Saving God: Religion after Idolatry Book

PREFACE xi

Chapter 1: Is Your God Really God? 1
BELIEVING IN GOD--ON THE "NAMES" OF GOD--THE MEANING OF "GOD" AND THE COMMON CONCEPTION OF GOD--WHAT IS SALVATION?--SALVATION VERSUS SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM

Chapter 2: The Idolatrous Religions 18
THE BAN ON IDOLATRY--IDOLATRY AS PERVERSE
WORSHIP--GRAVEN IMAGES AND THE HIGHEST ONE--IDOLATRY AS SERVILITY--THE RHETORIC OF IDOLATROUSNESS--THE SAME GOD?--THE PHARISEES' PROBLEM WITH JESUS--COULD WE BE IDOLATERS?

Chapter 3: Supernaturalism and Scientism 37
SCIENTISM AND SUPERSTITION--SUPERNATURALISM--LEGITIMATE NATURALISM--SCIENTISM VERSUS SCIENCE--THE ARGUMENT FOR NATURALISM FROM TRUE RELIGION

Chapter 4: The Phenomenological Approach 53
THE METHOD AND THE QUESTION--YAHWEH'S USE OF THE METHOD--A CRITERION, OR AN ENCLOSED CIRCLE?--YAHWEH'S CRITERION APPLIED TO HIMSELF--FORGIVINGTHE GOD--A REPLY TO YAHWEH'S ANSWER TO JOB

Chapter 5: Is There an Internal Criterion of Religious Falsehood? 70
THE POPE'S CRITERION OF RELIGIOUS FALSEHOOD--A CONSEQUENCE OF THE POPE'S CRITERION--RELIGIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC FALLIBILISM

Chapter 6: Why God? 80
DOESN'T SUBSTANTIVE REASONABLENESS SUFFICE?--THE FALL--HOMO INCURVATUS IN SE--THE REDEEMER?

Chapter 7: After Monotheism 95
THE HIGHEST ONE--THE TETRAGRAMMATON--THE PARADOX OF THE HIGHEST ONE--SPEAKING OF THE HIGHEST ONE--EXISTENTS AS DEPENDENT ASPECTS OF EXISTENCE ITSELF--AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE THOMISTIC
INTERPRETATION OF THE HIGHEST ONE

Chapter 8: Process Panentheism 115
THE GOODNESS OF THE HIGHEST ONE--THE ANALOGY OF LOGOS--PROCESS PANENTHEISM--THE SELF-DISCLOSURE OF EXISTENCE ITSELF--THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE PANTHEON

Chapter 9: Panentheism, Not Pantheism 126
DISTINGUISHING PANENTHEISM AND PANTHEISM--PRESENCE--PRESENCE AS DISCLOSURE--IS BEING ALMOST ENTIRELY WASTED?--UBIQUITOUS PRESENCE--AGAINST NATURAL REPRESENTATION--REPRESENTATION AND "CARRYING INFORMATION"--CAN CAUSATION ACCOUNT FOR ABOUTNESS?--WHAT COULD REPLACE THE REPRESENTATIONALIST TRADITION?--A DIAGNOSIS OF THE REPRESENTATIONALIST'S MISTAKE--A TRANSFORMED PICTURE OF "CONSCIOUSNESS" AND REALITY--CONFIRMING THE SURPRISING HYPOTHESIS

Chapter 10: The Mind of God 152
THE OBJECTIVITY OF THE REALM OF SENSE--HOW THE STRUCTURE OF PRESENCE MIGHT IMPOSE EVOLUTIONARY CONSTRAINTS--OBJECTIVE MIND AND THE MIND OF THE HIGHEST ONE--THE DOUBLY DONATORY CHARACTER OF REALITY--DOES GOD EXIST?--THE HIGHEST ONE

Chapter 11: Christianity without Spiritual Materialism 160
RELIGION AND VIOLENCE--THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO GIRARD--WHERE IS ORIGINAL SINFULNESS?--ORIGINAL SINFULNESS AS SELF-WILL AND FALSE RIGHTEOUSNESS--CHRIST DESTROYS THE KINGDOM OF SELF-WILL AND FALSE RIGHTEOUSNESS--THE AFTERLIFE AS AN IDOLATROUS CONCEIT--AGAINST "MAN'S QUEST FOR MEANING"--THE AFTERLIFE AS RESISTANCE TO
CHRIST--NATURALISM'S GIFT: RESURRECTION WITHOUT THE AFTERLIFE

POSTSCRIPT 187
INDEX 189