After disbelief : on disenchantment, disappointment, eternity, and joy / Anthony T. Kronman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kronman, Anthony T., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

God.

Spiritual life.

Belief and doubt.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Place of Publication:

United States of America : Yale University Press, [2022]

Summary:

"Many people of faith continue to believe that the meaning of life depends on our connection to an eternal order of some kind. Atheists deride this belief as a childish superstition. It is true that we can never reach God, as religion promises. But we cannot give up the longing to do so either. We are condemned by our nature to set goals we can neither abandon nor fulfill, though paradoxically we are able to come closer if we try. The human condition is one of inevitable disappointment tempered by moments of joy. To explain how this defining human experience is even possible, we are compelled to assume that the world is inherently and infinitely divine. After Disbelief guides the reader to this unexpected conclusion. It delivers the God that every rational humanist needs. Neither religion, in the conventional sense, nor the atheism that has growing appeal today, fits the facts of the human condition. This book does. Resolutely humanistic and theologically inspired at once, it offers a rational path to the love of God amidst the disenchantments of our time"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Gulls of the Western Palearctic

Black-Legged Kittiwake. Rissa tridactyla

Ivory Gull. Pagophila eburnea

Sabine’s Gull. Xema sabini

Slender-billed Gull. Chroicocephalus genei

Bonaparte’s Gull. Chroicocephalus philadelphia

Brown-headed Gull. Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus

Black-headed Gull. Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Grey-headed Gull. Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus

Little Gull. Hydrocoloeus minutus

Ross’s Gull. Rhodostethia rosea

Laughing Gull. Leucophaeus atricilla

Franklin’s Gull. Leucophaeus pipixcan

Mediterranean Gull. Ichthyaetus melanocephalus

Small Hybrid Gulls

Relict Gull. Ichthyaetus relictus

White-eyed Gull. Ichthyaetus leucophthalmus

Sooty Gull. Ichthyaetus hemprichii

Common Gull. Larus canus canus

Russian Common Gull. Larus canus heinei

Kamchatka Gull. Larus (canus) kamtschatschensis

Short-billed Gull. Lar Frontmatter

Introduction: God in the Closet

1. The Humanist’s God

2. Endless Time

3. Illusions of Fulfillment

4. Prospects of Joy

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-300-26533-6

9780300265330

0300265336

OCLC:

1291610823