Hymns to an Unknown God: Awakening The Spirit In Everyday Life (Paperback)

~ (Author) "At dusk on a bleak November day in 1957, I sat in a classic old lecture hall at Harvard and listened to Paul Tillich, possibly..." (more)
Key Phrases: great mythic questions, spirited life, compassionate community, The Hymnbook, San Francisco, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Defining the quest to unlock spirituality as "the reverse of the religious pilgrimage," bestselling author Sam Keen ( Fire in the Belly ) nonetheless sets out immediately to blend Eastern and Western religious traditions with philosophy, psychology and autobiography. The result is a New Age-ish "now-and-then spiritual journey" whose indirect path may result in confusion for questers seeking less amorphous guidance. Ambiguity is implicit even in Keen's naming of the unknown god--"some missing value, some absent purpose, some new meaning, some presence of the sacred"; and Keen sees a constant questioning of religious authority as essential to spiritual transcendence. "A soulful life," Keen posits, "is more about getting rhythm and tuning into the music of the spheres than it is about getting the words correct." To further aid this quest in an era emerging from the 20th century's frayed "technological-economic myth of progress," the author offers a "spiritual bull-shit detector" as well as rituals for consecrating sex and work, family and other relationships, local communities and the global environment.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Keen (Fire in the Belly, LJ 2/15/91) provides a wonderfully celebratory guide to spiritual growth. He charts the spiritual path as beginning with psychological cleansing, "peeling away the myths and illusions that have misinformed us," a phase wherein "men and women follow opposite and complementary paths to recover what was denied in their adolescent sundering into gender." Next there is a journey common to both genders toward "the Unknown God to whom we may surrender," a journey increasingly outward from self to God, to other people, to the ecological commonwealth, to global community, to the terror and trust of death. His final chapter provides rituals for consecrating our days so that they become hymns to the mysterious God. Highly recommended for public and seminary libraries.
Copyright 1994 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: 336 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553375172
• ISBN-13: 978-0553375176
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #206,832 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must have for the 90's seeker, November 5, 1998

By	[e-mail] (houston tx) - See all my reviews

keen's blend of psychology and spirituality is very appealing to me.exploring the truths and mysteries of the seen and unseen where organized religion dare not go.a no nonsense book on spirituality in everdaylife.if you are one that seeks yearns and desires but are not happy with any of the already laid paths....this is a great starting point to set the mind spirit and imagination on fire!

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bible for the 21st century ?, December 20, 2001

By	J. E. J. Lloyd (Charlton Marshall, Dorset, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was delighted to read, in the magazine review of the book, an opinion that 'Hymns' was a theology for the New Age. My reaction was very similar, a sudden thought crossed my mind that this was a bible for the 21st century. There have been, admittedly, a number of such bibles produced towards the end of the last century, not the least of them being the Seth books, but the fascinating aspect is that they all follow the same spiritual path and they all contain some form of Myth emphasis that dwells upom Man's pathway through life and his own personal responsibilities in following that path. It is no coincidence that Keen's message comes at the same time as Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, and other modern dramas bearing a powerful Myth content. The thirst of a confused Mankind for new forms of digestible myth, carrying the same ancient wisdoms but with refreshed archetypes and modern symbols, is evident. It is a thirst that has been rejected by the churches to their cost. Keen's book encapsulates the spirituality of the new century, the desperate need for balance between every aspect of Man's being and the substitution of knowledge, spiritual knowledge that is, in the place of emotion and unquestioning belief.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hymns to an Unknown God, September 10, 2005

By	James A. Stuckey (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Altough Mr. Keen is obviously well-read and, in a perverse way, bright, he puts himself before all others and invites his readers to do likwise. Unless one is convinced that what this world needs most is more self-centeredness, it would be best to avoid this one. I put my copy out with the trash.