Customer Reviews

The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal

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I spent last weekend reading Dr. Kurtz's book, with a very different impression from that of "infaithreborn". Contrary to that reviewer's conclusions below, Kurtz does not focus merely on "fundamentalist" Christians, but on all those who ignore empirical evidence and logic in constructing a supernatural worldview. "Infaithreborn" and others who defend 'nonfundamentalist' Christianity and mysticism should make clearer assertions of what, in fact, they DO believe. Kurtz does not claim that the scientific method has left the world without mysteries, only that it is the best tool we have for dispelling ignorance. In this he joins Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov, although he is more forthright in his consideration of the possible origins of the Moses and Jesus and Mormon (Joseph Smith) myths. An insightful, courageous contribution to the field of the objective study of religious behavior.

It is interesting that although the original edition of this book was written in 1986, much of the discussion on Jesus and the origins of Christianity were recently reinforced by the excellent PBS special titled "From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians" which first appeared April 1998, and in which many notable religious scholars provided material that concurs with that presented in this book. Kurtz draws on numerous historical sources to provide background on the historical Jesus: "In order to evaluate their [the four Gospels] historical accuracy, it is important that we find independent corroboration. Thus we need to examine nonbiblical literature of the first few centuries C.E. I am referring here (1) to any parallels between Christianity and pagan or Jewish presursors; (2) to any secular references by pagan and Jewish authors; (3) to what the early critics of Christianity had to say; and (4) to the extensive apocryphal literature, gospels, and epistles that were subsequently rejected by the church." Kurtz presents the material in a very accessible and well researched manner. An excellent book.

Although I find his assessment of Jesus and Christianity lacking, much preferring the two superb books by Randal Helms,
Gospel Fictions and Who Wrote the Gospels, the chapter on Islam is worth the price of the book. This chapter on the history of Mohammed and early Islam is fantastic and should be shared with anyone who has a curiosity about the roots of Islam

Contrary to what one reviewer (below) has said, ther are no eyewitnesses to Christ. The gospels were all written from 50 to 90 years after the purported death of Christ and St Paul, whose letters are the oldest documents in the NT, likewise did not know Christ and in any event offers little or no detail about the events of the life of Christ.

Recognized as a leader the "secular humanist" movement, Paul Kurtz writes with his usual conviction on the evils of "religion and the paranormal." Happily for the reader, he manages to write nearly one-hundred pages of text before launching into his standard critique of hard-line, literally-interpreted theism.

That critique consumes nearly another 400 pages. It is useful for readers who are unaware of the fallacies in fundamentalist religion and paranormalism. In all likelihood, however, they will not be reading the book.

Unfortunately for those of us who might have benefited from Paul's intelligence, he is unable to look beyond his self-imposed blinders. Though acknowledging it briefly, he mainly refuses to accept the distinction between fundamentalist and other forms of religious experience. For him, it seems, all that takes the name "religion" is the same: superstitious and irrational.

As a result, his critique ends up tarring subjects that are far beyond his reach and apparent understanding. His treatment of mysticism, for example, dismisses the entire subject by highlighting its extremes.

The result is a misdirected attempt to dismiss all forms of religious experience and expression by knocking down the straw men of extremes. Had Mr. Kurtz limited his conclusions to those supported by his data --- as he asks "religionists" to do --- he would have written a useful book for those who feel the need to beat a dead, or dying, horse.

As it is, however, he continues to do damage to the name of Humanism with his own form of fundamentalism. Faced with a stark choice between a vision of a cold and empty universe, and a universe of possibilities of hope, who can blame "the masses" for saying "If that's humanism, you can keep it!"

Kurtz claims that u.f.o.s, religion and all other beliefs result from something called the "transcendental temptation" which is simply another way of saying that such beliefs are wishful thinking. The entire book is devoted to critically examining the claims of the paranormal. What is intresting is how Kurtz uses evidence in a twisted way. He rejects eye witness accounts of the life of Christ and the testimony of the Bible, yet quotes the pagan Celsus as a source for saying that Jesus was a magician. Why should we reject the testimony of the Bible for the testimony of Celsus? Why should Celsus have any more validity? This quoting of sources to support his viewpoints runs throughout the book. There is nothing wrong with this if it is done in an unbiased way, but Kurtz is far from being unbiased. This book is not a search for truth, but simply another persons biased opinion. What is remarkable about this book is that because it is written by a philosphy professor, it is believed by many to carry the stamp of truth. It does not. One finds truth by looking at all the evidence, not just part of it. Unfortunately, Kurtz is as guilty of special pleading as any other biased believer in his religion. This clearly shows through in his book. The truth is that people believe whatever they want to believe no matter what the evidence is, and some skeptics fall into the same trap. The great philosopher Mill is right when he wrote that the wise are few in number.

Since critical ancient history is missing, one suspects the
author is basing his assumptions on his own feelings and beliefs.