The prevailing attitude toward religion today, in the opinion of
the author, who is professor of philosophy at Yale, is one of
indifference. The failure to understand the religious dimension of
life, and the failure of theologians to keep pace with dominant
trends in modern thought are responsible for this situation. Only
radical reflection and self-criticism, on the part of both
philosophy and theology, can overcome this situation. The present
divorce between theology and philosophy, dating at least from
Aquinas, reaches its final stage in the contemporary situation. But
this divorce need not continue. Professor Smith calls in question
both the self-imposed limitations of theology based too strictly on
revelation and the activities of philosophy preoccupied with the
refinement of its own operations. Both are summoned to concern
themselves with the full range and depth of human experience, a
major aspect of which is the recovery of God. In developing these
themes, the author writes lucidly, with much wise insight and a
temperate tone. Though primarily for students of philosophy and
theology, it can offer the serious lay reader substantial
stimulation and encouragement. (Kirkus Reviews)
A modern philosopher described religion as "that region in which
all the enigmas of the world are solved." Smith argues in
Experience and God that religion itself has become an enigma for
modern man. In the book, smith attempts to reunite philosophy with
religion. He argues that in recent decades the prevailing attitude
has been chiefly one of indifference. This indifference, leading to
the failure of understanding can be overcome only through radical
reflection and self-criticism: a re-consideration of the nature of
religion, its place in the total structure of human life, and its
relations to the secular culture in which the faith of man must
live. The task Smith lays out must be of a largely philosophical
nature, not only because of the necessity to understand religion in
relation to a comprehensive scheme of things, but also because the
idea of religion is intimately connected with the issues of
metaphysics. Smith's purpose is to bridge the gap between the
ontological approach to God as represented by Augustine, Anselm,
and Bonaventure, and the cosmological approach represented by
Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great. Smith shows that, although the
two approaches significantly differ, they can be interpreted as
ways of leading the meditating mind to the Presence of God, through
the soul and through the world.
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