Belief or Nonbelief? [Hardcover]

Umberto Eco (Author), Cardinal Martini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 2000

One is the beloved author of The Name of the Rose, a celebrated scholar, philosopher, and self-declared secularist; the other is a preeminent clergyman and a respected expert on the New Testament. In this intellectually stimulating dialogue, these two great men, who stand on opposite sides of the church door, discuss some of the most controversial issues of our day: the apocalypse, abortion, women in the clergy, and ethics. Their enlightened, spirited exchange will resonate with believers and nonbelievers alike.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Umberto Eco is a famous scholar-novelist, and Cardinal Martini is a famous scholar-bishop. Eco is an urbane ex-Catholic. Cardinal Martini is an urbane prince of the Church. Belief or Nonbelief?, a little book of eight chapters, is a dialogue between them, first published by an Italian newspaper. Each author writes four alternating chapters addressing the hopes of humanity at the dawn of a new millennium, the question of the beginning of human life, the role of the Church, and how we can know Truth.

Belief or Non Belief? is a good idea, but it suffers from a couple of problems. The format and content are too obviously recycled newspaper articles. While the engaging, popular style is welcome, the necessary brevity of each chapter means arguments cannot be developed, and the reader is left vaguely dissatisfied. It would have been better if the authors had expanded the project. Both men write well in a sophisticated and polite Italian style that is entertaining at first, but it soon sounds artificial to the English reader. Finally, there are some difficulties in translation: for example, "illumination" is used instead of "enlightenment" and "layman" is consistently used where "non-Catholic" is probably intended. Despite these criticisms, Belief or Nonbelief? is a sharp little book giving a fresh perspective on age-old questions. --Dwight Longenecker --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This is no contest between debating opponents seeking to score rhetorical knockouts; instead, it's just two thoughtful people who respectfully listen to what the other has to say about faith. The nonbeliever is Eco, renowned semiotician and author of The Name of the Rose. The believer is the Archbishop of Milan. In these letters, originally run in an Italian newspaper, they address topics that divide official Catholic from contemporary secular opinion. First, the cardinal answers Eco's inquiries on hope and apocalyptic expectation, on when life begins, and on why the Church does not ordain women. There are no surprises here, except perhaps in Martini's nuanced "wait and see" response to the last question. Then, in the book's best exchange, Eco replies to the cardinal's question of how those who do not believe in God can be committed to moral absolutes. Would that all "confrontations" between belief and unbelief were so informed and instructive. Recommended for all public libraries.
-Steve Young, Montclair State Univ., NJ
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 102 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing; 1st English language ed edition (January 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559704977
• ISBN-13: 978-1559704977
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,132,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a beautiful book to comfort us all, January 29, 2004

By 

I. Tysoe "Inna Tysoe" (Earth) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Belief or Nonbelief? (Hardcover)

In these beautifully crafted, philosophical yet clear letters, Cardinal Martini and Umberto Eco discuss the questions that have been raised by many peoples in many lands and in many cultures since philosophy began. They exchange views on the secular expectation of the apocalypse and our resultant consumer culture; on women in the church; on when life begins; and on how a secular man can ground his ethics.

The thorough Jesuit education these great minds received is as evident as their deep humanity. And, while a student of philosophy and ethics will no doubt be entranced by the clear and logical arguments Eco and Martini present, a less philosophically inclined mind may find comfort.

For in the end, Martini and Eco reassure us that, no matter whether you are secular or religious; no matter what your culture, there are universal values that are common to us all. It is a message well worth hearing in this relativistic and politically correct world.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You must read the italian or the spanish versions!, July 7, 2000

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Mnemosine "mnemosine" (Forest Park, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Belief or Nonbelief? (Hardcover)

The book is good. But the reactions of a variety of intellectuals in the SECOND HALF of the non english versions are as enjoyable. Why were they left aside in this translation? The whole purpose of the magazine that asked Martini and Eco to start a dialogue, was to open it. Why the trimming? Also, why was the title changed to a flashy style? The original could be better translated to "What do non believers believe in" or else. I can see other opinions on the book are produced by an incomplete translation or a misleading title.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Civil Conversation About Religion, Lets Have More Of It, March 31, 2001

By 

Peter Fennessy (Bloomfield Hills, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Belief or Nonbelief? : A Dialogue (Paperback)

In an age where civil conversation is at a minimum (where talking heads on TV interrupt and shout each other down, where the late Cardinal Bernadine's attempt to find common ground among polarized Catholics was rebuffed by other American Cardinals), how refreshing to see this interchange between a secularist writer and the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan on the topics of hope, the beginnings of life, the ordination of women and the secular basis of ethics. They are both mutually respectful and intellectual people open to hear another point of view. The idea and the example are both great and ought to be repeated elsewhere. If anything the book is too polite and far too short. There are hundreds of issues to be discussed and a little further give and take would be more enlightening. It is not really a confrontation, and there is only one go-around on each issue. The writers are courteous to a fault. Eco knows and presents the Catholic sided as if he were on it, and in reality he is not so much skeptical as merely incredulous about a number of things, a kind of crypto-Catholic. Both are capable of giving and taking a lot more pointed argumentation while still maintaining their mutual respect and amity.