Belief Or Non-Belief?

Belief Or Non-Belief? PDF Author: Umberto Eco
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 0826480993
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 107

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Book Description
The two great men, who stand on opposite sides of the church door, discuss some of the controversial issues of the day. One is the prince of the Church, a respected scholar and one of the pre-eminent ecumenical churchmen of Europe; and the other the world famous author of The Name of the Rose, a scholar, philosopher and self-declared secularist.

Belief Or Non-Belief?

Belief Or Non-Belief? PDF Author: Umberto Eco
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 0826480993
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 107

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Book Description
The two great men, who stand on opposite sides of the church door, discuss some of the controversial issues of the day. One is the prince of the Church, a respected scholar and one of the pre-eminent ecumenical churchmen of Europe; and the other the world famous author of The Name of the Rose, a scholar, philosopher and self-declared secularist.

Science and Nonbelief

Science and Nonbelief PDF Author: Taner Edis
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 161614081X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
In this wide-ranging overview, physicist and acclaimed science writer Edis examines the relationship between today's sciences and religious nonbelief. He provides a very readable, nontechnical introduction to the leading scientific ideas that impinge upon religious belief.

Nonbelief & Evil

Nonbelief & Evil PDF Author: Theodore M. Drange
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615927085
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
Can God's nonexistence be established? According to author Theodore M. Drange, it all depends on what is meant by "God". This book expands the frontiers of philosophy by exploring atheism, evil, and the nonexistence of God. Included are examinations of free-will, the possibility of an afterlife, arguments by theists, and more.

The Hiddenness Argument

The Hiddenness Argument PDF Author: J. L. Schellenberg
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191047376
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
In many places and times, and for many people, God's existence has been rather less than a clear fact. According to the hiddenness argument, this is actually a reason to suppose that it is not a fact at all. The hiddenness argument is a new argument for atheism that has come to prominence in philosophy over the past two decades. J. L. Schellenberg first developed the argument in 1993, and this book offers a short and vigorous statement of its central claims and ideas. Logically sharp but so clear that anyone can understand, the book addresses little-discussed issues such as why it took so long for hiddenness reasoning to emerge in philosophy, and how the hiddenness problem is distinct from the problem of evil. It concludes with the fascinating thought that retiring the last of the personal gods might leave us nearer the beginning of religion than the end. Though an atheist, Schellenberg writes sensitively and with a nuanced insider's grasp of the religious life. Pertinent aspects of his experience as a believer and as a nonbeliever, and of his own engagement with hiddenness issues, are included. Set in this personal context, and against an authoritative background on relevant logical, conceptual, and historical matters, The Hiddenness Argument's careful but provocative reasoning makes crystal clear just what this new argument is and why it matters.

Hi, I'm an Atheist!

Hi, I'm an Atheist! PDF Author: David G. McAfee
Publisher: St. Martin's Essentials
ISBN: 1250782090
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
The essential guide to coming out as a non-believer David G. McAfee was raised in a conservative American Christian household. So when he stopped believing in God—any god—his family was shocked. He quickly realized that atheists are misunderstood, frequently thought of as Satan worshippers and anarchists. Thus started McAfee's journey to his true self, and crusade to tell others—especially those who are devoutly religious—what atheism really is, what he believes in, and why atheists should not be feared. In Hi, I'm an Atheist!, McAfee looks at what an atheist believes and how to “come out” as an atheist to your friends, family, and co-workers, offering sound advice on overcoming the difficult moments in any “coming out” conversation. Including a resource guide both for people just coming to atheism and people who have been atheists for years as well as an interview with Rebecca Vitsmun, the woman made famous for coming out as an atheist live on CNN, Hi I’m an Atheist! is a smart, sensitive, and realistic guide to living one’s life positively and honestly without the need for a belief in God.

From Belonging to Belief

From Belonging to Belief PDF Author: Julie McBrien
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
ISBN: 0822983052
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
From Belonging to Belief presents a nuanced ethnographic study of Islam and secularism in post-Soviet Central Asia, as seen from the small town of Bazaar-Korgon in southern Kyrgyzstan. Opening with the juxtaposition of a statue of Lenin and a mosque in the town square, Julie McBrien proceeds to peel away the multiple layers that have shaped the return of public Islam in the region. She explores belief and nonbelief, varying practices of Islam, discourses of extremism, and the role of the state, to elucidate the everyday experiences of Bazaar-Korgonians. McBrien shows how Islam is explored, lived, and debated in both conventional and novel sites: a Soviet-era cleric who continues to hold great influence; popular television programs; religious instruction at wedding parties; clothing; celebrations; and others. Through ethnographic research, McBrien reveals how moving toward Islam is not a simple step but rather a deliberate and personal journey of experimentation, testing, and knowledge acquisition. Moreover she argues that religion is not always a matter of belief—sometimes it is essentially about belonging. From Belonging to Belief offers an important corrective to studies that focus only on the pious turns among Muslims in Central Asia, and instead shows the complex process of evolving religion in a region that has experienced both Soviet atheism and post-Soviet secularism, each of which has profoundly formed the way Muslims interpret and live Islam.

Against Dogmatism

Against Dogmatism PDF Author: Madhuri M. Yadlapati
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252095200
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
Many contemporary discussions of religion take an absolute, intractable approach to belief and nonbelief that privileges faith and dogmatism while treating doubt as a threat to religious values. As Madhuri M. Yadlapati demonstrates, however, there is another way: a faith (or nonfaith) that embraces doubt and its potential for exploring both the depths and heights of spiritual reflection and speculation. Through three distinct discussions of faith, doubt, and hope, Yadlapati explores what it means to live creatively and responsibly in the everyday world as limited, imaginative, and questioning creatures. She begins with a perceptive survey of diverse faith experiences in Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, and Protestant Christianity and then narrows her focus to Protestant Christianity and Hinduism to explore how the great thinkers of those faiths have embraced doubt in the service of spiritual transcendence. Yadlapati traces religious perspectives on trust, humility, belonging, commitment, and lively skepticism as they relate to faith and doubt. Drawing on various doctrines, scriptures, and the writings of great religious thinkers such as C. S. Lewis, Søren Kierkegaard, Karl Barth, and Raimon Panikkar, Yadlapati demonstrates how doubt can serve to enhance faith, not hinder it. Defending the rich tapestry of faith and doubt against polarization, Against Dogmatism reveals an ecumenical middle way, a spiritual approach native to traditions in which faith and doubt are interwoven in constructive and dynamic ways.

Belief & Unbelief

Belief & Unbelief PDF Author: Barbara G. Walker
Publisher: Humanist Press
ISBN: 9780931779565
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 175

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Book Description
Walker's 22 new essays cover the spectrum, from "The Islamic Holocaust" being perpetrated against women to the dizziness of crystal-gazers in "Encountering the New Age." Walker explains in depth how religion has been perverted from its naturalistic roots in the celebration of the mystery of new life to a patriarchal orgy of violence. In "Does Religion Make People Good?," Walker responds with an emphatic "No ," citing extensive evidence of "Bible Morality" to produce today's Christian "God the Monster." Women have borne the brunt of patriarchal religion's evils - Walker even argues cogently for "Religion As the Root of Sexism." Yet in her conclusion, "Family and the Future," the ever-upbeat Walker imagines a return to the original, best traditions of religion as a metaphor for the wonder of the universe.

Five Moral Pieces

Five Moral Pieces PDF Author: Umberto Eco
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547564058
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 131

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Book Description
In this prescient essay collection, the acclaimed author of Foucault’s Pendulum examines the cultural trends and perils at the dawn of the 21st century. In the last decade of the 20th century, Umberto Eco saw an urgent need to embrace tolerance and multiculturalism in the face of our world’s ever-increasing interconnectivity. At a talk delivered during the first Gulf War, he points out the absurdity of armed conflict in a globalized economy where the flow of information is unstoppable and the enemy is always behind the lines. Elsewhere, he questions the influence of the news media and identifies its contribution to our collective disillusionment with politics. In a deeply personal essay, Eco recalls his boyhood experience of Italy’s liberation from fascism. He then analyzes the universal elements of fascism, including the “cult of tradition” and a “suspicion of intellectual life.” And finally, in an open letter to an Italian cardinal, Eco reflects on a question underlying all the reflections in the book: What does it mean to be moral or ethical when one doesn't believe in God? “At just 111 pages, Five Moral Pieces packs a philosophical wallop surprising in such a slender book. Or maybe not so surprising. Eco's prose here is beautiful.”—January Magazine

Agnostic

Agnostic PDF Author: Lesley Hazleton
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1594634130
Category : Agnosticism
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
"A widely admired writer on religion celebrates agnosticism as the most vibrant, engaging--and ultimately the most honest--stance toward the mysteries of existence." -- Amazon.com.