Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #633086 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

About the Author
One of the most outspoken and best-loved figures in the modern church, RICHARD HOLLOWAY recently stood down as the Bishop of Edinburgh but remains Gresham Professor of Divinity in the City of London and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He has written for many newspapers in Britain including The Times, The Guardian, Sunday Herald and The Scotsman; and presented his own series on BBC Television.

Customer Reviews

Recommended
Bishop Holloway presents cogent arguments for reconsidering some of our moral positions, reminding us that religion has often been used to lock us into conformity with moral regulations that are in fact culturally determined. Many of us are no longer willing to base our morality on "blind obedience to any authority, including what is alleged to be divine authority." As our thinking about authority evolves, we may require a "more dynamic understanding of God," one that is more in synchrony with the process of creation. Because Christianity "absorbed as much as it rejected" of Gnostic thought in the early centuries of the Church, creation and its pleasures have been regarded as essentially sinful. Few people today hold that view, but the Christian attitude toward sexuality remains tainted by these Gnostic borrowings, as the attitude of many in the Church towards homosexuality and current sexual mores demonstrates. In his examination of our attitudes toward homosexuality, the use of drugs, sex, and marriage, Bishop Holloway encourages an open and honest look at our beliefs. Recommended for those both inside and outside the Church who are willing to think again.

Choosing between competing moral values:
Holloway starts right out giving us a challenge: "What many people have clearly departed from is any sense that the moral life, lived intentionally and consciously, is consistent with blind obedience to any authority, including what is alleged to be divine authority." And things get better from there! This tightly argued book puts into words what many of us seem to struggle with in our discussions of good and evil, sin, and meaning in life.

Holloway has recently stepped down as Bishop of Edinburgh. He is "one of the most outspoken and best-loved figures in the modern church." And I had the privilege of hearing him speak recently at a seminar on the future of faith. It is perhaps because I heard him expound upon his views that I learned so much by going back to read his book. Yet I find the writing to be clear and convincing on its own. I was shocked and pleased to read this from the good Bishop's pen: "Paradoxically, it is scripture itself that calls us to overturn scripture; it is the witness of the living word of Jesus that challenges us to follow the logic that scripture was made for humanity and not humanity for scripture." These are courageous words indeed for a Bishop to write and preach. He deserves praise and support for this stand.

Richard Holloway challenges us on many levels of our daily lives. He changes our concept of how to choose between competing moral values (often good values, not straight good versus straight evil). He makes us think about our institutions of marriage, church, and government as the recipient of our moral judgments and challenges us to live up to the responsibility with a Godless Morality. Excellent book.

Breaks new ground in disentangling morality from theism
Bishop Holloway has done us as real service by writing this brilliant and courageous book. By helping us to separate religion and morals, he allows us all to move beyond theistic assumptions about morality to a new liberation. He does so in an engaging way that American readers in particular will appreciate. His clarity and skillful writing will also be a tonic for anyone who enjoys good writing. For those of us in the Church who are are becoming increasingly concerned about the growing dysfunction of conventional Christianity, this book leads us into fresh air.