On Religion (Thinking in Action)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £4.55
Trade in On Religion (Thinking in Action) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £4.55, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Caputo redefines religion as love of the unforeseeable. And, as that is a given in life, his definition of religiosity pretty much equates with my definition of joie de vivre. So the opposite of a religious person is not an atheist, merely a 'pusillanimous curmudgeon'. But it's not all just clever wordplay. With his unorthodox definitions in place, Caputo goes on to denounce dogma, put Marx, Nietzsche and Freud in their historical places and to reunite religion, mysticism and science. On top of all that, there's a detailed deconstruction of religion in Star Wars. I'm converted."
- Laurence Phelan, The Independent on Sunday
"Intellectual without being overly academic...one cheers his vigour and relishes his insights into the paradoxical, ambiguous nature of religion and religious belief. Recommended."
- Library Journal
"I feel obliged to warn readers that I loved this book. I loved its passion, loved its ideas, and loved the alternately sassy and incantatory rhythms of its prose ... get this book and read it."
- Sea of Faith
"...this volume is both a stimulating read and a useful introduction to a strand of thinking about religion inaugurated by Jacques Derrida and other post-modernist thinkers. Caputo's writing avoids the abstractions and complications beloved of academic philosophy in favor of a vernacular and often light-hearted writing style that nevertheless succeeds in conveying ideas of considerable depth and subtlety."
- Stan van Hooft, Sophie, 48:327-329
- Laurence Phelan, The Independent on Sunday
"Intellectual without being overly academic...one cheers his vigour and relishes his insights into the paradoxical, ambiguous nature of religion and religious belief. Recommended."
- Library Journal
"I feel obliged to warn readers that I loved this book. I loved its passion, loved its ideas, and loved the alternately sassy and incantatory rhythms of its prose ... get this book and read it."
- Sea of Faith
"...this volume is both a stimulating read and a useful introduction to a strand of thinking about religion inaugurated by Jacques Derrida and other post-modernist thinkers. Caputo's writing avoids the abstractions and complications beloved of academic philosophy in favor of a vernacular and often light-hearted writing style that nevertheless succeeds in conveying ideas of considerable depth and subtlety."
- Stan van Hooft, Sophie, 48:327-329
Product Description
John D. Caputo explores the very roots of religious thinking in this thought-provoking book. Compelling questions come up along the way: 'What do I love when I love my God?' and 'What can Star Wars tell us about the contemporary use of religion?' (are we always trying to find a way of saying 'God be with you'?) Why is religion for many a source of moral guidance in a postmodern, nihilistic age? Is it possible to have 'religion without religion'?
Drawing on contemporary images of religion, such as Robert Duvall's film The Apostle, Caputo also provides some fascinating and imaginative insights into religious fundamentalism.
Drawing on contemporary images of religion, such as Robert Duvall's film The Apostle, Caputo also provides some fascinating and imaginative insights into religious fundamentalism.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Any book entitled On Religion must begin by breaking the bad news to the reader that its subject matter does not exist. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Any book entitled On Religion must begin by breaking the bad news to the reader that its subject matter does not exist. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a real gift from heaven to readers interested in exploring religious faith in a post-modern context. John Caputo (a Giant in post-modern theory) offers us a funny, intelligent, and incredibly readable survey of religious faith.
John Caputo's gifts as a post-modern commentator are already evident from his other books (for example 'The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida') but now he shows a real talent for writing less technical books as well. By using great illustrations and a sharp writing style he is able to explain difficult concepts as if they were no trouble at all
But not only does this text bare witness to his intellectual abilities (which are second to none) it also reveals his heart. In reading this book you not only feel you have learned about faith but also that you have met with someone who is themselves on a journey of discovery. 'On Religion' possesses an honesty, integrity and humor that is difficult (if not impossible) to find in other books dealing with the same subject matter. It not only teaches but inspires.
From one stranger to another I wholeheartedly recommend 'On Religion' and ask that you buy at least 5 copies to ensure that it moves up the rating list.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's not often that you find yourself reading a book on the philosophy of religion with the same eagerness you would pick up a thriller. With a style that is readable without 'dumbing down' Caputo is able to clarify difficult ideas in an accessible manner. There's a real sense of intellectual excitement to be had from this book, largely due to the way the author conveys his own huge enthusiasm for the subject. You can race through it quickly but, at the same time, know that the book will repay countless re-readings. If like me, you are interested in philosophy - particularly when it touches on religion - but are put off by turgid or incomprehensible prose, give this a try. You really won't regret it.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful
This book demonstrates thinking in action
14 Jan 2003
Format:Paperback
Brilliant. Well written, informative, passionate. It is refreshing to see a philosopher who writes with the fervour of Kierkegaard, someone who is in the academic world not because they wish to further their own name but because they are driven by the questions that ought to keep us all up at night. This book is brilliantly paced and achieves the almost impossible task of making Derrida understandable. In the spirit of C.S. Lewis, John Caputo offers us a first-rate body of thought in a way that is well written and understandable to those outside the academic ivory tower. In the introduction to this book, Caputo makes the convincing claim that when it comes to religion there is no absolute beginning, however if you are looking for an introduction to religion from a continental philosophical viewpoint then this is a close to an absolute beginning as you are likely to get.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Doing the impossible
1 Dec 2003
Format:Paperback
I've just finished reading On Religion and thought I'd make use of cyberspace to say how much I enjoyed it. I continue to be part of a formal religion (Christian/Anglican) but constantly wonder why; frustrated and angered by blinkered thinking and knowing that I do not believe-as-fact most (any?) of the 'doctrine'. And yet, and yet.....I know it gives shape to
something which is somehow fundamental to existence. My normal reaction to this chronic uncertainty is anxiety, so I found Caputo's idea that the very impossibility of knowing is something to be passionate about a really inspiring one. Worrying about the love of God makes it impossible to do the love of God.
something which is somehow fundamental to existence. My normal reaction to this chronic uncertainty is anxiety, so I found Caputo's idea that the very impossibility of knowing is something to be passionate about a really inspiring one. Worrying about the love of God makes it impossible to do the love of God.
And it was very good to read a book on religion which flew along, was full of passion and made me laugh.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
What Do I Love When I Love My God?
3 May 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I wish Amazon had a search engine that would automatically redirect the general reader interested in religion to this book. Not the graduate student who nods intelligently to the puns made by French philosophers in their original language, not the tenured professor who ponders whether she should include this reference in her class reading list, but the plain, average reader who doesn't know much about philosophy but who likes inspirational lectures dedicated to lifting his or her spirit out of the ordinary.
Such a reader may be puzzled at first with the author's peculiar sense of humor. For John Caputo, people of the impossible, as he defines religious people, are also impossible people: "A good part of the problem with religion is religious people (without them, religion's record would be unblemished)". His religion borders on the atheistic, and he finds as much inspiration in a Star Wars episode as in Luke or Matthew. But his love of God is sincere when he echoes the prayers and tears of St. Augustine or records the story of the annunciation to the Blessed Virgin--who actually spoke French, we learn incidentally.
Actually, readers will find many sentences that would fit in a Sunday predication or an Evangelist's bestseller. "We are not supposed to earn a comfortable living off the Crucifixion, we are supposed to be crucified to the world." "God cannot simply spend six days creating the world and then throw the tools on the truck and drive off for a long week-end. We require God to be on the job around the clock." "When the love of God calls, we had better answer". "Religion is for lovers, for men and women of passion, for real people with a passion for something other than making profit." Even the parts that deal with deep philosophical issues are presented in a humorous and accessible manner ("There is no way to know The Way, no way that I know, anyway").
Readers may or may not agree with the precepts of a "religion without religion" that the author spells out at the end. Nor is his attack on established churches bound to earn him much support among the parish folks. But it is not so common to find a book that is at the same time inspirational and challenging, full of enthusiasm and slightly agnostic, easy to read without being an insult to the reader's intelligence.
Such a reader may be puzzled at first with the author's peculiar sense of humor. For John Caputo, people of the impossible, as he defines religious people, are also impossible people: "A good part of the problem with religion is religious people (without them, religion's record would be unblemished)". His religion borders on the atheistic, and he finds as much inspiration in a Star Wars episode as in Luke or Matthew. But his love of God is sincere when he echoes the prayers and tears of St. Augustine or records the story of the annunciation to the Blessed Virgin--who actually spoke French, we learn incidentally.
Actually, readers will find many sentences that would fit in a Sunday predication or an Evangelist's bestseller. "We are not supposed to earn a comfortable living off the Crucifixion, we are supposed to be crucified to the world." "God cannot simply spend six days creating the world and then throw the tools on the truck and drive off for a long week-end. We require God to be on the job around the clock." "When the love of God calls, we had better answer". "Religion is for lovers, for men and women of passion, for real people with a passion for something other than making profit." Even the parts that deal with deep philosophical issues are presented in a humorous and accessible manner ("There is no way to know The Way, no way that I know, anyway").
Readers may or may not agree with the precepts of a "religion without religion" that the author spells out at the end. Nor is his attack on established churches bound to earn him much support among the parish folks. But it is not so common to find a book that is at the same time inspirational and challenging, full of enthusiasm and slightly agnostic, easy to read without being an insult to the reader's intelligence.
Were these reviews 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.
|
