Faith on a Stone Foundation: Free Will, Morality and the God of Abraham
Christianity appears to be in sharp decline. Between 2007 and 2014, the number of adults in the United States who consider themselves Christian dropped from 78% to 70%. For two millennia, despite many profound challenges, Christianity experienced nothing but exponential growth. Now, in the last decade, Christians are simply walking away from religious affiliation. What is going on? Will faith inevitably decline? Will our understanding of God become secularized until He is nothing but a metaphor for what is good and noble in humanity? Author Stephan Grozinger argues that faith’s best years are still ahead of it. He explores recent advances in science and philosophy regarding the question of whether human beings have free will and concludes that we do not. But far from being a source of anxiety or even a death sentence for faith, this idea may be the instrument of its renewal. Grozinger describes how, in its earliest years, Christianity came under the thrall of Platonism, which offered some proofs of God’s existence, but at a heavy price. The influence of Plato created a hybrid vision of God: the unconditionally loving God of Scripture and an immovable god, the very Form of Good, who commands, tests, rewards and punishes. The same powerful evolutionary forces that shaped our bodies and minds seduced us into thinking these two contradictory visions could be reconciled. Christianity became a religion that encouraged good, socially useful behavior and turned itself into a scold. Unable to embrace the conclusions of science and philosophy regarding free will, popular-culture faith was left behind and often insults our intelligence and offends our moral sensibilities. But faith’s original message is still compelling. By setting aside Plato’s influence, a more ancient vision of God and our relationship to Him emerges. Unlike a Platonic god, the Scriptural God is not dependent on free will. Grozinger reviews familiar Bible stories such as The Garden, The Flood, Exodus, Jonah, and Job, and invites the reader to see them through new eyes to reveal a God who transcends good and useful behavior. He re-examines the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus in light of this new way of seeing the divine. As the story progresses, Grozinger challenges the assumptions of the New Atheists and offers a competing moral vision. Finally, the book closes with an examination of organized religion and how this new vision of faith is expressed in community.
1301259057
Faith on a Stone Foundation: Free Will, Morality and the God of Abraham
Christianity appears to be in sharp decline. Between 2007 and 2014, the number of adults in the United States who consider themselves Christian dropped from 78% to 70%. For two millennia, despite many profound challenges, Christianity experienced nothing but exponential growth. Now, in the last decade, Christians are simply walking away from religious affiliation. What is going on? Will faith inevitably decline? Will our understanding of God become secularized until He is nothing but a metaphor for what is good and noble in humanity? Author Stephan Grozinger argues that faith’s best years are still ahead of it. He explores recent advances in science and philosophy regarding the question of whether human beings have free will and concludes that we do not. But far from being a source of anxiety or even a death sentence for faith, this idea may be the instrument of its renewal. Grozinger describes how, in its earliest years, Christianity came under the thrall of Platonism, which offered some proofs of God’s existence, but at a heavy price. The influence of Plato created a hybrid vision of God: the unconditionally loving God of Scripture and an immovable god, the very Form of Good, who commands, tests, rewards and punishes. The same powerful evolutionary forces that shaped our bodies and minds seduced us into thinking these two contradictory visions could be reconciled. Christianity became a religion that encouraged good, socially useful behavior and turned itself into a scold. Unable to embrace the conclusions of science and philosophy regarding free will, popular-culture faith was left behind and often insults our intelligence and offends our moral sensibilities. But faith’s original message is still compelling. By setting aside Plato’s influence, a more ancient vision of God and our relationship to Him emerges. Unlike a Platonic god, the Scriptural God is not dependent on free will. Grozinger reviews familiar Bible stories such as The Garden, The Flood, Exodus, Jonah, and Job, and invites the reader to see them through new eyes to reveal a God who transcends good and useful behavior. He re-examines the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus in light of this new way of seeing the divine. As the story progresses, Grozinger challenges the assumptions of the New Atheists and offers a competing moral vision. Finally, the book closes with an examination of organized religion and how this new vision of faith is expressed in community.
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Faith on a Stone Foundation: Free Will, Morality and the God of Abraham

Faith on a Stone Foundation: Free Will, Morality and the God of Abraham

by Stephan Grozinger
Faith on a Stone Foundation: Free Will, Morality and the God of Abraham

Faith on a Stone Foundation: Free Will, Morality and the God of Abraham

by Stephan Grozinger

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Overview

Christianity appears to be in sharp decline. Between 2007 and 2014, the number of adults in the United States who consider themselves Christian dropped from 78% to 70%. For two millennia, despite many profound challenges, Christianity experienced nothing but exponential growth. Now, in the last decade, Christians are simply walking away from religious affiliation. What is going on? Will faith inevitably decline? Will our understanding of God become secularized until He is nothing but a metaphor for what is good and noble in humanity? Author Stephan Grozinger argues that faith’s best years are still ahead of it. He explores recent advances in science and philosophy regarding the question of whether human beings have free will and concludes that we do not. But far from being a source of anxiety or even a death sentence for faith, this idea may be the instrument of its renewal. Grozinger describes how, in its earliest years, Christianity came under the thrall of Platonism, which offered some proofs of God’s existence, but at a heavy price. The influence of Plato created a hybrid vision of God: the unconditionally loving God of Scripture and an immovable god, the very Form of Good, who commands, tests, rewards and punishes. The same powerful evolutionary forces that shaped our bodies and minds seduced us into thinking these two contradictory visions could be reconciled. Christianity became a religion that encouraged good, socially useful behavior and turned itself into a scold. Unable to embrace the conclusions of science and philosophy regarding free will, popular-culture faith was left behind and often insults our intelligence and offends our moral sensibilities. But faith’s original message is still compelling. By setting aside Plato’s influence, a more ancient vision of God and our relationship to Him emerges. Unlike a Platonic god, the Scriptural God is not dependent on free will. Grozinger reviews familiar Bible stories such as The Garden, The Flood, Exodus, Jonah, and Job, and invites the reader to see them through new eyes to reveal a God who transcends good and useful behavior. He re-examines the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus in light of this new way of seeing the divine. As the story progresses, Grozinger challenges the assumptions of the New Atheists and offers a competing moral vision. Finally, the book closes with an examination of organized religion and how this new vision of faith is expressed in community.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781483587660
Publisher: Bookbaby
Publication date: 03/23/2017
Pages: 572
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Stephan Grozinger graduated from the University of St. Michael College at the University of Toronto (9T2) with a concentration in moral philosophy. He obtained his law degree from The University of Connecticut School of Law (1995) and practices commercial real estate law. A native of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec and Ridgefield, Connecticut, Stephan lives with his wife, Claire, and daughter, Zoë, in Weston, Connecticut and Wellfleet, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 1

Preface 5

Chapter 1 Free Will and Faith 20

Chapter 2 Ontology, Psychological Evolution and Intuition 74

Chapter 3 Magic, Morality and Transcendence 179

Chapter 4 Existentialism 283

Chapter 5 Jesus Christ 349

Chapter 6 A Letter from a Faithful Nation 402

Chapter 7 The Case for Organized Religion 462

Bibliography 517

Endnotes 524

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