The Religious Case Against Belief

Thanks you Dr. Carse for a tackling a difficult topic in both an intelligent and interesting to read style. If you are a believer (i.e., you have your beliefs and stick by them) you might be in for a rough ride if you actually listen to what Dr. Carse has to say. You may end up just hating the book. This is probably true for both hard headed atheists and hard headed Christians. On the other hand, if you are really searching to understand truth and meaning and the world you have been thrust into, you will get a lot out of Dr. Carse's excellent book. If you reject some of the insanity of certain religious "beliefs" but yet find atheist "beliefs" to be lacking as well, you just might feel at home reading this.

It is NOT for those of weak of faith!!. It hits the desire for "certainty" which many seek in their faith and the shield of "certainty" which more than a few "of faith" want more than "permission" to keep asking questions which are in fact beyond such absolute certainty for the human mind.Of the 3 positions of faith and knowledge, the first ...that which we CAN know through learning, the second position -- of many -- the position of "choosing NOT to know or seek the things beyond us" and the most difficult third position of a grasp of that which is BEYOND our ability to know and understand, this writing is in that 3rd position in which the drive to keep searching... knowing that some things ARE beyond our ability to understand. I would think takes a pretty solid faith to keep looking for the 'invisible.'Art Becker

Carse is a very insightful observer and thinker. He is now an emeritus professor of religious history, though most of his books are not directly about religion. He tends to deal with the complexity and subtleties that allow for revealing compelling but (mostly) previously obscure thinking about important human issues. I cam to this book, and others by him, via Finite and Infinite Games, a book that I and many others find to be nearly paradigm shifting about approaches to human interaction from personal to global/international. Nothing of his that I have read has disappointed.

One can sympathize with James Carse's intention in The Religious Case Against Belief without agreeing with his thesis.His intention is to find some way to avoid the fruitless wrangling between religionists and atheists that is currently going on. He does this by arguing that the atheists are correct in their criticisms of dogmatic belief that goes by the name of "religion," but that such belief doesn't constitute religion at all. Belief systems, he says, are closed ideologies that frequently employ willful ignorance. Like Galileo's detractors, ideologues refuse to take seriously any claims that run counter to their belief systems. They automatically draw lines in the sand between themselves and everyone who disagrees with them, thereby creating adversarial relationships which can lead to excess and violence.But genuine religion, Carse continues, is imbued with the spirit of what Nikolaus of Cusa called "learned ignorance": the humble realization that reality is far greater and more complex than an single explanation of it, whether that explanation is God-oriented or not. Genuine religious faith refrains from dogmatism because of its conviction that God is always greater than we humans can imagine.This is a clever abstract distinction--and herein lies my disagreement with Carse--but reality is much messier. Religious humility is typically interwoven with a great deal of self-doubt, and this in turn easily breeds ideological tendencies. Learned ignorance in practice usually draws pretty clear lines between what's ultimately acceptable or unacceptable when talking about God. And belief systems, I would suggest, aren't nearly as monolithic as Carse suggests. They can accommodate any degree of toleration, and they also have life spans in which their openness ebbs and flows. They are, in short, more dynamic than Carse allows.This isn't to say that Carse's treatment is without merit. Although his thesis is flawed (and not terribly original, as a matter of fact), he asks the right question when he wonders if atheists aren't tilting for the most part at windmills--that is, closed and intolerant ideologies--more than what they think they're attacking.

James P Carse's " The Religious Case Against Belief " is written in a style embodying his thesis against belief: mysterious enough to maintain a high level of allurement, definitive enough to encourage anger and delight in alternating currents.I think he's fundamentally right about belief systems. Once you're a true believer, your brain goes on hold.I was especially in agreement with his premise that mystery and longevity are what the great religions have in common.It surely isn't the story line,though one could press the point that Christians hold the story of Israel--transformed.Carse under-appreciates the pervasiveness of the Resurrection theme in the New Testament.Death/Resurrection is the very essence of the Pauline corpus.For one so insistent on the emptiness of Fundamentalism, he has a fundamentalistic yen for the explicit text.On balance, a book well worth reading.

I DO NOT WANT MY NAME USED. IF NECESSARY CANCEL REVIEW. I think this well documented book will provide the reader with a more balanced view of the Israeli/Palestinean issue and offers a way of resolving (minimizing) the seriousness of the conflict. The steps taken require foregoing the concept that Israel is a Jewish State rather than to consider Israel as you would any democratic nation with equal rights for a diverse population. No doubt this is a very tall order to a long term solution and the author is aware of it. Nevertheless, those who keep abreast with the problem will benefit from reading this book as they seek to understand and evaluate current developing trends in the West Bank.

Carrying his learning lightly, James Carse offers a brilliant update of the via negativa for today written for the general reader. Its relevance is obvious at a time when belief system wars are breaking out around the world and Boko Haram, ISIS & other 'religion' inspired extremists carry out murderous campaigns in cities & towns. So timely to remind us of the horizon of higher ignorance vs. the boundary of belief systems (ideologies) that create enemies. In the spirit of wonder & quest this author finishes by declaring he is a voice joining a vital conversation that has been on-going for a very long time - & requests critiques of his critique: "The experience of evil...is not the experience of silence but of being silenced".

A very stimulating read.

Excellent book

For those of us who find little satisfaction in the question of belief, Carse provides us with compelling reasons to consider belief "... as the point at which thinking stops", a hindrance to understanding and meaningfulness.

Good book. Fair price. Fast delivery.