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9781978711259

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You may have thought yourself a believer or non-believer until now. After having joined Hermen Kroesbergen in his philosophical journey, you may be less sure about that. In this eloquently written book, he both clarifies and intensifies the mystery of what it means to have faith. Having faith? Wrong question, he argues. Envying faith, that will tell you more. Faith then appears to be not a set of beliefs about the world but a particular response to whatever may happen to you. A creative plea for a new concept of faith in the philosophy of religion. -- Frits de Lange, Protestant Theological University and the University of Stellenbosch Hermen Kroesbergen expertly introduces the concept of faith envy, discussing it in relation to three exemplary thinkers of the last two centuries: Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, and Weil. Not only are the lives and ideas of these thinkers illuminated in novel ways, but Kroesbergen also enriches his analysis with pertinent illustrations from literature, films, and contemporary popular culture. Both informative and provocative, the book exhibits a penetrating inquiry into faith that warrants further attention from theologians, philosophers of religion, and others interested in what it means to have faith or to want it. -- Mikel Burley, University of Leeds In this wise and thought-provoking book, Kroesbergen develops a conception of what an 'enviable faith' might look like. By weaving together central themes from Wittgenstein, Kierkegaard, and Weil, Kroesbergen shows that traditional approaches to the question of what attitude faith is are misguided. The faith that expresses itself in feelings of 'absolute safety' or joyful acceptance of the will of God come what may, is not predictive, does not require belief in super-empirical entities, and does not render one impervious to future harm. It rather consists in an attitude of commitment that requires seeing the world in a certain way. -- Genia Schoenbaumsfeld, University of Southampton

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Hermen Kroesbergen is a research associate in the Understanding Reality program in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

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