Why Faith Matters
Judging by today's bestseller lists, one would think that religion is either irrational or extreme. What's missing is a genuine debate between the atheists and fanatics; someone to point out that religion has value in the modern world. Why Faith Matters is an articulate defense of religion in America. It makes the case for faith and shows its relationship to history and science. Refuting the cold reason of the atheists and the hatred of the fanatics with a vision of religion informed by faith, love, and understanding, Rabbi David J. Wolpe follows in a literary tradition that stretches from Cardinal Newman to C. S. Lewis to Thomas Merton — all individuals of faith who brought religion and culture together in their own works. Drawing on the personal and powerful story of his battle with cancer, Wolpe offers a moving statement in support of religion today. In a poignant response to the new atheists, Wolpe takes readers through the origins and nature of faith, the role of the Bible in modern life, and the compatibility of God and science. He concludes with a powerful argument for the place of God, faith, and religion in today's world.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Great
This book is simply excellent. The author approaches difficult subjects with grace and thoughtfulness. The strength of his arguments is only matched by his honest humility.
Having read the 'God Delusion' I became quite discouraged about religious discussion. It was disturbing to read how Dawkins accused faith of every evil imaginable. This was especially difficult because many of my close friends are believers and I could never imagine them believing what Dawkins was claiming.
Wolpe presents a response to anti-theistic literature which is just as much intellectual as it is personal. He analyses life's questions with openness, reason and consideration. Finally someone who doesn't think the answers are simple or easy!
Here is a short list of the topics treated:
-God's existence
-Meaning in this life
-Suffering
-Science
As a physics student (and the son of two physicists, go figure), the last topic was of particular interest. His point of view is excellent: science is essential but reality goes beyond the material. As he states:
"My real difficulty is with the notion that science is 'the only begetter of truth.' That is both an inflated view of science and an impoverished view of truth."
If you are looking for a good response (for the head and the heart) to recent anti-theistic literature, this is a solid choice.
5 Stars WHY FAITH MATTERS
Rabbi David Wolpe is a masterful author. His words of widsom are useful, not only for people of the Jewish Faith, but of all religions. I have enjoyed all of his books.
5 Stars Inspirational
Why Faith Matters This book is a very inspirational and eccumenical work which reconciles faith with all the historical, archeological and scientific discoveries that have been made since the Bible was created.
5 Stars Comforting to today's believer
Rabbi Wolpe probably only succeeds in "preaching to the quire", but his approach certainly appears as a refreshing counterbalance to the "new atheism", without attempting to refute it on scientific or logical grounds. Those outside the religious communities who are nonetheless concerned with the issue of theism versus atheism, and of whom there are very many, may likely not be satisfied.
The author somehow dismisses a reasoned approach (although he displays some good reasoning in his wonderful writing), holding that (pp.4-9) for instance Bertrand Russell couldn't reach the concerned spheres with his emphasis on logic. Unlike the author, I don't think highly of Russell's logic, but see him as confused in explaining his paradoxes. The author nevertheless says (p.188): "Sensible though my faith may be to me, or yours to you, ultimately it is unprovable. The same is true on a larger scale of the enterprise of 'proving' the existence of God." He further writes that having taught for years "all the proofs that have been given for God": "Never, in more than a decade of teaching the course, did a student come up to me after class, clap his hand to his forehead, and exclaim: 'Aha! Now I believe!'"
There is a little contradiction here. If the student had been persuaded by any of the purported proofs, he should not claim belief, but knowledge. The author's contention that God is unprovable presupposes, however, that those purported proofs are wrong. Moreover, that contention is a decisive statement, itself requiring proof. And I submit that God is not unprovable. Today's arguments center around whether organisms are Darwinian "products of accident" (p.148) or whether they are "intelligently designed", and the second possibility has been cogently argued by such as William Paley. One might dispute the definition of God, but a higher intelligence as responsible for life and its circumstance may not be dismissed, in view of the concept of God as the Omniscient and Omnipotent.
The reasoning given by those thinkers has not been conclusive, but the matter is susceptible to demonstration like other formerly unknown truths, exemplified by the likes of the Pythagorean theorem in geometry or Newton's laws of motion in physics, as I discussed elsewhere.
Kudos, regardless, to the author for this inspiring book.
5 Stars Why Faith Matters
Since I first was introduced to Rabbi Wolpe on Mysteries of the Bible, I have been interested in his work. Interesting to me is that Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life) did the Forward. I have read and I appreciated them. This book is well worth the time for every Theist, or someone that wants to learn more about different faiths.
Related posts:
- Speaking of Faith – Why Religion Matters and How to Talk About It
- Have a Little Faith – A True Story
- The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism – Knowing Whats Real and Why It Matters
- Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart
- Why Darwin Matters The Case Against Intelligent Design
- Counterfeit Gods – The Empty Promises of Money Sex and Power and the Only Hope that Matters
- Media Matters: Savage on What's Right with America
- A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists Musings on Why God Is Good and Faith Isnt Evil
- Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus – How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith
- Bahaullah And the New Era An Introduction to the Bahai Faith
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