
The God That Did Not Fail
How Religion Built and Sustains the West
Robert Royal(Author)
Encounter Books,USA (Publisher)
Published on 23. September 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-1-59403-517-3 (ISBN)
Description
Secular humanists and other "progressives" have been predicting the demise of religion for the past 250 years. But they keep running into a problem: those who were supposed to be liberated by the secular gospel that God is Dead aren't buying it. Except for some parts of western Europe and in countries culturally destroyed by Communism, secularization in the radical sense has not occurred.
While it has not obliterated the religious impulse, however, the drive towards "progressive irreligion" has, Robert Royal believes, encouraged ignorance of religion's central role in the development of the West. In "The God That Did Not Fail," Royal offers an original reading of religion in ancient Greece and Rome, of Christianity and Judaism, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Reformation, the several modern Enlightenments, culminating with a profound assessment of our current postmodern moment. He concludes that since religion is a permanent part of human nature and of the particular character of the West, our efforts should be directed not into a quixotic effort to deny the undeniable, especially as we face challenges from Islamic fundamentalism, but into promoting a well thought out and dynamic interplay of faith, reason, and modern freedoms.
While it has not obliterated the religious impulse, however, the drive towards "progressive irreligion" has, Robert Royal believes, encouraged ignorance of religion's central role in the development of the West. In "The God That Did Not Fail," Royal offers an original reading of religion in ancient Greece and Rome, of Christianity and Judaism, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Reformation, the several modern Enlightenments, culminating with a profound assessment of our current postmodern moment. He concludes that since religion is a permanent part of human nature and of the particular character of the West, our efforts should be directed not into a quixotic effort to deny the undeniable, especially as we face challenges from Islamic fundamentalism, but into promoting a well thought out and dynamic interplay of faith, reason, and modern freedoms.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
522 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-59403-517-3 (9781594035173)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Robert Royal is president of the Faith & Reason Institute in Washington, D.C. Among his books are 1492 and All That: Political Manipulations of History and The Virgin and the Dynamo: The Use and Abuse of Religion in Environmental Debates.