Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief (Paperback)

~ (Author) "When I became sixty, the Daybreak commu gave me a big party..." (more)
Key Phrases: spiritual personality types, traditional worldview, scientific worldview, Big Picture, United States, Inherit the Wind (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Why Religion Matters is a passionate, accessible, ambitious manifesto written by one of the very few people qualified to address its titular topic. Huston Smith is the grand old man of religious scholarship. Raised by missionary parents in China, Smith went on to teach at M.I.T. and U.C. Berkeley, among others, and his World's Religions has long been the standard introductory textbook for college religion courses. The subject of Why Religion Matters, Smith writes, "is the importance of the religious dimension of human life--in individuals, in societies, and in civilizations." Smith believes that the religious dimension of human life has been devalued by the rise of modern science: we have now reached a point at which "modern Westerners . . . forsaking clear thinking, have allowed ourselves to become so obsessed with life's material underpinnings that we have written science a blank check ... concerning what constitutes knowledge and justified belief." In candid, direct style, Smith describes the evolution of intellectual history from pre-modern to postmodern times, and the spiritual sensibilities that have been shunted "by our misreading of modern science." In the book's final sections, Smith avoids the folly of predicting the future, instead focusing on "features of the religious landscape that are invariant" and therefore may serve as "a map that can orient us, wherever the future may bring." This book is fresh, insightful, and important. It may prove to be as influential in shifting readers' terms of religious understanding as any of Smith's previous writings. --Paul Power --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In this challenging but accessible book, Smith ardently declaims religion's relevance, taking on luminaries, such as Carl Sagan and Stephen Jay Gould, who hold that "only matter exists" and suggest that religion relates only to "subjective experiences." Smith defines such thinking as scientism, an unfortunate worldview distinct from science, which, in and of itself, he celebrates. But scientism, Smith says, contributes to "modernity's tunnel," a metaphorical structure that hides the metaphysical from view. He argues that "scientists who are convinced materialists deny the existence of things other than those they can train their instruments on," but in reality have "discovered nothing in the way of objective facts that counts against traditional metaphysics." Smith's arguments are reminiscent of Philip Johnson's Darwin on Trial; in fact, he nods appreciatively to Johnson's work. However, Smith's stature as a scholar probably affords him more credibility among scientists than evangelicals such as Johnson enjoy. Moreover, Smith's disarming toneDreplete with perfectly placed anecdotes and quipsDtempers the audacity of his theses and the difficulty of his subject matter. While he may be vulnerable to critiques that inevitably arise when non-scientists engage and challenge scientific claims, Smith demonstrates an impressive grasp of physics and biology, and defers to scientists who share his concerns. Most gratifyingly, after spending the book's first half implicating science, philosophy and the media in the marginalization of religion, Smith spends the second half elucidating and affirming metaphysical worldviews and imagining ways for science and religion to partner more equitably in the future. (Jan.) Forecast: Science and religion books are certainly hot right now (see PW's Religion Update, Nov. 20). That popularity, coupled with Smith's sterling reputation (buoyed by his recent five-part PBS series on religion with Bill Moyers) will propel sales. Harper San Francisco plans a 50,000-copy first print run and a $35,000 promotional budget.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (December 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060671025
• ISBN-13: 978-0060671020
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #344,756 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

217 of 225 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Great, February 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief (Hardcover)

I loved this book. I totally agree with Smith's statement that "Built into the human makeup is a longing for 'more' and I agree that religion does matter; however, I also understand why we live in an age of disbelief. So many antiquated religion concepts are difficult for modern men and women to accept. I recently came across a book An Encounter With A Prophet which seems to solve this problem and I would highly recommend it to those seeking the something more but unable to blindly accept religious dogma.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TREASURE, January 25, 2001

By	Jon Fobes "jonfobes | www.fobes.net" (Lorain, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief (Hardcover)

Huston Smith is a treasure, and "Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief" should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand what's going on below the glassy, glitzy surface of America in the year 2001.

It doesn't matter whether or not you've read any of Smith's other books (which I have); it doesn't matter if you never saw his 5-part special with Bill Moyers (or watched it four times, as I have); it doesn't matter if you go to church every Sunday or avoid it religiously (as I do); what matters is that you get this book, for there are glittering gems on almost every page no matter what your churchly or secular orientation may be.

"Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief" is highly recommended for all who seek to know more tomorrow than they do today. And if Huston Smith should read these words, I would say, "You have no idea how important and appreciated you are by tens of thousands of anonymous readers."

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Religion, Science, and Modern Life, December 24, 2001

By	Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Professor Huston Smith is indeed an inspiring scholar in world religion. His work, explaining the different ways in which human beings approach the unknown and seek transcendence and meaning for themselves is itself one of the best ways to gain an appreciation of the importance of religion and spirituality.

This book, Professor Huston's most recent, has a somewhat more ambitious goal than simply explaining and describing religious teaching. He tries to explain, in the words of his title, "why religion matters" and why it is of the highest importance to many people.

Although much of the book is eloquent and convincing, I found much of it unduly polemical and unconvincing. In particular, the first half of the book is taken up with a discussion and refutation of "scientism" which is the view that science is the only guide to the truth and out only source of knowledge. There is a wide-ranging attack on scientism, which broadens into a critique of the secular American university and of certain court decisions, which is intended to show not so much that scientism is wrong or incorrect but that it hasn't been proven. This is a worthy goal but the specifics misfire. In particular, Professor Smith spends too much time in criticising Darwinism and the theory of evolution, a criticism which I find markedly unsuccessful and probably unnecessary if I understand his broader claims correctly. He spends far too much time, I think, discussing a straw man, Hollywood's version of the Scopes trial, "Inherit the Wind."

The stronger portion of the book is included in part 2 which speaks eloquently of the nature of religious life, of the search for a transcendent reality separate from the world of everyday impulse and of the different ways religions have for approaching the divine. Professor Smith rightly ties in the religious quest with the quest of traditional metaphysics for the "big picture" as in Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus,Thomas Aquinas, Spinoza, Kant.

In essence, as I understand Professor Smith, he argues that we don't know that the world of science is all that there is. Science is limited to a certain type of human cognition which may not be the complete story of the universe. This is, although Professor Smith does not point it out, a Kantian conclusion. Professor Smith also wants to make a great point over descriptions of religious attitudes and aspirations in explaining why religion matters. Here he comes closer to well stating his case.

The book is rather digressive in style. It was not written for the academic specialist. Some of the stories and anecdotes although intereting and well told are overly chatty and distract from the main points of the book. Also, a bibliography and citations to the many sources Professor Smith cites would have helped me understand the book and follow-up on points he makes.

I am not sure after reading this book if asking about the relationship between science and religion is itself asking the correct question to help understand religion. Professor Smith did not entirely convince me in his discussion of the relationship between the two, but he did come closer in convincing me, in his discussion of the religious attidtude,that he understands a great deal about the religious needs of human beings.