Believing: An Historical Perspective

by Wilfred Cantwell Smith

In this radical study, William Cantwell Smith traces the history of believing through a combination of philosophical perspective and the study of biblical passages.

Genres: Religion, History

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 1998

About the author

Wilfred Cantwell Smith (July 21, 1916 – February 7, 2000) was a Canadian professor of comparative religion who from 1964–1973 was director of Harvard's Center for the Study of World Religions. The Harvard Gazette characterized him as one of the field's most influential figures of the past century. In his 1962 work The Meaning and End of Religion he notably and controversially questioned the validity of the concept of religion.

Reviews

[Tom Uytterhoeven · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original edition of this book dates from 1977, but is still well worth the read. Smith does an excellent job in analyzing how the English verb 'believe' has gradually become detached from 'truth', and he suggests that this causes religious studies to misunderstand their subject.
But the book appealed me the most because of Smith's speculative ideas, which are put forward almost in passing. I just list a few of them to give you an impression of what I mean:
- p. 6: "Every religious statement is a statement about man. If it is a statement also about something else, then it is a statement about man and that thing in interrelation"
- p. 20: "(...) it is a mistake (...) for preachers or theologians to try to persuade anyone to believe a given doctrine. It is vastly more important that one understand it. By this nowadays we mean, that one understand what it has meant to persons in the past, and what it might mean to one to-day. Once having understood, then whether one respond or not, or how, is put to oneself - or to oneself and God. That is faith.”
- p. 79: "(...) it would not be too fanciful to think of faith as in the first instance insight. Faith at this level is the capacity to see. It is the capacity to see for oneself the loveliness of what is lovely; to see the difference between justice and injustice; to see the stupendous importance of truth; to see the point of a cup of cold water given in love, or the point of a man dying on a cross. If we see what is there waiting to be seen in our life and in this strange world of ours, waiting not necessarily on the surface but just beyond it, and then more, beyond that, then we have faith. If we see even a little, we soon find that there is more and more. If we do not see, if we see nothing beyond the surface at all, which is life’s supreme tragedy, then we do not have faith.”
In the last ten pages of the book Smith seems to suggest 'faith' is a universal quality (the ability to see, as the quote from p. 79 shows), which becomes actualized through Christ, Buddha, the Qur'an, etc. That suggestion could well deserve further clarification, which is probably done in other works by Smith (I have his "Towards a World Theology on my to-read shelf).
As I said in the beginning: a book still worth to read!

[Ellis · Rating 1 out of 5]

BLAH. This is a 100+ page book that could have been written in about 15 pages. An interesting topic (the etymological source of the word "believe" and how the meaning of that word has changed over the centuries) but just awfully written.