Living with Ambiguity: Religious Naturalism and the Menace of EvilState University of New York Press, 2008 M08 20 - 136 pages In this book Donald A. Crosby looks at how a religion based on the sacredness of nature deals with the problem of evil. Further developing and defending the vision of religious thought and life elaborated in his previous work, A Religion of Nature, Crosby explores how such a vision can enable us to interpret, respond to, and cope with the diverse forms of evil in the world, arguing that an ambiguity of goods and evils in human life, in nature as a whole, and in any conceivable or desirable realm of existence is inevitable. It is therefore futile to seek recourse in powers, presences, states, or realms thought to wholly transcend a combination of goods and evils or to be entirely devoid of evil. This being the case, the central problem of an adequate religious faith is how to live a constructive, meaningful life in the face of this intractable ambiguity. Religion of nature, as it is laid out and explained here, confronts this problem and offers a comprehensive, sustaining, and fully adequate way of conceiving and living a religious life. |
Contents
1 RELIGION OF NATURE AS A FORM OF RELIGIOUS NATURALISM | 1 |
2 AMBIGUITIES OF NATURE | 21 |
3 NATURE AS THE FOCUS OF RELIGIOUS FAITH | 43 |
4 PERSPECTIVISM PLURALISM AND AMBIGUITY | 67 |
5 RELIGIOUS RIGHTNESS AND MORAL VALUE | 79 |
6 COPING WITH AMBIGUITY | 91 |
NOTES | 113 |
117 | |
121 | |
Other editions - View all
Living with Ambiguity: Religious Naturalism and the Menace of Evil Donald A. Crosby Limited preview - 2009 |
Living with Ambiguity: Religious Naturalism and the Menace of Evil Donald A. Crosby No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
actions acts affirm ambiguities of nature ambiguity aspects assumption avoid awareness become believe bring chapter character claims commitment completely conceive concept concern consider contains context continue creatures death deeply dependent destruction developed distinctive diverse earth effects entities everything example existence experience explanation face fact final finite focus of religious forms freedom future give given God’s hope human idea imagined important infinite issue kind least lives matter meaning metaphysics moral evils nature’s nonhuman object one’s ourselves outlook particular past persons perspectival perspectives position possible present principles problem processes question reality reason regarded relation religion of nature religious faith religious rightness religious ultimate require respects response seek sense situations sometimes species suffering supernatural term things thought tion true truth types understand universe whole