tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4104012373258339565.post4551789016657163074..comments2023-10-31T12:10:39.067-04:00Comments on Ladder on Wheels: Book Review: 'The Religious Case Against Belief'Michial Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10062071425935524922noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4104012373258339565.post-63313812998557496362009-09-25T07:43:11.303-04:002009-09-25T07:43:11.303-04:00Very thoughtfull post on belief .It should be very...Very thoughtfull post on belief .It should be very much helpfull.<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Karim - <a href="http://www.creatingpower.com" rel="nofollow">Creating Power</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4104012373258339565.post-12009433262209986662009-09-21T23:58:18.975-04:002009-09-21T23:58:18.975-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4104012373258339565.post-69481356664393749402009-09-13T15:12:34.424-04:002009-09-13T15:12:34.424-04:00Cameron:
I read that article and found it interes...Cameron:<br /><br />I read that article and found it interesting. Wood's novel "The Book Against God" is one of the most interesting religious works written by an atheist that I've ever read. (I review it elsewhere on this site.)<br /><br />I wonder if we don't have a false dichotomy here; it'd be ridiculous to set up a system of belief while ignoring the actual person of Christ. ("The Last Temptation of Christ" presents a St. Paul who'd be willing to do just that.) On the other hand, we can appeal to the person of Christ for a huge number of positions--in fact, if you want to justify your position, the best way to do it is to appeal to the person of Christ. Both of these approaches seem wrongheaded to me.<br /><br />Instead, I suspect we encounter the person of Christ, who brings us to the set of beliefs of the historical Christian church--which in turns leads us back to the person of Christ. That corresponds roughly to Kierkegaard's spheres of existence, as well.Michial Farmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10062071425935524922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4104012373258339565.post-14090194221471373152009-09-12T17:37:15.666-04:002009-09-12T17:37:15.666-04:00One amendment: I'm actually Heather's husb...One amendment: I'm actually Heather's husband Cameron.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4104012373258339565.post-544655756640905862009-09-12T17:35:57.363-04:002009-09-12T17:35:57.363-04:00I couldn't help but recall an article by James...I couldn't help but recall an article by James Wood that appeared in the August 31 edition of the New Yorker. Critiquing Eagleton, Wood says that many of these more elegant defenses of religion turn to Wittgenstein, where religion is not so much a belief as a way of life. Wittgenstein's own sentiments were stimulated by Tolstoy's views concerning an individual's actions taking precedence over the proliferation of creeds and doctrines. But Wood declares this approach to be unsatisfactory because it leaves out the personal side of religious belief. Wood explicitly declares Jesus to be his biggest hang-up with Christianity. It seems we now need scholars willing to confront the actual "characters" that pervade religious texts. Or perhaps Jesus was, as Harold Bloom suggests, invented by the author of Mark...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com