The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-first Century [Hardcover]

Thomas Berry (Author), Mary Evelyn Tucker (Editor, Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0231149522 | ISBN-13: 978-0231149525

A leading scholar, cultural historian, and Catholic priest who spent more than fifty years writing about our engagement with the Earth, Thomas Berry possessed prophetic insight into the rampant destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of species. In this book he makes a persuasive case for an interreligious dialogue that can better confront the environmental problems of the twenty-first century. These erudite and keenly sympathetic essays represent Berry's best work, covering such issues as human beings' modern alienation from nature and the possibilities of future, regenerative forms of religious experience. Asking that we create a new story of the universe and the emergence of the Earth within it, Berry resituates the human spirit within a sacred totality.

(7/1/09)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The subtitle declares that these collected essays, published from 1972 to 2001, are still relevant. Readers confronting the planetary degradation that Berry chronicles in later essays and those recognizing a basic human need for spirituality will likely agree. Berry, a Catholic priest and author of The Dream of the Earth, devoted his life's work to connecting modern people with a spirituality that respects and is fed by our relationship with nature. In four parts, this book addresses how the history and diversity of world religions offer ways to engage with Earth; how it is necessary to connect with a spirituality that is Earth derived; how science can be in conversation with the religious sensibilities of wonder and awe; and how our relationship to the natural world is crucial to our spirituality. In the earliest essays, Berry sounds most optimistic and urges readers to reconcile modern impulses and technology with religious traditions. The later essays strike a more imperative tone, pressing for a change of mind and soul to deeply engage our sacred universe. The essay collection acquires even more significance and urgency in light of Berry's death in June. (Sept.)
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Review

Dedicated readers of ecology, theology, or religious philosophy will want to savor each one [of these essays].

(Library Journal )

The volume is a fair encapsulation of the intellectual concerns for which Berry is best known.

(Christina Peppard Commonweal )

Thoams Berry demonstrattes in these papers the qualities he calls for: humanist vision and imagination.

(Resurgence )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (September 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231149522
• ISBN-13: 978-0231149525
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Text for Religious Educators., December 30, 2009

By 

Jack Dougher (Yorktown, VA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-first Century (Hardcover)

Ordained or not, no purveyor of religion today should teach without having had an extensive course using this book as one of its texts. It is too important to be relegated to those relatively few who are self-starting, spiritual seekers or environmentalists. This book deserves being used as a companion to the sacred scriptures of each and every religion. Thomas Berry has gotten to the heart of the reform of consciousness without which nothing else can adequately address our ecological crisis. His passing this year at the age of 90 is a sore loss, but this book along with other of his writings will continue to enlighten and bless us.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The place of the human in the universe, January 21, 2010

By 

M. Clare Pierson (Hokitika NZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-first Century (Hardcover)

Do you wonder about what the future holds for the earth and humans? This book is based on sound science and goes beyond science to give meaning to evolution, the connectedness of all that is and the place of the human on the earth. From where does the consciousness of humans come? where is evolving consciousness leading us? Explore what the extraordinarly perceptive mind of Thomas Berry presents in relation to these questions. Another work by this author is [[ASIN:0609804995 The Great Work: Our Way into the Future

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended for spirituality collections, December 19, 2009

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-first Century (Hardcover)

The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-First Century is edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker and comes from one of the 20th century's scholarly thinkers on spiritual intersection between humans and the natural world. Berry was a leading scholar and Catholic priest who spent over fifty years writing about earth and spirituality: THE SACRED UNIVERSE's essays represent his best writings and are recommended for spirituality collections.