Religion in late modernity / Robert Cummings Neville.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Neville, Robert C.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion--Philosophy.

Religion.

Philosophical theology.

Physical Description:

xv, 284 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2002]

Summary:

Religion in Late Modernity runs against the grain of common suppositions of contemporary theology and philosophy of religion. Against the common supposition that basic religious terms have no real reference but are mere functions of human need, the book presents a pragmatic theory of religious symbolism in terms of which the cognitive engagement of the Ultimate is of a piece with the cognitive engagement of nature and persons. Throughout this discussion, Neville develops a late-modern conception of God that is defensible in a global theological public.

Against the common supposition that religion is on the retreat in late modernity except in fundamentalist forms, the author argues that religion in our time is a stimulus to religiously oriented scholarship, a civilizing force among world societies, a foundation for obligation in politics, a source for healthy social experimentation, and the most important mover of soul.

Contents:

Part 1 Late-Modern Topics

Chapter 1. The Contingencies of Nature 9

Nature Defined 9

Cosmological Contingency: Determinateness and Time's Flow 13

Ontological Contingency: Creation and Eternity 19

Symbols of Ontological Asymmetry 24

Chapter 2. Human Nature 29

Defining Human Nature 29

To Be under Obligation 31

The Human Condition 36

Orientation and Poise 39

Chapter 3. Religious Symbols 45

Symbolic Meaning and Religion 45

The Reference of Religious Symbols 52

The Interpretation of Religious Symbols 57

The Truth of Religious Symbols 61

Chapter 4. The Symbols of Divine Action 66

The Concept of God 67

What Can We Know about God? 72

When Can We Say God Is a Personal Agent? 77

When Should We Not Say God Is a Personal Agent? 84

Chapter 5. Eternity and the Transformation of Soul 88

Eternity as a Contemporary Problem 88

Plotinus and Eternity 91

The Transformation of Soul to Engage Eternity 95

The Engagement of Eternity 97

Eternity Engaged through the Temporal 100

Eternity in Time: Real and Illusory 102

Eternity and Immortality 105

Part 2 Late-Modern Religion

Chapter 6. Religion and Scholarship 109

Recent History of the Study of Religions 110

Participation and Distance in a Typology of the Study of Religions 115

Models of Spirituality among Historically Conscious Scholars 126

Chapter 7. Religion and Society 131

World Society, World Culture, World Community 132

The Causal Effectiveness of Religions 138

Global Modernization and Religious Traditions 144

Maitreyan Strategies 150

Chapter 8. Religion and Politics: Spheres of Tolerance 158

Religious Wars and the Alleged Privacy of Religion 158

Obligation and Civil Religion 162

Ultimacy and Religions' Essential Features 164

Political Tolerance of Religions 166

Religion and Public Theology 169

Chapter 9. Religion and the American Experiment 171

The American Religious Scene 172

The Experiment: An Hypothesis 176

What Makes Religions Religious 179

Chapter 10. Religion and Vital Engagement 184

Engagement and Competence 184

Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Oversoul 188

The Soul Transformed 192

Emerson, Nietzsche, and Jesus: A Challenge to Modernism 196

Part 3 Religion and Philosophy in Late Modernity

Chapter 11. The Public Character of Theology and Religious Studies 203

Chapter 12. Religions, Philosophies, and Philosophy of Religion 217

The Impact of Scholarship on Philosophy of Religion 217

A Definition of Philosophy of Religion 221

The Problematic of Translation and Comparison 225

Comparison, Philosophy, and Theology 229

Chapter 13. A Paleopragmatic Philosophy of the History of Philosophy 233

Paleopragmatism 233

Signs: The Phenomenology, Comparison, and Lineages of Philosophies 235

Philosophies as Referents: Structures, Insights, Orientation 239

Philosophies as Interpretive Engagements: Truth, Usability, Fallibilism 242.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [261]-267) and index.

ISBN:

079145424X

0791454231

OCLC:

47805163