W. Royce Clark observes that humanity appears to be jeopardizing our own future in a chaos of mutual antagonism and hypocrisy. Religions have traditionally provided ethical guidance, but because their absolutized metaphysics are incompatible with each other, we cannot rely on any one of them in a religiously pluralistic culture. The ethics of various religions are also built on theocratic or authoritarian foundations which are incompatible with any democratic society. Finally, many of their premises are very ancient, so not relevant or appropriate in our modern scientific world. The Western Enlightenment brought challenges against religion’s singularity, exclusivity, heteronomy, and anti-scientific assumptions, all of which disrupted their ethics and the Absolute metaphysical grounds upon which those ethics rested, raising the question of whether a “freestanding” ethic was possible. Inasmuch as the primary claim of most religions was regarded as beyond challenge, but was a conflation of history and myth, modern historical method created more doubt than certainty about such allegedly certain doctrines as “Jesus is the Son of God.” By the end of the 20th century, the impossibility of validating suchprimary Christological claims from a historical approach became evident, despite the articulate attempts at credibility in the brilliant works of John Dominic Crossan and Wolfhart Pannenberg, which remained unconvincing in important ways. Between 1832 and 2014, innovative Christian theologians such as Schleiermacher, Hegel, Tillich, and Scharlemann took a detour from the futility of historical verification. This study examines their remarkable attempts at a form of “corroboration” of the basic Christological claim, even if their primary interests were more in Christology than ethics. The question Clark takes up here is whether or not these figures have thereby provided a base for a universal ethic, or the only answer is for principles “freestanding” from any religion?

This book is about decision making. Its underlying theme is that we cannot move directly from basic Christian Insights to key areas where ethical choices have to be made without some kind of empirical investigation, with all the hazards which that brings. And the more detailed the analysis and recommendations drawn from the investigation, the greater the difference of opinion will be, This makes it important to work on particular topics in groups, looking for agreement at a middle level on a general direction: this is important where the situation is polarized, as it often Is. The studies collected here relate to three areas: ecumenical Christianity, economics and politics. The subjects discussed include the development of social ethics in the Church of England, the future of Protestant ethics, the end of the Protestant work ethic, the New Right, political theology, liberation theology, penal theory and practice and the demoralization of modem society.

We live in an age of rapid technological advancement. Never before has humankind wielded so much power over our own biology. Biohacking, the attempt at human enhancement of physical, cognitive, affective, moral, and spiritual traits, has become a global phenomenon. This textbook introduces religious and ethical implications of biohacking, artificial intelligence, and other technological changes, offering perspectives from monotheistic and karmic religions and applied ethics. These technological breakthroughs are transforming our societies and ourselves fundamentally via genetic modification, tissue engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics, the merging of computer technology with human biology, extended reality, brain stimulation, and nanotechnology. The book also considers the extreme possibilities of mind uploading, cryonics, and superintelligence. Chapters explore some of the political, economic, sociological, and psychological dimensions of these advances, with bibliographies for further study and questions for discussion. The technological future is here – and it is up to us to decide its moral and religious shape.

Are you one of those people who have wanted to get to know God better but never found anything in a church to help you do so? Do religious words sound like gibberish to you? If so, this book is for you. Thinking About God is written to explain, in non-theological language, what some of God is all about. It is a series of short meditations on some of the major words that we find in talk about faith, meditations in which the author re-images these words into more conventional language, language to which most of us can relate. Thinking About God believes that at the heart of the human experience is imagination, and at the heart of imagination is our picture of God. It aims to encourage you to look again at who God can be in your life, to inspire you to reconsider any misconceptions you may have about spirituality or the fact of Jesus in the human experience, to open yourself to new avenues of understanding in your perceptions of the larger forces that govern our lives. Thinking About God believes that we all are on journeys, really, ever seeking to enlarge our comprehension of who we are and where we are going. Its author shares his meditations as a fellow traveler, a traveler, mind you, who feels as if he has found something permanently spiritually transforming, but a traveler who is very much aware that others continue, by choice, to search for their spiritual destiny. Indeed, it is to all of these travelers that the author dedicates this book.

The Future of Ethics interprets the big questions of sustainability and social justice through the practical problems arising from humanity’s increasing power over basic systems of life. What does climate change mean for our obligations to future generations? How can the sciences work with pluralist cultures in ways that will help societies learn from ecological change? Traditional religious ethics examines texts and traditions and highlights principles and virtuous behaviors that can apply to particular issues. Willis Jenkins develops lines of practical inquiry through "prophetic pragmatism," an approach to ethics that begins with concrete problems and adapts to changing circumstances. This brand of pragmatism takes its cues from liberationist theology, with its emphasis on how individuals and communities actually cope with overwhelming problems. Can religious communities make a difference when dealing with these issues? By integrating environmental sciences and theological ethics into problem-based engagements with philosophy, economics, and other disciplines, Jenkins illustrates the wide understanding and moral creativity needed to live well in the new conditions of human power. He shows the significance of religious thought to the development of interdisciplinary responses to sustainability issues and how this calls for a new style of religious ethics.

Huston Smith, the author of the classic bestseller The World's Religions, delivers a passionate, timely message: The human spirit is being suffocated by the dominant materialistic worldview of our times. Smith champions a society in which religion is once again treasured and authentically practiced as the vital source of human wisdom.

"Beyond Religion" is a stirring call to move beyond religion for the guidance to improve human life on individual, community, and global levels--including a guided meditation practice for cultivating key human values.