Arthur Balfour's famous lectures, delivered in 1913 at the University of Glasgow, offer insight into the link between theism, a belief in God, and the philosophical aspects of humanism. In delivering and publishing these lectures, Balfour sought to explain complex concepts in a way that ordinary people could understand. The connection between faith in a divine God, and the humanistic attainment of the highest qualities celebrated in mortal beings, are neither obvious nor clear to most. As a devoted Christian and academic, with a background as a statesman and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the author understands well the need for clear communication. The lectures examine in sequence the moral, artistic, scientific and intellectual values held in the highest esteem. Each is explained as being connected deeply and vitally with the qualities of God and belief in the divineness of human existence. Each of the ten lectures is lively and spirited, showcasing the author's eloquence and passion for eclectic debate. Although his ideas span many disciplines of academia, Balfour demonstrates a keen knowledge for each, imbued by his lengthy background in learning.

In 1962, Christian Century asked C. S. Lewis to name the books that had most influenced his thought. Among those Lewis listed was Theism and Humanism, the published version of Arthur J. Balfour's 1914 Gifford Lectures at the University of Glasgow. Long out of print, the book is now available in this newly typeset and greatly enhanced edition.

There has been a bad-tempered quarrel between defenders and critics of religion in recent years. Both sides have expressed themselves acerbically because there is a very great deal at stake in the debate. This book thoroughly and calmly examines all the arguments and associated considerations offered in support of religious belief, and does so in full consciousness of the reasons people have for subscribing to religion, and the needs they seek to satisfy by doing so. And because it takes account of all the issues, its solutions carry great weight. The God Argument is the definitive examination of the issue, and a statement of the humanist outlook that recommends itself as the ethics of the genuinely reflective person.

Gloriously maddening though this book will be to those who want humanism to have no connection to religion whatever, its purpose is both generous and hopeful: to demonstrate, to both Christians and post-Christians alike, how much better we understand each other than we think we do. - Francis Spufford Theo Hobson is an exceptionally acute observer of the difficulties and opportunities created by our largely secular age. He can see the self-deceptions we are engaged in as regards our debts to religion – and, in this beautiful book, charts a wise course to a saner world. - Alain de Botton With his usual crisp and rigorous analysis, Theo Hobson invites us to recognise that the core moral values of liberal modernity did not fall ready-made from a secular heaven but are the deposit of a long theological tradition. But – just as typically – he makes it clear that this is a challenge to contemporary religious complacency at least as much as to a smug and patronising secularity. A fine, provocative book. - Rowan Williams In this compelling account of the origins and evolution of our secular worldview, Theo Hobson shows how Christian values continue to underpin our public morality, how faith remains indispensable to Western humanism, and how atheistic humanism represents a dead end. At the same time, he offers a timely warning against the dangers of a religious-secular culture war, given the radically politicized and destructive forms of religion endemic in the world today Here is a fresh and provocative argument about religion and politics – but one that doesn’t fit into the normal boxes. It suggests that although the public creed of the West is best described as ‘secular humanism’ we can only really understand and affirm secular humanism if we see how firmly it is based on Christian norms and values. If we don’t, the West is divided: mired in a stagnant stand-off between fundamentalist atheism and an equally hard-line Christian theism. This book offers a more nuanced and historically more persuasive way forward, showing just how much our secular morality owes to Christianity, and how it can only find coherence through a new and positive view of its origins.

Humanism and the Death of God is a critical exploration of secular humanism and its discontents. Through close readings of three exemplary nineteenth-century philosophical naturalists or materialists, who perhaps more than anyone set the stage for our contemporary quandaries when it comes to questions of human nature and moral obligation, Ronald E. Osborn argues that the death of God ultimately tends toward the death of liberal understandings of the human as well. Any fully persuasive defense of humanistic values--including the core humanistic concepts of inviolable dignity, rights, and equality attaching to each individual--requires an essentially religious vision of personhood. Osborn shows such a vision is found in an especially dramatic and historically consequential way in the scandalous particularity of the Christian narrative of God becoming a human. He does not attempt to provide logical proofs for the central claims of Christian humanism along the lines some philosophers might demand. Instead, this study demonstrates how philosophical naturalism or materialism, and secular humanisms and anti-humanisms, might be persuasively read from the perspective of a classically orthodox Christian faith.

God In Us is a radical representation of the Christian faith for the 21st century. Following the example of the Old Testament prophets and the first-century Christians it overturns received ideas about God. God is not an invisible person 'out there' somewhere, but lives in the human heart and mind as 'the sum of all our values and ideals' guiding and inspiring our lives. This new updated edition includes a foreword by Bishop John Shelby Spong and an afterword from the author.

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