Faith of a Heretic [Paperback]

Walter Kaufmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2000

one's feelings and even one's conscience, proceeding often without any consolation. . . . Here the ways of men part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire....

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

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Doubleday (January 2000)
• ISBN-10: 0385066511
• ISBN-13: 978-0385066518
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,833,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Critical Study of Religion Available, February 23, 2000

By 

Sam Wood "Sam" (Carthage, IL) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Faith of a Heretic (Paperback)

Writing about religion has always been a risky endeavor. There are few subjects which so often provoke banal,intellectually dishonest discussions that rarely get to the heart of the real issues. But Walter Kaufmann, one of the greatest scholars of the last century, succeeds in Faith of a Heretic where so many others have failed. Instead of defining concepts like "faith" and "religion" without examining their historical and cultural uses, Kaufmann traces religious ideas through their development in the Hebrew Bible, New Testament and subsequent philosophical discourse. This analysis results in a study of religion that avoids the reductionist condemnations of faith so common among today's "free thinkers," and the simplistic diagnoses offered by writers in the "science and religion" movement. If you want to start thinking seriously about religion, this is the place to start.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the book that started my philosophical career!, October 6, 1999

By 

DJ Grothe (St. Louis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faith of a Heretic (Paperback)

Kaufmann informs his work with his years as a professional philosopher, and professor at princeton. In it, he surveys, but with depth, the history of the western religious and philosophical traditions and allows the reader to think for himself. The book offers no easy answers to the big problems of life, but asks the rght questions, which are framed in ways that hold the readers thought for days, impacting the readers life permanently.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Application of Philosophy to Religin for the Layman, October 20, 2006

By 

B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Faith of a Heretic (Paperback)

`The Faith of a Heretic' by the leading Princeton philosophy professor, writer of popular philosophical criticism and scholar of philosophical history, Walter Kaufmann, is possibly the book which has had more influence over my life, at least my `professional' life than any others (Benjamin Franklin's `Autobiography' comes in a close second). It was the book which influenced me to study Philosophy as my major in college, going so far as to enter a Ph.D. program to become a professor of Philosophy myself. Unfortunately, that didn't work out, but no blame for that is attributable to Professor Kaufman.

As I re-read parts of this book after 45 years, I see so many of his arguments in a completely different light. None of them are weaker, and I can see the point of many of his lines of reasoning much more clearly now, especially after having done some research on one of his chapter subjects, Martin Luther.

The book arose from an article in a popular magazine which was doing a series from the point of view of a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew, and a non-believer. This means that while the title of the book is a powerful attention-getter, it may just be the least logical part of the book. I say this because most `heretics' profess to hold beliefs attributable to a certain label such as `Christian' or `Catholic' or `Muslim', yet they profess beliefs which run contrary to `orthodoxy' as determined by the organization running the show under these doctrinal labels. But, `atheist' or `agnostic' or `non-believer' just don't seem to have the pizzazz as `Heretic'.

In fact, the whole book is written from the point of view of someone who does not hold to any one set of religious beliefs. I'm sure there are some who would argue that the `scientific' or `rational' point of view is in itself a position one takes `on faith', but Kaufman (and I) would argue that the scientific and the religious points of view are two entirely different ball games, let alone being in the same ballpark.

Kaufman was raised as a Lutheran in pre-World War II Nazi Germany, and converted to Judaism at the tender age of 11, just when it was becoming extremely dangerous to be a Jew in Germany. While his not being able to believe in the Trinity was his primary reason, that is not the basis of his argument against Christianity. His primary argument against all religions is also not that they turn their back on rationality, but rather that professing a religion prevents you from questioning certain basic assumptions such as the resurrection of Christ and redemption by belief in the promise of his resurrection. This is not unlike holding to the axioms of Euclidean geometry, thereby preventing you from exploring the possibilities of relativity, which rely on what has come to be known as non-Euclidean geometry.

As a critic of religions, Kaufmann's independent point of view and omnivorous selection of sources permits him to take very fresh looks at some pretty important beliefs. My favorite re-discovery is in his chapter on St. Paul, Luther, and Albert Schweitzer. Early Lutherans, and possibly Luther himself tended to see the heart of the Jewish religion, through the eyes of St. Paul, as being based entirely on adherence to the Law. And, it is clear that one of Paul's central themes was that one can certainly be a Christian without adhering to Jewish practices such as circumcision and the dietetic practices. But, Kaufmann accurately points out that salvation offered by the God of the Jews was certainly an important part of their covenant.

In this same chapter, Kaufmann goes a long way in explaining why Christianity succeeded as well as it did when it first appeared on the scene. While the Law is certainly an important part of Judaism, and Judaism has a very strong sense of being a cohesive people with their own personal God, the Christian God is very much about the individual and their personal redemption. Now there are probably thousands of contemporary pastors giving sermons every week on Christian charity, probably 100 of these for every one based on Paul Augustine and Luther and Calvin and Jonathan Edwards' central notion of pure determinism and the absence of all freedom of the will. But then, we are not living in daily fear of Roman governors or the Black Plague or the red indians in the wilderness just over the hill, or even of the Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA).

Getting back to how this book influenced me, the heart of the matter is in Immanual Kant's three questions repeated on the cover of the paperback edition, which identify the very core of philosophical investigations.

From the point of view of a philosophical professional, what is amazing is Kaufmann's ability to use everything from all modern camps, from Existentialism (especially Nietzsche and Kierkegaard) to Wittgenstein. I am surprised that Kaufmann makes no reference to Bertrand Russell's classic `Why I am Not a Christian', but based on a few brief visits to that book, I believe Russell may be missing the point, but wait for my review of that volume to be sure.

If I were to cite nothing else in recommending this book, I would point out that it is truly a rare book which addresses the general audience on a technical subject which lasts as long in circulation as this volume, first published in 1961. I even recommend it to confirmed Christians with the advice that it can clarify one's faith without dismantling it.