Only a noble lie can save us from the psychological and social chaos now threatened by the spread of skepticism about the meaning of life and the universe.

The Promise of Religious Naturalism explores religious naturalism as a distinctly promising form of contemporary religious ethics. Examining how religious naturalism responds to the challenges of recent religious transformations and ecological peril worldwide, author Michael Hogue argues that religious naturalism is emerging as an increasingly plausible and potentially rewarding form of religious moral life. Beginning with an introduction of religious naturalism in the larger context of religious and ethical theories, the book undertakes the first extended study of the works of religious naturalists Loyal Rue, Donald Crosby, Jerome Stone, and Ursula Goodenough. Hogue pays particular attention to the ethical components of religious naturalism in relation to religious pluralism and ecological issues.

In this provocative work, Sophia Heller challenges the assumption that we cannot be without myth, that myth is necessary to vital, soulful living. Indeed, Heller argues, we have been living in a world without myth for a long time. The Absence of Myth examines the loss of a religious mode of being-in-the-world and demonstrates how theorists who insist on the presence of myth deny its historical end. Absence of myth may seem obvious: evidenced by our lack of cult and ritual, and by our de-animated natural world, as well as in the emergence of conceptual thought and psychological awareness, which could only arise with the dissolution of a prereflective (mythic) mode of being-in-the-world. But what appears to be straightforward becomes complicated when myth is intentionally conflated with thought and reflection, usually in the attempt to cultivate a "mythic consciousness" that aims to restore meaning to life and assuage the spiritual malaise of contemporary culture. Myth cannot rest in peace. It must be continually unearthed, redefined, and recontextualized such that modern and postmodern notions of myth are made to substitute for something that has never been experienced, only imagined.

"In Consecrating Science, Lisa Sideris offers a searing critique of 'The New Cosmology,' a complex network of overlapping movements that claim to bring together science and spirituality, all in the name of saving our planet from impending ecological collapse. Highly regarded in many academic circles, these movements have been endorsed by numerous prominent scholars, scientists, historians, and educators. Their express goal--popularized in numerous books, films, TED talks, YouTube videos, podcasts, and even introductory courses at places like Harvard or Washington University--is to instill in readers and audiences a profound sense of being at home in the universe, thereby fostering environmentally responsible behavior. Whether promoted as 'The New Story,' 'The Universe Story,' or 'The Epic of Evolution,' they all offer humanity a new sacred story, a common creation myth for modern times and for all people: the evolutionary unfolding of the universe from the Big Bang to the present. Evolutionary science and religious cosmology--together at last! But as Sideris shows, however, the New Cosmology actually underwrites a staggeringly anthropocentric vision of the world. Instead of cultivating an ethic of respect for nature, the project of 'consecrating science' only increases human arrogance and indifference to nonhuman life. Going back to the work of Rachel Carson and other naturalists, the author shows how a sense of wonder, rooted in the natural world and our own ethical impulses, helps foster environmental attitudes and policies that protect our planet"--Provided by publishe

In 2003 John Michael Greer became the seventh Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), an initiatory organization teaching Celtic nature spirituality which was founded in 1912. The outcome was that his writings began to stray into territory very far from the Hermetic occult philosophy that had been the previous focus of his career. The essays included in this volume chronicle some of the themes he explored as a result: Druidry, Jungian psychology, politics, history, and the shape of the future in a society in decline.

Traces the legend of Atlantis from the original stories found in the works of Plato to the latest scientific debates and discoveries, and argues that the threat of global warming may lead modern society to the same fate.

Religion in the Anthropocene charts a new direction in humanities scholarship through serious engagement with the geopolitical concept of the Anthropocene. Drawing on religious studies, theology, social science, history, philosophy, and what can be broadly termed as environmental humanities, this collection represents a groundbreaking critical analysis of diverse narratives on the Anthropocene. The contributors to this volume recognize that the Anthropocene began as a geological concept, the age of the humans, but that its implications are much wider than this. Does the Anthropocene idea challenge the possibility of a sacred Nature, or is it a secularized theological anthropology more properly dealt with through traditional concepts from Roman Catholic social teaching on human ecology? Not all contributors to this volume agree about the answers to these and many more different questions. Readers will be challenged, provoked, and stimulated by this book.

"With a strong interdisciplinary approach to a subject that does not lend itself easily to the reference format, this work may not seem to support directly academic programs beyond general research, but it is a more thorough and up-to-date treatment than Taylor and Francis′s 1994 Encyclopedia of Time. Highly recommended." —Library Journal STARRED Review Surveying the major facts, concepts, theories, and speculations that infuse our present comprehension of time, the Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology, & Culture explores the contributions of scientists, philosophers, theologians, and creative artists from ancient times to the present. By drawing together into one collection ideas from scholars around the globe and in a wide range of disciplines, this Encyclopedia will provide readers with a greater understanding of and appreciation for the elusive phenomenon experienced as time. Features Surveys historical thought about time, including those ideas that emerged in ancient Greece, early Christianity, the Italian Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment, and other periods Covers the original and lasting insights of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin, physicist Albert Einstein, philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, and theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Discusses the significance of time in the writings of Isaac Asimov, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Fyodor M. Dostoevsky, Francesco Petrarch, H. G. Wells, and numerous other authors Contains the contributions of naturalists and religionists, including astronomers, cosmologists, physicists, chemists, geologists, paleontologists, anthropologists, psychologists, philosophers, and theologians Includes artists′ portrayals of the fluidity of time, including painter Salvador Dali′s The Persistence of Memory and The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, and writers Gustave Flaubert′s The Temptation of Saint Anthony and Henryk Sienkiewicz′s Quo Vadis Provides a truly interdisciplinary approach, with discussions of Aztec, Buddhist, Christian, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Hindu, Islamic, Navajo, and many other cultures′ conceptions of time Key Themes Biography Biology/Evolution Culture/History Geology/Paleontology Philosophy Physics/Chemistry Psychology/Literature Religion/Theology Theories/Concepts

Over the last few centuries, science has usurped domains of knowledge that were once the province of religion. At the same time, however, both science and religion have enforced strict boundaries throughout. Science can describe the world to us, but it cannot tell us about meaning or values. This is a compelling case for breaching this barrier - in effect, for a reunification of science and religion.