Overview

"Modern women and men have seen Nietzsche's proclamation of the death of God as a great liberation. Yet the death of old beliefs can cause us to feel that the world has grown colder. Here, James Byrne explores how we can think creatively about God again, offering the view that God is ""a symbol or metaphor for the totality of everything we consider to be of absolute value and meaning for us"". By engaging with philosophers such as Kierkegaard, Sartre and Nietzsche, as well as contemporaries as varied as the Dalai Lama and the late British journalist John Diamond, Byrne invites us to abandon na ve ideas about God and to think of God as something more than the idol of the Church, philosophers and theologians. In particular, he argues that taking God seriously means taking our own talk about God less seriously and in good humour."

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9780826461957

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Reviews

An interesting book with pithy comments on many topics of theology and many theologians, past and present. --Reform, November 1, 2001

".""..a challenging, post-modernist approach to the perennial God-qusetion....Those who close the book too soon will miss its surprising retrieval of mysticism-the mysticism of everyday life....Byrne finds a surprising renewal of interest in the question of God in post-modernity."" Lexington Theological Quarterly ""An interesting book with pithy comments on many topics of theology and many theologians, past and present."" Reform, November 1, 2001 ""Bold and worldly."" Paul Matthew St. Pierre, The B.C. Catholic, March 25, 2002 ""Byrne has written a theological survey of such industrious comprehensiveness and scrupulous non-commitment that it seems to give every reader the opportunity to choose any sort of divine being, from one bigger than all the universe to an impulse within himself that is usually called conscience....He is undogmatic and moderate, and gently stimulating."" The Spectator ""If the book has a defining purpose, it is to get rid of infantile idolatry about God by nudging us towards something like a ""third way"" beyond theism and atheism."" Times Literary Supplement, October 5, 2001 ""The books are for those who know the seriousness of the issues raised. Intellectual rigour and honesty are notable characteristics of these two volumes . . . The book ends with ten theses, all clearly expressed and all inviting further thought and debate."" Baptist Times, 4 April 2002 (reviewed with David Law's Inspiration) ""Bold and worldly.""--Paul Matthew St. Pierre, The B.C. Catholic, March 25, 2002 ""The aim is to ensure that key theological issues - God, Sin, Love come out of the religious ghetto to be talked about in homes, pubs and clubs. They are very readable, not too long and well designed."" Borderlands: 1, Summer 2002"

Byrne has written a theological survey of such industrious comprehensiveness and scrupulous non-commitment that it seems to give every reader the opportunity to choose any sort of divine being, from one bigger than all the universe to an impulse within himself that is usually called conscience....He is undogmatic and moderate, and gently stimulating. The Spectator

Author Information

James Byrne is Professor of Religious Studies at St Michael's College, Vermont USA. He has taught at Trinity College, Dublin and St Mary's College, University of Reading. His books include Religion and the Enlightenment: Descartes to Kant.

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