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Title: The World to Come by Lloyd Geering ISBN: 0-944344-76-3 Publisher: Polebridge Press Pub. Date: December, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Not To Be Dismissed Lightly
Comment: Are we living in the end-times? No and maybe, says Geering; the fiery end of the world (when the sun expands into a red giant star) is not imminent, but the times we live in may indeed be end-times of another sort. He foresees the end of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism as we now know them, all in the fairly near future. And not in a sudden, cataclysmic event, but in the gradual rise to supremacy of a new, global religion containing, he hopes, the best elements of all of the above-mentioned faith traditions.
The new (small u) universalism (Geering does not use that word, perhaps because it could too easily be confused with Universalism, a denomination) would be non-exclusive (no us vs. them; accepting of all ethnic groups and a wide variety of personal beliefs as to the details, but united in its reverence for the earth and for all living things). He gives a new, global meaning to Benjamin Franklin's famous assertion that "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we will all hang separately."
The human race can no longer afford to be, as Geering puts it, "Humanity at War with Itself [and] . . . at War with the World."
While I cannot agree with all of Geering's opinions, I found his book very interesting and thought-provoking, and well worth buying and reading. One reviewer took issue with the fact that Geering writes from the perspective of a predominately Christian background. Granted, the book might have been even better if Geering were equally at home in all of the faith traditions of the world, but let us be thankful that he didn't wait until he was able to produce a PERFECT work before sharing his insights with the world. Thank you, Mr. Geering. Your wisdom is a valuable contribution to the welfare of the human community, which is more than can be said, I suspect, for most of your detractors.
Rating: 5
Summary: Lucidity
Comment: As with Lloyd's previous books, this book presents a lucid and compelling argument, drawing from his rich resource of scholarship, and expansive world-view. The basic thesis is that we are in a phase of human cultural evolution where the practical effect of a coherent value system is missing, as the three major trans-ethnic world religions (Christianity, Islam and Buddhism), and myriad ethnic and tribal religions are in varying degrees of waning power to be intellectually and spiritually satisfying. Some adherents of these sects and religions may find this challenging to their comforting solipsisms, but the empirical evidence is clear. The book does a good job of clearly explaining the relevance of relativity in this context, and in highlighting the urgent need for inclusion of practical spirituality into the reigning economic, political and social paradigms, in order for us to make progress on the pressing problems of poverty alleviation, environmental degradation and political stability. The book may dwell too long on the history of Christian theological thinking for some, and be thus discounted in error as another example of Western-biased academic hegemony, but I found the telling of this story, and the conclusion it points to, to be a powerful and integrating addition to my perception of the missing pieces of the jigsaw of modern thought on economic and social development, ethics and the environment.
Rating: 2
Summary: It's a big world, Dr. Geering
Comment: Having recently finished Lloyd Geering's work, I appreciate his summary of the centuries-long trends of liberal Christian theology in the West, but I cannot overstate my disappointment that Dr. Geering totally ignores the current growing worldwide evangelical/charismatic movement. In fact, he seems totally oblivious to the fact that Christianity is not dying outside the West; it is growing at 3.5 times the world population...and accelerating! There have been more converts to evangelical Christianity in the past 10 years than in the 1920 years preceeding. One Protestant denomination, the Assemblies of God, has grown to be the largest Protestant denomination in the world in less than 100 years. I just returned from Africa where there was an evangelistic event in Nigeria with 1 million converts in 1 week. Just last week the Sudan (yes, the Islamic Sudan) had a Christian rally with over 200,000 attending the last night and 100,000 converts for the week. The world's largest Christian congregations are in Seoul, Korea, with one numbering over 700,000 members. Dr. Geering, the world is bigger than Europe and North America. One cannot merely extrapolate the empty cathedrals (Nietzchean tombs of God)in London and Paris to the rest of the world. Yes, one may argue that these current movements will quickly die out (and then show the probable cause), but to ignore them completely is to show one's academic narrowness and ignorance. I would recommend "Fire from Heaven," Harvey Cox's excellent work for those unfamiliar with the pentecostal segment of the evangelical movement (2/3 of the world's evangelicals are pentecostal) and also David Barrett's World Christian Encyclopedia. Dr. Geering's book unfortunately reminds me of Christopher Lasch's "Revolt of the Elites." Is this work a fully-informed academic work or wishful thinking? I'm afraid, it must be seen as the latter.
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Title: Christianity Without God by Lloyd Geering ISBN: 0944344925 Publisher: Bridget Williams Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: A Credible Jesus: Fragments of a Vision by Robert Walter Funk ISBN: 0944344887 Publisher: Polebridge Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Tomorrow's God by Lloyd George Geering ISBN: 094434481X Publisher: Polebridge Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Jesus : A Revolutionary Biography by John Dominic Crossan ISBN: 0060616628 Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 18 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Spiral Staircase : My Climb out of Darkness (ARMSTRONG, KAREN) by Karen Armstrong ISBN: 0375413189 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 02 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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