- Paperback: 171 pages
- Publisher: O Books (25 Sep 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1846942209
- ISBN-13: 978-1846942204
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.8 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 459,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.00
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in No Faith In Religion: some variations on a theme for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.00, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
Product Description
Product Description
If religion is characterised by the recruitment of God to serve our agendas, and faith is about putting our agendas at the service of God, then clearly there is too much religion in the world, and not enough faith. The first eight chapters of this book apply this religion/faith dichotomy to some crucial areas of interest to those exploring what it might mean to be people of faith in a world saturated with religion. The remaining chapters address issues of crucial importance to the future of organised religion in general, and the role of the Church of England in particular. From mediaeval polyphony to Andrew Lloyd Webber the development of a given theme through a sequence of variations has proved attractive to composers anxious to demonstrate the sometimes surprising potential of a simple melody. "No Faith in Religion" is a modest attempt to do something similar with two concepts, religion and faith, which are usually seen as simply synonymous but which are in fact subtly different and subject to being interwoven in numerous complex and unexpected ways.
About the Author
John Saxbee is the 71st Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. Dr Saxbee is a Bristolian who served as a Parish Priest and Director of Training in Devon, before moving to Shropshire as Bishop and Archdeacon of Ludlow - and then to Lincoln in 2002. Previous title, Liberal Evangelism (1994) 9780281046911
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
I'd read good reviews of 'No Faith in Religion' and it has been chosen as a book to discuss in my church housegroup so I was looking forward to reading something that sounded so interesting.
I found the book started very slowly. I couldn't quite get my head around the main points that John Saxbee was trying to make and found I was wading through the pages without truly becoming engaged. I found the quality of the editing/proofing very poor - it was littered with grammatical and other errors - and would also have been a smoother read with footnotes rather than references within the text as there were so many. However at about the halfway point my interest kicked in and I began to really enjoy this read.
Saxbee writes from a liberal Christian perspective but is clearly well-read and is able to show the strengths and weaknesses of many different positions in the church. His underlying theme is that 'religion' isn't what we should be aiming for, but 'faith', and that so many of the problems besetting the church and Christianity in general are difficulties of religion, not faith. He had a very interesting chapter about Victorian sceptics who converted to Christianity later in their lives, portraying it as an understanding of faith in Jesus rather than an adherence to the Christian religion.
This was a worthwhile and thought-provoking book, well written (apart from the proofing issues) and wide-ranging and it's worth a read for all those who want to think about true faith in a world saturated with religion.
I found the book started very slowly. I couldn't quite get my head around the main points that John Saxbee was trying to make and found I was wading through the pages without truly becoming engaged. I found the quality of the editing/proofing very poor - it was littered with grammatical and other errors - and would also have been a smoother read with footnotes rather than references within the text as there were so many. However at about the halfway point my interest kicked in and I began to really enjoy this read.
Saxbee writes from a liberal Christian perspective but is clearly well-read and is able to show the strengths and weaknesses of many different positions in the church. His underlying theme is that 'religion' isn't what we should be aiming for, but 'faith', and that so many of the problems besetting the church and Christianity in general are difficulties of religion, not faith. He had a very interesting chapter about Victorian sceptics who converted to Christianity later in their lives, portraying it as an understanding of faith in Jesus rather than an adherence to the Christian religion.
This was a worthwhile and thought-provoking book, well written (apart from the proofing issues) and wide-ranging and it's worth a read for all those who want to think about true faith in a world saturated with religion.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Bishop John Saxbee offers a book with a provocative title which explores the difference between Faith and Religion. He describes it as `Variations on a theme' and it does not claim to be a systematic approach yet the result is rather more than a series of essays. It is, he says "a modest attempt" to examine these two concepts which seem to be synonymous to many people, "If religion is characterised by the recruitment of God to serve our agendas, and faith is about putting our agendas at the service of God, then clearly there is too much religion in the world, and not enough faith."
Written from an unashamedly liberal standpoint the book is a worthwhile defence in the face of a growing religious fundamentalism. The author examines the work of Kierkegaard and the `Religionless Christianity' of Bonhoeffer which leads to a discussion of Redemption which he describes as his `Desert Island Doctrine'. He then looks at the endings of the four Gospels and the development of the Church out of the faith of the early Christians. Further chapters examine theology and revelation.
About halfway through, the book becomes more practical with chapters on "Vicarious Faith" (a good subject for a Church of England Bishop) and "Ministers of Religion" (the longest chapter). He then tackles the rise of militant atheism looking back to some 19th century figures who renounced the Faith and later returned. The final chapters look at postmodernism and evangelism before a conclusion stressing once again the underlying theme of Faith over Religion. Here the gamekeeper turns poacher in a limited way.
Reading this book I am reminded of something I recall Archbishop John Habgood saying almost twenty years ago that as he grew older he knew more and more about less and less. Bishop Saxbee shows evidence of voracious reading, mostly of books published in the past decade with quotations scattered across the text and I should like to have had a bibliography appended. I suspect that the book is not quite as radical as its title suggests but its nature means that each chapter can be read on its own. It may be that a more systematic treatment of the theme "Too much religion and not enough faith" could be something for Bishop John to undertake in his impending retirement. That could even be a way of `reaching out' to the New Atheists.
Written from an unashamedly liberal standpoint the book is a worthwhile defence in the face of a growing religious fundamentalism. The author examines the work of Kierkegaard and the `Religionless Christianity' of Bonhoeffer which leads to a discussion of Redemption which he describes as his `Desert Island Doctrine'. He then looks at the endings of the four Gospels and the development of the Church out of the faith of the early Christians. Further chapters examine theology and revelation.
About halfway through, the book becomes more practical with chapters on "Vicarious Faith" (a good subject for a Church of England Bishop) and "Ministers of Religion" (the longest chapter). He then tackles the rise of militant atheism looking back to some 19th century figures who renounced the Faith and later returned. The final chapters look at postmodernism and evangelism before a conclusion stressing once again the underlying theme of Faith over Religion. Here the gamekeeper turns poacher in a limited way.
Reading this book I am reminded of something I recall Archbishop John Habgood saying almost twenty years ago that as he grew older he knew more and more about less and less. Bishop Saxbee shows evidence of voracious reading, mostly of books published in the past decade with quotations scattered across the text and I should like to have had a bibliography appended. I suspect that the book is not quite as radical as its title suggests but its nature means that each chapter can be read on its own. It may be that a more systematic treatment of the theme "Too much religion and not enough faith" could be something for Bishop John to undertake in his impending retirement. That could even be a way of `reaching out' to the New Atheists.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Some of this passed over my head, but Saxbee's point is clear that religion, defined as the cultic practices, doctrines and institution of the church, is necessary, though only of value in so far as it promotes and supports faith, defined as trust and response to God. It is refreshing to hear this from a bishop who is a scholar and experienced in parish life.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
