Overview

This book examines the meaning of some of the most basic terms we use in both confessional and secular discussion about morality and religion. Is there any credible and distinctive meaning in what we refer to as """"right and wrong"""" and """"God""""? What do we even mean by meaning itself? Outside specialist academic discourse these terms are rarely examined in depth. Here they are probed with as much rigor as possible, but also accessibly. Literary, philosophical, and theological sources are all widely drawn on in the discussion. Experiences of ordinary life help illustrate the issue and arguments at stake. As a collection of essays each section is freestanding. But there is also a clear overall connecting argument. It demonstrates a common trajectory towards """"ultimacy"""" or """"transcendence"""" in the meaning of these terms. It argues that the meaning of morality, of God, and of meaning itself, is not just an individual or social construction. It is grounded in what lies beyond us. In this way it offers an alternative to reductionist views, and advances a thesis about transcendence which connects across a wide range of both religious and non-religious experience.

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9781666764864

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Reviews

"""Vernon White is one of the most insightful and original thinkers working in the world today. In this book, he brings his elegant writing to the complex issues of meaning, morality, and God. He is always stimulating, always informed, and always creative. From the teacher in the classroom who wants a stimulating essay for students to discuss to the parish priest needing to think about a sermon to the academic in the study, White's book is an important resource."" --Ian S. Markham, dean and president, Virginia Theological Seminary ""In these winsome explorations, Vernon White invites us to pause in the midst of our busyness long enough to take stock. What is going on when we have experiences or encounters that mean something to us? With deft guidance, he shows us that we are suspended in webs of meaning, that those webs stretch far further than we can reach--and that, if we follow their threads, we may find ourselves asking questions about God."" --Mike Higton, professor of theology and ministry, Durham University ""Vernon White's gifts for preaching to the unconverted, as well as those inside the religious fold, are deployed to great effect in this brief but penetrating book. The author issues a characteristically gentle challenge to secularists, and in the process, points to how believers themselves can raise their game and extend their sympathies. A triumph."" --Rupert Shortt, research associate, Von Hügel Institute, University of Cambridge"

""Vernon White is one of the most insightful and original thinkers working in the world today. In this book, he brings his elegant writing to the complex issues of meaning, morality, and God. He is always stimulating, always informed, and always creative. From the teacher in the classroom who wants a stimulating essay for students to discuss to the parish priest needing to think about a sermon to the academic in the study, White's book is an important resource."" --Ian S. Markham, dean and president, Virginia Theological Seminary ""In these winsome explorations, Vernon White invites us to pause in the midst of our busyness long enough to take stock. What is going on when we have experiences or encounters that mean something to us? With deft guidance, he shows us that we are suspended in webs of meaning, that those webs stretch far further than we can reach--and that, if we follow their threads, we may find ourselves asking questions about God."" --Mike Higton, professor of theology and ministry, Durham University ""Vernon White's gifts for preaching to the unconverted, as well as those inside the religious fold, are deployed to great effect in this brief but penetrating book. The author issues a characteristically gentle challenge to secularists, and in the process, points to how believers themselves can raise their game and extend their sympathies. A triumph."" --Rupert Shortt, research associate, Von Hügel Institute, University of Cambridge

Author Information

Vernon White is visiting professor in the department of Theology & Religious Studies at King's College, London, and Senior Fellow of the Westminster Abbey Institute. He is the author of a number of books of moral and philosophical theology, most recently Purpose and Providence (2015/2018).

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