Another non-theistic reinterpretation of religion has been published by a fellow named Bo Bennett. According to various web sources, he’s a young self-made millionaire. His book is The Concept: Introduction to Christian Nontheism. From the publisher:
Maybe you were born to Christian parents and raised as a Christian. Or maybe you are just a part of a Christian nation. ...In fact, the more you look around, the more you see a world absent of this perfect image of a perfect God. As much as you want to avoid critical thinking and "just let go and have faith", you find that you cannot believe in something contrary to your logic, reason, and common sense - no matter how much you want to. ...Can you be a Christian without believing in (or pretending to believe in) the God that is so firmly embedded in our culture today?.. Through a unique blend of science, philosophy, theology, and a touch of humor, you will see how you can trust your logic and reason, be true to yourself, and still be proud to call yourself Christian.
Without really intending to, I’ve been making a bit of a collection of these forays into what I’m now calling Post-Theistic Religion© (the copyright is tongue-in-cheek...unless it takes off). My favorite of the “Four Horsemen,” Daniel Dennett, has indicated interest in what comes after religion as we now know it. He’s mentioned writing about it soon. When he does the topic may explode.
I would be thrilled if this has spillover effects for Secular Humanistic Judaism. When you study the writings of the movement, you realize how richly it has contributed to these ideas, even if it has not yet succeeded in reaching really large numbers.
I don't know. One can make a case for Humanist Judaism. I'll repeat the old claim (disliked by the frum) that Judaism has always been more about praxis than belief. A friend, a liberal MO rabbi, told me about a friend of his who wrote an article arguing that it's questionable as to whether or not a Jew is required to believe anything.
ReplyDeleteHowever, all forms of Christianity have always included belief in God, and most have included belief in the divinity of Jesus. I don't see much of way around this, unless they simply want to see Jesus as a teacher whom they want to emulate. The term "Christian" is loaded, however. They'd really have to come up with something else.