The Making of the New Spirituality: The Eclipse of the Western Religious Tradition
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.30 (780 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0830832793 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 331 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-01-23 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"An Informative Survey" according to Carl. The Making of the New Spirituality is an informative survey of western religious ideas and how they have evolved over the past few centuries. It is also a rather sad survey in that it chronicles a steady erosion of what the author calls the "Revealed Word" view (essentially Christian orthodoxy) as various new notions of spirituality have overtaken that view and in some instances crept into the church. The author did a huge amount of research to pull together all of the ideas and information contained in the book.As I read, I had several recurring thoughts:First, I was struck by how many proponents of the various new views rejected. Reminiscent of Schaeffer MPR This new work by Hope College's professor of communication is a helpful examination of the decline of Christianity and the rise of a more synthetic spirituality. Through examining representative figures and influential statements that have contributed to a new way of thinking about religion in the West, Herrick strives to clarify the sources and interconnections that make up what he terms "the New Religious Synthesis". Herrick also endeavors to assess the implications of this new spirituality, finally contrasting it with the religion of the Revealed Word.The approach of this book generally and its sweeping tour of history specific. Things are never as simple as they appear A fine book. While the them of this work contrasts "Revealed Word" religion with the "New Spirituality" rather than just focusing on Christian (revealed word) perspectives, Herrick expands his investigation of New Age to throughly trawl our society's quest for transcendence. This work has acted to focus many threads of thought I have suspected for a while, particularly the popularity of Eastern mysticism and the quasi-mystical language of pop-science, as is the case with Carl Sagan and Dick Dawkins. Furthermore, it is rather serious in it's exposition of the background spirituality of many famous "secular" thinkers of the 18-20th
The Judeo-Christian tradition of Western culture has slowly but steadily been eclipsed by a new way of viewing spirituality. Healing. Many welcome this evolution of religion. As we stand at a spiritual crossroad, Herrick questions whether we are wise to discard the Western religious tradition and adopt the new spirituality.. Nature religion. A massive shift in Western religious attitudes has taken place almost without our noticing it. Herrick tells the story of how the old view has been dismantled
Unfortunately, Herrick's prose (and a small type size) do little to engage the reader, and his cover-the-waterfront approach diminishes the book's analytical vigor. Still, this is a solid introduction to a vast subject. . Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Publishers Weekly In this wide-ranging survey, Herrick (a professor of communications at Hope College) explores the historical roots of what he calls the "New Religious Synthesis." This synthesis, which brings together streams of thought from Darwin to Swedenborg to Jung,
He has also written The Radical Rhetoric of the English Deists (University of South Carolina Press), Argumentation (Strata), The History and Theory of Rhetoric (Allyn & Bacon) and The Making of the New Spirituality (IVP Books). . Herrick is Guy Vander Jagt Professor of Communication at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. James A