Open to New Light
Quaker Spirituality in Historical and Philosophical Context
1st Edition
Published on 10. October 2011
217 pages
978-1-84540-341-6 (ISBN)
Description
This book is about "e;the meaning of life"e; or "e;the spiritual quest"e;. It offers a selective and critical evaluation of some central strands of Western religious and philosophical thought over two and a half thousand years. It starts with Socrates' philosophy of life, and the Greek tradition of philosophy that he initiated. It gives its own "e;take"e; on the teaching of Jesus, and on the long and controversial history of Christianity. There is a chapter devoted to George Fox and the beginning of the Quaker movement, suggesting some surprising parallels between the undogmatic spirituality of the Quakers and the heavyweight philosophy of Immanuel Kant. It recommends a non-literal interpretation of language about God, with some reference to Austin Farrer on "e;poetic truth"e;. The book is intended for the intelligent general reader - it is accessible but not "e;dumbed down"e;, knowledgeable but not overburdened with detail, critically argumentative but not prejudiced.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
01/2012
Imprint Academic
€42.26
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Content
- Cover
- Contents
- Front Matter
- Title Page
- Publisher Information
- Preface
- Body Matter
- A Sevenfold Spiritual Quest
- The Philosophy of Socrates
- Ancient Athens in the 5th century BCE
- The life and death of Socrates
- Our sources of knowledge about Socrates
- Socrates' philosophy
- A few comments on Socrates' philosophy
- The Teaching of Jesus
- Ancient Jewish history up to the time of Jesus
- The sources of our knowledge of Jesus
- Jesus's teaching
- Some comments on Jesus's teaching
- Ancient Philosophies of Life
- The world of multicultural empires
- Plato
- Aristotle
- Epicureanism
- Stoicism
- Roman Stoicism
- Rationalism or Fundamentalism
- Christianity-the first three centuries
- The Council of Nicea
- The Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity
- Muhammad and the birth of Islam
- Medieval Islam
- Medieval Judaism
- Christian scholastic philosophy
- George Fox and the Beginning of the Quakers
- The Reformation
- 17th-century England
- George Fox's Light of Christ Within
- The beginning of the Quaker movement
- Fox's religious ethics
- The growth of Quakerism
- Light or Enlightenment?
- Inward light?
- Robert Barclay's "immediate revelations" and Descartes' "natural light"
- Fallibilism in identifying the Light or Spirit
- Locke on "enthusiasm" and "reason"
- The Enlightenment
- Kant's Philosophy of Religion Compared to Quakerism
- Kant's philosophy
- Does the Religious Society of Friends exemplify Kant's ethical community?
- How far do Quakers and Kant agree on theology?
- Do Kant and Quakers differ on the possibility of religious experience?
- God as Metaphor
- Is it a matter of existence?
- Conceptions of God in the Bible and the Qur'an
- Personification in the arts
- Personification in theology
- God-talk without personification
- Farrer on poetic truth
- Metaphorical realism in theology?
- Resurrection?
- Dogma and openness in religion
- What is resurrection of the body supposed to be?
- The resurrection of Jesus?
- Resurrection as spiritual renewal
- Wittgenstein and an epistemology of love?
- Back Matter
- Also Available
