Between Relativism and Fundamentalism

The aim of this important book is to provide religious resources for reaching a middle position between relativism and fundamentalism. Peter Berger is well-known for his work in the sociology of religion and introduces this volume, which is divided into a sociological and a theological section. Berger contends at the outset that both relativism and fundamentalism make civil discourse impossible because they 'preclude a common and reasoned quest for moral or philosophical agreement.' He also makes the important distinction between pluralism and relativism, arguing that it is pluralism that relativises while at the same time creating a situation in which different ethnic or religious groups can coexist. This development makes certainty harder to achieve, which is the context for a fundamentalist reaction in attempting to restore or create a taken-for-granted body of beliefs and values. This is what totalitarianism has tried to do, reinforced by coercive violence. Monotheism finds it challenging to develop an ethos of tolerance, but, as demonstrated in this the second part of this book, there are resources for doing so.