An Enlightened Philosophy

An interesting and nuanced reflection on the relationship between science and religion. The author forges a middle way between religious belief and the new atheism by constructively interpreting the power of religion as myth. He reviews various forms of atheism and the impact of the Enlightenment before a critique of the Church and proposing his own synthesis. The discussion is wide-ranging and fluent, summarising the development of the modern physical understanding of the human being in philosophical terms. He thinks that the churches have become isolated and disconnected. He does not see why religion should have a monopoly of the virtues and is suspicious of the domination of market thinking. He then uses as a point of departure the myths, as he understands them, of the resurrection and the Trinity and quotes with approval the sentiments behind Psalm 23 and the Sermon on the Mount. Not everyone will agree that we can grasp Divine values without any belief in God, but the author makes a good case.