Product Description

The attempt to define what we mean by God, and indeed goodness, has been the central pre-occupation of western religion and philosophy. In the 21st century, with deteriorating relationships between Islam and the West, with fundamentalist movements growing and with terrorism increasing, the quest is as urgent and relevant as ever. Can one have goodness without God? Is goodness real or do we create it? Does the understanding of God change through our own scriptures? Where does our understanding of God and goodness come from? How does it relate to other virtues, particularly those of beauty and truth? What is the role of reason? What about the ways other cultures approach reality, and how can traditions live peaceably together? Peter Vardy concisely explores the range of approaches to God that has influenced the western Christian tradition in an easy-to-read, popular style.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106530 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review
'As a philosopher of religion Peter Vardy is unsurpassed' John Walters, Dialogue

About the Author
Peter Vardy is Vice-Principal of Heythrop College, University of London, and is one of the best known philosophers of religion in Britain and Australia. His "Puzzle" series of books published by Harper Collins have been through many printings and are available in many languages.

Customer Reviews

Does what it says on the cover
A superb concise introductory tour of our concepts of God and how they have changed over time.

Well written, well illustrated, well produced. A book that will make you think about what version of God you believe or disbelieve in. Believer or not, you will discover that there's still a lot more to discover.

Well worth getting
Firstly, the good points. This is as accessible a work as I have ever read about philosophy and theology. Difficult concepts are very well explained and demonstrated, and theories linked together. I consider myself reasonably well read, but until I read this book there was many philosophical concepts I barely understood, and some I was entirely ignorant of. It covers the full spectrum of issues surrounding the idea of God - What do we mean by `God', arguments for/against existence, his attributes, effects of scientific discovery on our understanding of God, miracles and spirituality, etc. In short, it's pretty comprehensive. Had Richard Dawkins read a couple of small chapters in this book, he could have saved his blushes on a few occasions. Conversely, I doubt many churchgoers are aware 10% of what is in this book. In fact, you could probably say that about 99% of all people are completely unaware of even some of the basic concepts noted in this book (though that hasn't stopped people having strong opinions on them!). Considering this largely ignored subject area, the writers do an excellent job or explaining most of the issues in a clear and memorable fashion.

Onto the bad points. Though occasionally Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and a couple of other religions are mentioned throughout the book, it's mostly about Christianity. I would personally liked a little more about the other religions. A couple of the chapters are pretty mind numbing, though this may well be because some of the issues are so dry that even the best explanations cannot shed any light on them. The chapter on the Attributes of God for example, is so dull I couldn't stop myself skimming over it. Maybe it is simply impossible, however, to have an interesting discussion on the subject.

I think if you are interested in the subject, and are looking for a place to start, I can't think of a better book to introduce you to the relevant issues better than this one

Superb introduction
This is a superb introduction to questions every human being has, will or should be asking. The centrality of the questions to human life cannot be over-estimated and the authors have created a highly engaging, highly readable and very open-minded book for those who think. Whether you subscribe to "faith seeking understanding" or "don't know but wish to understand", read this book and you won't be disappointed.