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Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World Kindle Edition
More than almost anything else, globalization and the great world religions are shaping our lives, affecting everything from the public policies of political leaders and the economic decisions of industry bosses and employees, to university curricula, all the way to the inner longings of our hearts. Integral to both globalization and religions are compelling, overlapping, and sometimes competing visions of what it means to live well.
In this perceptive, deeply personal, and beautifully written book, a leading theologian sheds light on how religions and globalization have historically interacted and argues for what their relationship ought to be. Recounting how these twinned forces have intersected in his own life, he shows how world religions, despite their malfunctions, remain one of our most potent sources of moral motivation and contain within them profoundly evocative accounts of human flourishing. Globalization should be judged by how well it serves us for living out our authentic humanity as envisioned within these traditions. Through renewal and reform, religions might, in turn, shape globalization so that can be about more than bread alone.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherYale University Press
- Publication dateJanuary 12, 2016
- File size751 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Make no mistake: everyone who cares about either the church or the world should read this book."—Greg Forster, Gospel Coalition
"This is a powerful book. It offers a strong critique of attempts to merge religion and politics, even as it affirms the need for public engagement in pursuit of flourishing of the entire creation. Take and read. It’s that important! In this book a path toward peace is revealed."—Robert D. Cornwall, Englewood Review of Books
"Insightful, far-ranging, and timely . . . deserves to be widely read."—Don Schweitzer, Ecumenist
"Volf’s latest contribution makes an impact on the ways in which we can appreciate world religions in a globalized world. The text itself seems to pave a path for human flourishing."—Jane M. Curry, Reading Religion
"[Volf] provides a clear, persuasive, and balanced appraisal of the contribution that religions can make to the common good. It ought to be read by anyone interested in religion, human well-being, and peace."—Stephen J. Pope, Theological Studies
“Valuable background reading for anyone wanting to understand the history and the contributions of globalization and religions – and their interrelated influence – on visions for the good life.”—Darren Cronshaw, International Journal of Practical Theology
"Volf convincingly tackles one of the most important issues of the twenty-first century: how we can have a peaceful religious pluralism together with healthy globalisation. He not only gives the facts and analyses the situation perceptively, he also has the depth of understanding of a range of religions to produce a practical way forward that is both realistic and attractive."—David F. Ford, University of Cambridge
"Miroslav Volf's prophetic voice brings a new perspective to the question of what it means to live the good life in a world shaped by globalization."—John J. DeGioia, Georgetown University
"In Flourishing, Miroslav Volf offers us an enthralling analysis of the mutual interplay between globalization and the world’s great religions, along with an inspiring vision of how great faiths can be enlarged rather than threatened by diversity. An outstanding and timely work by one of the great theologians of our time."—Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
"The contemporary globalized world offers a bewildering scene: horrifying acts of religious hatred and cruelty exist alongside zones where people of different religions live in unprecedented mutual respect, even friendly exchange. Digging deep into the sources of his own, Christian faith, Volf offers an insightful and penetrating answer to both these questions."—Charles Taylor, McGill University
About the Author
An award-winning audio engineer for over forty years, Tom Perkins has expanded his skills to narrating and has more than sixty titles to his credit. He learned by working with the world's best voice talent during his career, and he continues to engineer a variety of projects.
Product details
- ASIN : B01848ON5W
- Publisher : Yale University Press (January 12, 2016)
- Publication date : January 12, 2016
- Language : English
- File size : 751 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 301 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,248,531 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #381 in Globalization (Kindle Store)
- #744 in Religious Studies - Church & State
- #1,467 in Christian Faith (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Miroslav Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. He has published and edited nine books and over 60 scholarly articles, including his book Exclusion and Embrace, which won the 2002 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.
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Early on he makes a strong case that religions are not, by their nature, opposed to globalization, but rather are a major contributing (early) force. For Christians, the “great commission” serves as a great reminder of this. However, the global market is now the primary shaper of globalization. For this reason, religion becomes extremely important in pushing and challenging the “moral character of the market” by it’s vision of the good life, or – human flourishing. Drawing from several sources, he does a great job of portraying the ways in which various religious forces help shape the market for the good.
But can these religions do this together? This is such an important question to ask in our times. Volf’s writings on the topic are more philosophically and sociologically driven than theologically. I had wished for more theology in this book (as in Rabbi Jonathan Sack’s Not In My Name), but it was still very engaging. I felt chapter 3 was wonderfully written. His writings on the “golden rule” and witness, or his ‘rules’ (my term) of respect for dealing with other religions were fantastic. However, I found the fourth chapter less compelling. Here he makes his case (against Popper and Rousseau) that religious exclusivism and political pluralism are not incompatible. He draws practically from the example of Roger Williams (sixteenth-century) and in our times...the "Christian Right.” “Important for my purposes here” writes Volf “is that religious exclusivism of the Christian Right does not prevent it from participating in the democratic process in a way that unquestionably displays the virtues of pluralistic democracy.” But does it remain exclusively ‘Christian’ while doing so? I’m not so sure. What I don’t see Volf doing is engaging religion as it’s own ‘politic.’ Can Christianity, for example, contribute to a pluralistic democracy while believing in the “Politics of Jesus” (to use Yoder’s term). I was unclear as to how this played out. Volf later claims that “the single most significant factor determining whether a religion will be implicated in violence is this: the level of its identification with a political project and its entanglement with the agents striving to realize that project. The more identified a religion is with these, the more likely it will be for even the most peaceful religion to ‘take up the gun’” (p. 189). I agree. Overall, I believe that Volf means (as stated early on in the book) that religions can and should help shape the force and market of globalization with their common beliefs (while not letting go of their differences), but how this actually plays out within politics – and if religions have their own politic – is what I felt needed further clarification.
His final chapter dealing with "Conflict, Violence, and Reconciliation” was – as could be expected – superb (as was his epilogue). Overall the book was quite compelling. I am grateful to the voices which remain strong within their various traditions who yet recognize the importance of writing of our commonality (love of other, for example) in these turbulent times.