Chuck Colson began in How Now Shall We Live?—awakening evangelical Christians to the need for a Christian ‘worldview,’ which Pearcey defines as ‘a biblically informed perspective on all reality.’ This is the rare long book that leaves one wanting to read more.”
—Publishers Weekly

“On one level, this book is a lucid, easy-to-understand manual for worldview thinking. But it also breaks new ground in worldview analysis.”
—World Magazine

“Pearcey is an outstanding writer with the ability not only to express deep thoughts in a very readable way, but one who also understands a biblically reformed world and life view. If you buy only one book this year, this would be at the top of the list.”
—Equip for Ministry

“Pearcey helps readers see how many modern Christians unwittingly accept a sacred/secular split, which allows them to relegate faith to the private sphere of life. She then clearly puts forth a Scriptural picture of integrating all of life under the liberating Lordship of Christ and shows what that truth means for the areas of public policy, family life, science, business, law, education, and more.”
—Covenant Magazine

“Total Truth questions the modern American cultural attitude of keeping religion a private matter, claiming that Christianity’s truth is best served by being brought into the public sphere to maximize its influence.”
—Midwest Book Review

“Thoroughly researched, well-written and well-argued, Total Truth will prove to be a useful and easily accessible guidebook for many who seek to develop a comprehensive biblical worldview that affects not only beliefs but actions.”
—CaliforniaRepublic.org

How can you liberate Christianity from its cultural captivity? In this superbly crafted cultural analysis, a noted author passionately argues that Christianity is truth about all reality, not just religious truth, and that to keep it privatized is stripping it of the power to challenge and redeem the whole of culture.

The Perennial Philosophy (Perennial Classics)

Aldous Huxley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Universality of the mystical experience 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

Culled from Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist sources, Huxley makes the case for the universality of certain religious doctrines grounded in a common mystical experience. This work by Huxley established him as one of the greatest lay theologians. It is a work of syncretism of the highest order. Huxley was raised as a Christian, yet was a mystical seeker across religious traditions. His quest included experiments with psychedelics, studying vedanta and other religious traditions.

This book is a must read for the mystical seeker, who wants confirmation that the mystical experience is real. This text was also highly influential within the academic study of religion. Huston Smith, who has written the most widely used textbook on the world's religions, has cited it numerous times in his writings as shaping his own views on the commonality of all religious traditions.

Editorial Review:

The Perennial Philosophy is defined by its author as "The metaphysic that recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world of things and lives and minds." With great wit and stunning intellect, Aldous Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains them in terms that are personally meaningful.

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path

Jack Kornfield

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Total reviews: 41 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The rich harvest of an entire generation's spiritual work in the West, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry is one of the most authentic and convincing accounts ever written of the lifelong path of inner transformation. Written by a Buddhist teacher and meditation master of international renown, this moving and fascinating book also draws on the firsthand experiences of dedicated leaders and practitioners within the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Sufi traditions. The result is a uniquely intimate and honest understanding of how the modern spiritual journey unfolds-and of how we can prepare our own hearts for awakening.

"Enlightenment does exist," Jack Kornfield assures us. "Unbounded freedom and joy, oneness with the divine...these experiences are more common than you know, and not far away."  But even after achieving such realization, we are faced with the day-to-day task of translating that freedom into our imperfect lives. We are faced with the laundry.

The author's personal stories, vivid traditional tales, and the voices of many others who have traveled this path become our companions on the way. We learn to recognize the first stirrings of sacred longing, the gates that lead to spiritual opening, the immediacy of satori or grace.  We also learn how the enlightened heart navigates the real world of difficult family or community relationships, emotional pain, struggles with earning a living, sickness, betrayal by those we have trusted-even death.

Filled with "the laughter of the wise," alive with compassion, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry is a gift to anyone who is seeking peace, wholeness, and inner happiness. It is sure to take its place next to A Path with Heart as a spiritual classic for our time.

Where Is God When It Hurts?

Philip Yancey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A helpful resource 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Yancey deals with a number of issues vital to the discussion of pain and writes with great sensitivity, insight and clarity. He redefines the nature and purpose of pain, debunks the "health and wealth" theology, addresses the activity of God in pain, how to help people who are experiencing pain and gives lessons we can learn from pain. This is a wonderful resource for anyone going through a painful time or those who work in ministry, counseling, etc. Highly recommended.

Everyone else has said it all 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Everyone else has said it all about this book. I believe this book is a must for everyone's library. I think Yancey is brillant.

Saving the Best For the End (of the Book and Perhaps Life)... 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

For most of the book, it is a rather journeyman, though sometimes inspired, look at pain and suffering. Well told, well done, well written, perhaps, but lacking the intensity of thought and insight that have always characterized Philip Yancey....

Then comes the end, where he pulls it all together in Part 5, "How Does Faith Help?" Then Philip Yancey writes like Philip Yancey..sharp, to the point, moving and inspirational.

A comparison might be the Old Testament to the New Testament. The New Testament alone is riveting and powerful, but, taken with the Old Testament, it becomes the Bible, the whole story of God's effort to communicate with man and man's effort to make sense of it. The New Testament is much more meaningful after having read the Old Testament.

It may be the same with this book. The first four parts,"Why Is There Such a Thing as Pain?," "Is Pain a Message from God?," How People Respond to Suffering" and "How CanWe Cope With Pain?" combine to make the fifth and final section so moving and powerful.

All of the parts (listed above)are meaningful and good. We all find ourselves at various points in our lives asking the questions and relating to the points raised in the first four parts, but Part 5 brings it all together and Yancey becomes Yancey again.

Not his best, but certainly worth the read. Certainly!! Especially if you are dealing with, anticipate dealing with or just plain wonder about pain, suffering and the presence/absence of God.

Editorial Review:

This perennial best-seller, now in a revised and expanded edition, includes a study guide. The book and study materials focus on the role of pain in God's plan for life and how we can respond to it.