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Spirituality for the Independent Thinker
Themes of Religious Exploration
By Richard A. Striner
Spirituality for the Independent Thinker is a companion and guide for individualists who resist being told what to think about religion.
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About This Book
In the course of its unique exploration, Spirituality for the Independent Thinker combines themes from three related fields: quantum physics, theology, and philosophy. The result is a guide for independent thinkers who seek to do justice to the combination of ideas and feelings that generate spirituality.
Exploring themes of metaphysics and fundamental “ontology”—the philosophic study of being-as-such—the book singles out a constant structure of experience that we take completely for granted because it contains the reality we know: the experience of now. This is a structure that flows and it constitutes a phenomenon that scientists cannot understand or subject to experiments. They lack the standpoint from which to probe it because they are in it.
Spirituality for the Independent Thinker helps readers to navigate conceptions that are open to them as they think in an independent manner about religious issues. It confronts the darker side of reality with tough-minded candor, while offering a source of inspiration that withstands any realistic challenge: the ghostliness of the power that upholds us every single moment.
Reviews
“A remarkable, beautiful, learned, and personal book that bears reading and re-reading. It starts with the question of why anything exists, and then explores the power of living in the ’now'." —Paul R. Fleischman, author of Wonder: When and Why the World Appears Radiant, Karma and Chaos, and other books
“The fashionable dualism of ‘magical thinking vs. rational thinking’ by which faith and reason are increasingly defined today has endured centuries of careful critique by theologians, philosophers of religion, and even philosophers of science. As an historian, Richard Striner offers us a wonderfully different and uniquely compelling confutation of this dualism.” — Michael Epperson, Founding director of the Consortium for Philosophy and the Natural Sciences and the History and Philosophy of Science Program at California State University, Sacramento, US
"Like his political hero Abraham Lincoln, Striner values independent thinking. This highly readable text is ideal for courses in philosophy."— William D. Pederson, American Studies Endowed Chair, LSU Shreveport, US
“While admitting the benefits that hundreds of millions of people take from their religious belief and practice, Striner deftly points out the serious drift away from the logical shore that many must take in order to maintain their beliefs. In opposition to this, Striner proposes a ‘tough-minded’ spirituality that avoids the trap of wishful thinking.” —Douglas E. Cowan, Professor of Religious Studies and Social Development Studies, Renison University College, Canada
Author Information
Richard A. Striner is a historian and writer who specializes in commentary and interdisciplinary studies.
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Table of Contents
Preface; 1. Toward a Spirituality of Independent Thinking; 2. Metaphysics, Physics, and the Spirituality of Now; 3. Why Is the World the Way It Seems?; 4. Freedom, Spirituality, and Struggle; 5. Theology and Worship; 6. The Misuse of Spirituality; 7. Paradigms of God; 8. Mysticism; 9. A Path of One’s Own; 10. Ontology and Mind; Epilogue; Appendix A: The Reality on Now as an Ontological Condition; Appendix B: The Ontological Complexities of Now: A Quantum Model; Notes; Index.
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