A scrupulously researched and timely investigation for those with backgrounds in philosophy and theology.
A sweeping, scholarly investigation of the main ligature that connects religion and science: trust.
Fishman (co-author: Yoga and Multiple Sclerosis, 2007, etc.) wrestles with a notion that has always flummoxed philosophers: the relationship between religion and science, i.e., faith vs. reason. Bucking a trend to interpret the two as mutually exclusive or two parallel modes of discourse too different to effectively communicate with one another, he argues that they share a common core: the “mysterious phenomenon of trust.” In fact, Fishman contends that science blossomed from the seeds planted by religion; science, he says, refined religion’s preoccupation with the investigation of ultimate causes and the underlying demand of doctrinal consistency. Religion focuses on the “uncreated creator,” while “science traces the skein of all causes back to, yes, exactly one cause.” The common and fertile ground of both (as well as in law) is trust. “The Scholastics, with what many still consider utterly vain arguments, were actually doing the groundwork, the essential preparation for the social institution of science,” he says. The key was “satisfying a necessary precondition for a large group of somewhat different peoples to appreciate the same problems, and be able to agree about the conditions for their solutions.” Broad in its scope, Fishman’s approach is a deeply philosophical mediation. While he focuses on Christian sources of theology, he also discusses Islam, Confucianism, Taoism and other non-Western schools of thought. While the prose is lucid, this isn’t a book for a layperson; it presupposes a strong understanding of the development of Western philosophy. In the end, science ends up much more reliant on mutual trust within a community than one might think; meanwhile, religion, also dependent upon trust, can be much more rationally rigorous.
A scrupulously researched and timely investigation for those with backgrounds in philosophy and theology.Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1482584707
Page Count: 404
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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