Conversations on Religion [Paperback]

Mick Gordon (Author), Chris Wilkinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2008

For this book, Mick Gordon, a catholic of northern Irish extraction, decided to assemble a collection of interviews in which the people he found most interesting on the subject of religion and religious belief would take part. The end result gives us a wide range of opinions from an avowed atheists like Richard Dawkins and A.C. Grayling to committed evangelical christians like Alister McGrath. The variety of contributors and ideas in the pages of this book will interest anyone who wishes to take the phenomenon of faith and religion seriously. Includes interviews with:

Richard Dawkins (University of Oxford)

Alister Mcgrath (University of Oxford)

Karen Armstrong (Former Nun and Bestselling Author)

Tariq Ramadan (St Anthony's College, University of Oxford)

Sir Jonathan Sacks (Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the

Commonwealth)

A.C. Grayling (Birkbeck College, London)

Don Cupitt (Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge)

Archbishop Rowan Williams (Canterbury/Lambeth)

Giles Fraser (Wadham College, University of Oxford)

John Gray (University of London)

Lewis Wolpert (University College, London)

Azzam Tamimi (Director, Institute of Islamic Political Thought, London)

Ann Widdecombe (British Member of Parliament)

Shelina Janmohamed (Writer and Commentator on British Islam)

Julia Neuberger (Rabbi /Member of The House of Lords, UK)

Abdelwahab El-Affendi (Centre For The Study of Democracy, University of Westminister)

Imam Mohammed Yusuf Al-Hussaini (Interfaith Alliance)

Fraser Watts (Queen's College, University of Cambridge)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Title mention in The Bookseller, 2007

"A daring and very necessary book."

Good Book Guide, 2008

Title mentioned by Christopher Howse, Daily Telegraph, 2008.

'[A] stimulating set of interviews ... The wide spectrum of viewpoints challenged me mentally and emotionally.'

Christine Simmons, The NEWSpaper, 2008

"The question and answer sessions which constitute the book have the merit that the contributors can sound off without interruption"

Reviewed by Melanie McDonagh in Oldie, 2008

"It is a privilege to hear these voices and I'd be surprised if some of their opinions did not surprise you." - Parish News

Review in Church of England Newspaper.

"a stimulating collection of interviews"

Bookseller Buyers Guide, 1 january 2008

"an intriguing tapestry of variously intervowen, overlapping and uncorrelatable views"

"The debate will rage on, but this book radically raises the level of debate"

Observer, 10 February 2008

(Tom Templeton )

Title listed under 'Books received' in Fairacres Chronicle, Summer 2008

"...a thought-provoking book...the resulting book honours religion and spirituality...a strong sense of intellectual give and take that can be very enlivening."

Franciscan Vol. 21, September 2009

"an intriguing tapestry of variously intervowen, overlapping and uncorrelatable views"

"The debate will rage on, but this book radically raises the level of debate"

Observer, 10 February 2008

(, )

"…a thought-provoking book…the resulting book honours religion and spirituality…a strong sense of intellectual give and take that can be very enlivening."

Franciscan Vol. 21, September 2009

About the Author

Mick Gordon is an international award-winning theatre director. He has been Associate Director at the National Theatre and Artistic Director of The Gate Theatre, and he is the founding director of On Theatre. Chris Wilkinson studied Theology at Cambridge University, UK. He is a theatre director and an award-winning arts journalist. He has written for The Scotsman, The Financial Times, Prospect Magazine and The Guardian.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (May 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826499090
• ISBN-13: 978-0826499097
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,560,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A conversation worth having, June 9, 2010

By 

Thomas Adam L. (WV, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Conversations on Religion (Paperback)

Our viewpoints on religion often have the danger of becoming parochial and trapped in an echo chamber - especially for those who take a less than scholarly approach to belief. This book gives us an excellent antidote as it provides an entire spectrum of beliefs running from Catholic, Islamic, and Jewish orthodoxy to thoroughgoing naturalism. From liberal to conservative perspectives, reform to traditional positions, antipathetic to sympathetic, there are few viewpoints left out.

This human phenomenon we call religion that can be very hard to nail down with a definition (the interviewer asks every thinker in this book and they almost all admit that conclusively defining religion is practically impossible) but we can glide toward something of a working idea of what we mean simply by looking at a healthily populated list. And this book allows us to understand what religion means to many people who have many differing beliefs.

The format of the book is to gather some of the leading thinkers on religion and to interview them. While the questions asked tend to be general, the answers are nearly all excellent and substantive.

We learn why leading atheists like A. C. Grayling and Richard Dawkins think religion is nonsense.

We learn how and why scientists like Alister McGrath and Fraser Watts still find religious belief warranted.

We learn how and why a theologian and ordained priest like Don Cupitt candidly identifies as an atheist.

We learn from devout Muslims like Azzam Tamimi and Shalina Janmohamed about the controversial issues such as the Islamic stance on terrorism and the state of women in Muslim society.

All of the contributors here are worthwhile to read in this context of a conversation, even if there are obnoxious and immature views expressed (Ann Widdecombe being the best example). But that is the value of this resource; there certainly are many, many people who have an obnoxious and immature understanding of religion and by understanding them better, we can understand the world better.