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In "Faith," the theologian Theo Hobson explores the notion of faith and the role it plays in our lives. He unpacks the concept to ask whether faith is dependent on religion or whether it is also a general secular phenomenon. In exploring this question Hobson ranges widely over theology, philosophy, politics and psychology and engages with the writings of Christian and atheist thinkers alike. The book begins by considering attitudes to faith in recent works of atheism. Hobson shows how Richard Dawkins and other writers, while attacking faith in one sense, have exhibited faith in another. The book goes on to explore the wider meaning of faith, including our faith in free-market capitalism, the part faith plays in democratic politics and the role faith has in our psychological well-being. To understand the role of faith in modernity, Hobson argues, we must attend to the specifically Christian concept of faith. Hobson then returns to the religious meaning of faith by exploring the account of faith in the Bible and charting the tension between faith and reason in Christian thought. The final chapter takes an autobiographical turn and relates how the author came to take faith seriously and to question what Christians are meant to have faith in. From the Old Testament story of Abraham to the visionary poetry of W. B. Yeats, from the polemics of Luther to the rhetoric of Barack Obama, the author presents us with a fresh and illuminating meditation on the nature of faith. In doing so, he reveals how trust and faith, the religious and secular, are utterly entwined and how the attraction of religious faith outweighs the intellectual difficulties it presents.
144 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2009
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December 31, 2012
Hobson offers a defense of faith, after reviewing the new atheist attacks on its supposed irrationality. He wonders at their equation of faith and irrationality when hope and trust are so central to faith and to life in the modern world. He connects faith and politics, especially Obama's 2008 campaign, and faith and capitalism, reminding the reader of what occurred in the world economy after the loss of faith in capitalism's workings after 2008. He also wonders quite thoughtfully about psychology, the new pathologizing of disaffection "as something in need of a cure, rather than as the normal human state." We are naturally pessimistic and need faith, not psychology's assumption that healthy is happy. "We are naturally in a bad way, we need putting right; the individual soul is troublesome, unstable, prone to despair."
His vision of Christian faith, which he focuses in on in the third chapter, emphasizes radical faith in God's action and the anticipation of the coming kingdom, a "cosmic revolution" that creates real hope. The fourth chapter is historical and examines faith and reason in history. He finds the nominalists and fideists appealing, from the medieval period, through Luther, to Pascal and Kierkegaard, and Wittgenstein and Derrida in the 20th century. He also addresses Nietzsche, finding little solace for the thin and rationalistic modern atheists in his prophet-like thought. The last chapter is biographical and records Hobson's movement away from childhood faith and back, against Marxism and with the aid of literature.
His conclusion ends with a reminder that love is over even faith. Against reason, "as Pascal insisted, reason is habitually manipulated by the powers that be. It won't make us truthful. It doesn't bring charity within itself." Faith is not against reason, but is "hostile to reason when reason claims to be the master discourse, which makes the discourse of faith illegitimate." He offers faith as a romantic and idealistic vision of the future that affirms life and makes it possible to live today.
Hobson writes bracing prose and draws well on history, philosophy and social theory. I especially liked the way he addressed capitalism and psychology in the early chapters. My emphasis would be different, especially in the specificity of the Christian message, but this book offers hope.
His vision of Christian faith, which he focuses in on in the third chapter, emphasizes radical faith in God's action and the anticipation of the coming kingdom, a "cosmic revolution" that creates real hope. The fourth chapter is historical and examines faith and reason in history. He finds the nominalists and fideists appealing, from the medieval period, through Luther, to Pascal and Kierkegaard, and Wittgenstein and Derrida in the 20th century. He also addresses Nietzsche, finding little solace for the thin and rationalistic modern atheists in his prophet-like thought. The last chapter is biographical and records Hobson's movement away from childhood faith and back, against Marxism and with the aid of literature.
His conclusion ends with a reminder that love is over even faith. Against reason, "as Pascal insisted, reason is habitually manipulated by the powers that be. It won't make us truthful. It doesn't bring charity within itself." Faith is not against reason, but is "hostile to reason when reason claims to be the master discourse, which makes the discourse of faith illegitimate." He offers faith as a romantic and idealistic vision of the future that affirms life and makes it possible to live today.
Hobson writes bracing prose and draws well on history, philosophy and social theory. I especially liked the way he addressed capitalism and psychology in the early chapters. My emphasis would be different, especially in the specificity of the Christian message, but this book offers hope.
Displaying 1 of 1 review