Does Civilization Need Religion?: A Study in the Social Resources and Limitations of Religion in Modern LifeDoes Civilization Need Religion? sets out from the fact that religion's inability to make its ethical and social resources available for the solution of the moral problems of modern civilization is one, and the neglected one, of the two chief causes responsible for its debilitated condition. It is convinced that if Christian idealists are to make religion socially effective they will be forced to detach themselves from the dominant secular desires of the nations as well as from the greed of economic groups. It aims to show that though neither the orthodox nor the modern wing of the Christian Church seems capable of initiating a genuine revival which will evolve a morality capable of challenging and maintaining itself against the dominant desires of modern civilization's needs, there are resources in the Christian religion which make it the inevitable basis of any spiritual regeneration of Western civilization. Does Civilization Need Religion? maintains that the task of redeeming Western society rests in a peculiar sense upon Christianity, which has reduced the eternal conflict between self-assertion and self-denial to the paradox of self-assertion through self-denial and made the Cross the symbol of life's highest achievement. It is persuaded that the idea of a potent but yet suffering divine ideal which is defeated by the world but gains its victory in the defeat must continue to remain basic in any morally creative worldview. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 19 | |
THE SocIAL REsources oF RELIGION | 35 |
THE SocIAL ConsERVATISM of MoDERN | 63 |
CoNFLicT | 79 |
SocIAL CoMPLEXITY AND ETHICAL IMPo | 124 |
TRANSCENDING AND TRANSFORMING | 165 |
A PHILosophical BASIs For AN ETHICAL | 190 |
CoNCLUSION e e e e e e | 220 |
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Common terms and phrases
able achievement action advantages asceticism assume attitudes basis become Calvinism Christianity church CIVILIZATION NEED RELIGION classes COMPLEXITY compromise conflict consistent create creative critical defects desires destroy determinism develop difficult discover dualism easily economic effect effort ethical evil experience express fact fails faith fear finally forces gain give groups highest hope human imagination immediate IMPOTENCE inclined increased individual industrial inevitable inspired intelligence interest issue Jesus justified kind lack less limitations live loyalty maintain means medieval metaphysical modern society moral mutual nations nature necessary never obscure observer Orient perfect peril personality persuades PHILOSOPHY physical political possible practical problems prompted Protestant Protestantism puritan qualify reality realize reason regard relations religious idealism result revealed reverence scientific secular sense social society soul spiritual strategy struggle task thought tion trust unethical units universe values victory virtue Western whole