Faith Beyond Belief : Stories of Good People Who Left Their Church Behind

English

ISBN: 0835609057

EAN: 9780835609050

Category: Biography & Autobiography / Religious

Publisher: Theosophical Publishing House

Release Date: 10/16/2012

Synopsis: While over half of Americans claim to be Christian, the number of the unaffiliated has increased from 14 million in 1990 to 34 million in 2008. Insulated Christians rank atheists below Muslims and criminals on their moral scale. Faith Beyond Belief challenges this attitude by giving a much-needed voice to the good people who have left their church but whose spirituality continues to mature. Johnstons may be the only book that uses first-person stories as well as known spiritual authorities in describing various stages of religious growth. Some of these real-life accounts are by nonbelievers; others are by those among the growing numbers of the spiritual but not religious. All are thoughtful people with too much integrity to live what they consider a lie. The stories of the nonbelievers, including an ex-Catholic, a former Mormon, and a clandestine Muslim apostate who left his community after the attacks of 9/11, show how complete confidence in human reason can lead away from literal religious interpretation, as exemplified in New Atheist writings. But, Johnston points out, while that step is a necessary one on the spiritual path, it is only intermediate. Beyond it, a person rejects human reason as the ultimate gage of reality. Her second set of stories are of people at this mystic level who can tolerate paradox, see truth and reality as multidimensional, and view spiritual concepts metaphorically. They may even have returned to their original church, but now with the more evolved traits of humility, forgiveness, gratitude, acceptance, and a unitive worldview in which religious differences are seen as mere details.

Faith Beyond Belief : Stories of Good People Who Left Their Church Behind

Illustrated: No

Format: Paperback

Height: 0.83 inches

Width: 6.0 inches

Length: 9.0 inches

Weight: 15.52 oz

Pages: 360