The Case for Religion

by Keith Ward

Overview

A brilliant and accessible rebuttal of The God Delusion from one of Christianity's most incisive thinkers

In this, his first new book since the best-selling God: A Guide for the Perplexed (Oneworld, 2002), Keith Ward turns his attention to the role - and the validity of religion over the centuries and in the world today. His erudite yet informative and factual narrative outlines the various attempts that have been made throughout history to explain religion, including the anthropological, psychological, sociological and philosophical theories of key thinkers from Immanuel Kant to Sigmund Freud. Adopting a comparative approach, the book covers all the religious traditions from West and East alike, concluding in a compelling manner that not only are the world faiths much more than a series of theoretical perspectives, but that, in the face of discord and violence, religious understanding retains more resonance than ever before within our global community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780746708
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	10/01/2014
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	747 KB

About the Author

Keith Ward is Professor of Divinity, Gresham College, London and Regius Professor of Divinity, Emeritus, of the University of Oxford. He is author of the best-selling /God: A Guide for the Perplexed/, also published by Oneworld.
Keith Ward is a Fellow of the British Academy, and Professorial Research Fellow at Heythrop College, London. He was formerly Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford, and is one of Britain's foremost writers on comparative theology and Christian issues.

Table of Contents

Contents include:

1. Religion and the Transcendent
2. Sick Men's Dreams?
3. The Sigh of the Oppressed
4. Voices from the Unconscious
5. Rhythms of the Spirit
6. Children of Abraham
7. The Way to Enlightenment
8. The Second Revolution
9. The Dreams of Reason
10. Matters of Morality
11. Many Paths, One Goal?
12. Indras's Net

Editorial Reviews

Author, scholar and former Oxford don Ward uses his broad knowledge to make the argument for religion as a necessary and reasonable exercise for humans who are aware of the transcendent. He examines what major figures in other disciplines-anthropology, sociology and psychology-have historically said about why humans practice religion. He then briskly sketches the world's major religions and reviews the effect of the European enlightenment on religion, showing how it gave rise to historical and critical thinking and the valuing of experience as a means of knowing. Religion is too persistent, pervasive, positive and profound to be merely foolish, he suggests, but to fail to acknowledge the possibilities it contains for destruction is "a failure of spiritual perception of the first order." Ward is prodigiously well read, moving easily from Sumerian creation accounts to German philosophy to contemporary English philosopher John Hick. He is understandably better at the history of Western ideas than of developments within non-Western traditions, but is always aware that religion is historically a universal practice and now a global reality. In today's "increasingly self-aware global community of communities," the Anglican priest concludes, a coexistence of diverse faith traditions can provide religious leadership toward "human flourishing." Ward's previous book (God: A Guide for the Perplexed) was chattier and more accessible. By comparison, this book is not for the casual reader, but is ideal for serious students of religion who aren't afraid of philosophy. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

"Brilliant, highly readable, and genuinely illuminating. This is a book both for the religious and for those who regard themselves as non-religious, and each will find fascinating surprises in it."

John Hick

"Professor Ward will convince most reasonable readers that human nature would be poorer if the religious impulse were denied. He puts into more intelligent words than most of us could muster what it is which would be lost if we all became material atheists."

The Spectator

" Ward lays out the case for religion with scrupulous argument and without designs."

Interreligious Insight

"This book contains all the familiar War characteristics of clarity, verve and humour."

Church Times

" This insightful book is a valuable contribution to current questions regarding the role of religion in this new millenium."

Dialogue and Alliance

"a lively and interesting survey"

Reviews in Religion and Theology

"The book offers a simple introduction to its main features and provides a useful basic background as well as an invaluable resource for visual material, with clear photo-copiable line drawings of important features of a world faith, together with explanatory text."

Christian Marketplace

"He writes so well that this rather difficult subject becomes completely gripping."

The Good Book Guide