Long Live Salvation by Works: A Humanist Manifesto

by Harry T Cook

Overview

The idea of salvation by faith is dangerous. It has convinced generations of Christians that, if they only had faith, things would get better and wrongs would be righted. Harry Cook proposes that "salvation" is a here-and-now initiative, a do-it-yourself project-what the New Testament calls the domain of God. Human beings, he says, have at hand the wherewithal to save themselves and their environment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598150346
Publisher:	Polebridge Press
Publication date:	02/01/2012
Pages:	178
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.38(d)

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction 1

1 Faith and Works 5

2 Salvation 13

3 The General Situation 21

4 Whence and Whither Belief? 31

5 The Origins of Religion 39

6 Religions' ?Sacred' Texts 49

7 Misuse of 'Sacred' Texts 65

8 Reclaiming Our Secular Humanist Origins 75

9 Religion as a Search for Meaning 85

10 A Nontheistic Ethic of Restraint and a Commitment to Inquiry 99

11 The Humanist's Goal Is Becoming Human 109

12 Negotiating Life as a Humanist 127

13 Practical Considerations 131

14 A Sermon for Would-Be Humanists 135

Epilogue 141

Appendix: Religion and Democracy: An American Experiment 147

Bibliography 159

Glossary 163

Index 165