God and Religion in the Postmodern World: Essays in Postmodern Theology (Suny Series in Constructive Postmodern Thought) [Paperback]

David Ray Griffin (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (December 31, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887069304
• ISBN-13: 978-0887069307
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,038,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grand Theory, Short on Science, November 14, 2005

By 

Creb (Aurora, IL) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: God and Religion in the Postmodern World: Essays in Postmodern Theology (Suny Series in Constructive Postmodern Thought) (Paperback)

This is a fascinating and stimulating book that deserves a careful reading. I was continually amazed with the ease that Griffin summarized centuries of scientific, philosophical, and theological development and then highlighted the connecting and diverging conceptual threads. If only as a history of ideas, Griffin's book deserves a place on your shelf. But he goes further and proposes a worldview that he claims is true to the methods of science (i.e. experience and reason) and serves as a modern day bridge to the religious concepts of naturalistic theism, soul, afterlife, and fully human ethics. In this effort, he relies heavily on the work of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Harthshorne.

Griffin points out what he calls the insuperable problems of the two most dominant worldviews since the Enlightenment, i.e. dualism and materialism. As for dualism, one is left with two worlds, one of matter and the other of mind (spirit, soul), and no reasonable explanation as to how they could interact (p. 22). One is also left with an omnipotent, benevolent, God and the very real human experience of evil. Historically, these problems lead to a rejection of dualism and the emergence of materialism. This worldview either fully rejects the reality of the mind, or relegates it to a mere epiphenomenona. Unfortunately, materialism leaves one denying the fundamental reality of one's own experiences, a contradiction unacceptable to an open-minded empiricism. Finding both of these worldviews as fatally flawed, Griffin moves to propose his postmodern vision.

The core of this vision lies in an ontology that he admits "boggles" the modern mind. (p. 63). He claims that all individual entities in the universe, be they humans, animals, plants, cells, molecules, or subatomic particles are experiential events (p. 24). This panexperientialism, or postmodern animism, provides all such entities a degree of freedom, self-determination, and creativity. From this foundation he develops his other concepts such as naturalistic theism (a view of God that is part of rather than separate from nature), the human soul, life after death, and ethical priorities.

Unfortunately, Griffin indicates that he "cannot take the time here to provide the evidence and arguments for this post modern starting point..." (p. 63). I wish he had taken the time so that this position could be more fully appreciated and credible. The arguments he does present include: 1) the extension of Heisenberg's principle of indeterminacy from epistemology to ontology; 2) the unavoidable contradictions involved in dualism and materialism; 3) the direct experience of God through prehension; and 4) evidence from parapsychology. Had Griffin developed each of these arguments further, the postmodern worldview he presents may have been more compelling. However, absent further development, these arguments are far from convincing and the conundrums he presents susceptible to alternative solutions or a simple declaration that we are still seeking answers. It is also unclear how the hypothesis of panexperientialism could be tested and thus meet the fundamental requirement of science.

In order to get a better grasp of what modern physics involves, I visited the website of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (www.fnal.gov). This site is full of current information regarding Quantum Mechanics and is written for the educated layman. The picture of modern physics presented at this site is hardly mechanistic or Newtonian. It is full of uncertainty and concepts (e.g. quarks, leptons, photons, fermions, anitfermions, antiparticles, antimatter, dark matter, positrons, hadrons, bosons, neutrinos, and baryons, to name just a few) that also boggle the mind.

Unfortunately, Griffin does not even attempt a preliminary sketch of the Standard Model, i.e. the consensus worldview of modern physics, let alone its more esoteric cousins such as Super String Theory. Without a careful examination of these models, it seems premature to introduce the concepts of experience and creativity to Quantum Mechanics. One might even suggest that such a venture fails to give appropriate intellectual respect and deference to the work of modern scientists. There may be a place for panexperientialism in modern physics, but it may also be unnecessary, unhelpful, distracting, or even misleading. The truth is in the details and Griffin has failed to make his case at this level.

When reading Griffin I was reminded of a comment John Dominick Crossan made regarding the study of the historical Jesus. He said that it "was a safe place for one to do theology and call it history, to do autobiography and call it biography". It the case of this book, I came away with the distinct impression that Griffin was doing philosophy and calling it science, doing theology and calling it physics. Similarly, I was reminded of Marcus Borg's comment that, "In order to make the claim of history, you must do the work of history". What is true for history is equally true for physics, and Griffin has not done the work of physics.

In conclusion, I would love to seen a close collaboration and real dialogue and between physicists and postmodern philosophers/theologians such as Griffin. Absent that, it seems prudent to leave physics with the physicists. If philosophers and theologians intend to ground their worldviews in modern physics, then they need to do it in a more complete, detailed, and comprehensive way.

Creb

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More penetrating insight from Griffin..., September 5, 2000

By 

Max Johnson "Neo-Whiteheadian Doctoral Student" (Claremont, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: God and Religion in the Postmodern World: Essays in Postmodern Theology (Suny Series in Constructive Postmodern Thought) (Paperback)

Yet another well-argued philosophical masterpiece from one of the world's leading Process Theologians, David Ray Griffin. The other reviewer, Andrew Ng, is obviously not familiar with the Philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne, nor with the variety of pre-modern, modern and postmodern theological views. If he were, he would realize that Process Thought is a practical, amazingly thorough, philosophically and ethically sound understanding of God and the world, that's based not on some "ideal", fantasy world, but on the ACTUAL WORLD AS WE EXPERIENCE IT. I've been a "student" of Process Thought for nearly 10 years now, and have yet to find a better, more holistic model of reality.

I Highly recommended this,as well as Griffin's other books, and books by John B. Cobb, Jr, Marjorie Suchocki, and Ken Wilber.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More penetrating insight from Griffin..., September 5, 2000

By 

Max Johnson "Neo-Whiteheadian Doctoral Student" (Claremont, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God and Religion in the Postmodern World: Essays in Postmodern Theology (Suny Series in Constructive Postmodern Thought) (Paperback)

Yet another well-argued philosophical masterpiece from one of the world's leading Process Theologians, David Ray Griffin. The other reviewer, Andrew Ng, is obviously not familiar with the Philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne, nor with the variety of pre-modern, modern and postmodern theological views. If he were, he would realize that Process Thought is a practical, amazingly thorough, philosophically and ethically sound understanding of God and the world, that's based not on some "ideal", fantasy world, but on the ACTUAL WORLD AS WE EXPERIENCE IT. I've been a "student" of Process Thought for nearly 10 years now, and have yet to find a better, more holistic model of reality.

I Highly recommended this,as well as Griffin's other books, and books by John B. Cobb, Jr, Marjorie Suchocki, and Ken Wilber.