More than discourse
Subtitle: symbolic expressions of naturalistic faith
By: Donald A. Crosby
Publisher: SUNY Press
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Albany
Language: eng
Number of pages: 182
ISBN-13: 9781438453750
Subjects: Symbolism; Religion
Description: Religious life involves more than prosaically stated beliefs. It also encompasses attitudes, emotions, values, and practices whose meanings cannot be adequately captured in verbal assertions but require effective expression in forceful images, portrayals, and enactments of a nonliteral sort. Indeed, the world s religious traditions are each marked by rich and distinctive symbols. In "More Than Discourse," Donald A. Crosby discusses the nature of symbols in religion and investigates symbols appropriate for religious naturalism or what he terms Religion of Nature. This is a religious outlook that holds the natural world to be the only world; it is sacred but without any supernatural domain or presence underlying it. Warning against a too-literalistic approach to any religion by either its adherents or its critics, Crosby discusses the nature and roles of religious symbols, how they work, and their particular kinds of truth or falsity. A set of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness and meaning of religious symbols is provided along with explorations of specific symbols Crosby finds to be highly significant for Religion of Nature.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 172-176) and index.
Table of contents: title: pt. I; title: FUNCTIONS AND TYPES OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS -- -- 1.; title: Symbols of Living Faith --; title: Introduction --; title: Back to the Pelican --; title: Some Types of Religious Symbolization --; title: Symbols of Evil --; title: Major and Minor Religious Symbols -- -- 2.; title: Works of Art and Religious Symbolism --; title: Introduction --; title: Artistic Symbolization --; title: Similarities and Differences between Aesthetic and Religious Symbols --; title: Interrelations of Aesthetic and Religious Symbolizations -- -- 3.; title: Master Religious Symbols --; title: Introduction --; title: Symbols of Religious Ultimates --; title: Cosmogonic and Cosmological Symbols --; title: Symbols of Religious Paths of Life and of Obstacles Lying in Their Way --; title: Symbols of Exemplary Human Lives -- -- 4.; title: How Religious Symbols Work --; title: Introduction --; title: Necessary Role of Religious Symbols --; title: Ways in Which Religious Symbols Function --; title: Doctrinal Expositions of Religious Symbols --; title: Error of Literalism -- -- pt. II; title: SYMBOLS OF RELIGION OF NATURE -- -- 5.; title: Master Symbols of the Ultimacy of Nature and of its Cosmogonie and Cosmological Roles --; title: Introduction --; title: Symbol of the Religious Ultimacy of Nature --; title: Cosmogonie and Cosmological Symbol for Religion of Nature -- -- 6.; title: Master Symbols of the Saving Path of Life and of an Exemplary Traveler on the Path --; title: Introduction --; title: Path and Its Obstacles and Misdirections --; title: Exemplar of the Saving Path of Religion of Nature -- -- 7.; title: Truth of Religious Symbols --; title: Introduction --; title: Religious Symbols and Truth --; title: Secular Symbols and Truth -- -- 8.; title: Symbols and Symbolic Practices for Religion of Nature --; title: Introduction --; title: Synecdoches --; title: Prayer and Meditation --; title: Rituals --; title: Symbols of Sacrifice and Self-Giving --; title: Other Symbols for Religion of Nature --; title: Conclusion.