Between One Faith and Another
Engaging Conversations on the World's Great Religions
Peter Kreeft
- 208 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Between One Faith and Another
Engaging Conversations on the World's Great Religions
Peter Kreeft
About This Book
How do we make sense of the world's different religions? In today's globalized society, religion is deeply intertwined with every issue we see on the news. But talking about multiple religions can be contentious. Are different faiths compatible somehow? And how can we know whether one religion is more true than another? In this creative thought experiment, Peter Kreeft invites us to encounter dialogues on the world's great faiths. His characters Thomas Keptic and Bea Lever are students in Professor Fesser's course on world religions, and the three explore the content and distinctive claims of each. Together they probe the plausibility of major religions, from Hinduism and Buddhism to Christianity and Islam. Along the way they explore how religions might relate to each other and to what extent exclusivism or inclusivism might make sense. Ultimately Kreeft gives us helpful tools for thinking fairly and critically about competing religious beliefs. If the religions are different kinds of music, do they together make harmony or cacophony? Decide for yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Information
1
WHAT IS RELIGION?
The Problem of Definition
Thomas: | Well, that was a surprise! |
Bea: | To me too, frankly. I think Iām going to drop this course. |
Thomas: | Oh. Apparently your surprise was the opposite of mine. I didnāt think I was going to stay, but now I think I am. I thought the professor would be vague, but heās not. He made us think. |
Bea: | You think he made us think just because he asked a question we couldnāt answer and then shot down all our answers and left us hanging? |
Thomas: | Yes! Thatās exactly what Socrates used to do. And itās a lot harder than most people think it is. And more valuable. |
Bea: | But it didnāt help us to understand the thing we all came there to understand. |
Thomas: | What thing is that? |
Bea: | The religions of the world. Thatās the course title, after all. |
Thomas: | And thatās what the professor talked about. So whatās your complaint? |
Bea: | He proved that we didnāt even know what the word religion meant. So we donāt even know what we mean when we call these things religions. If we canāt even define the most basic term in the course, why bother taking a course in it? Itās ridiculous. Throughout history we keep having arguments about religion, and we fight wars to the death about religion, but we donāt even know what it is, what weāre fighting about! Itās ridiculous. |
Thomas: | I quite agree that thatās ridiculous. So letās make it less ridiculous. |
Bea: | How? |
Thomas: | Donāt you think we made any progress in doing that today? |
Bea: | In understanding the religions of the world, the thing this course is supposed to be about? No! In understanding what religion means? No! |
Thomas: | Donāt you think itās progress to understand that we donāt really understand what we thought we did understand? |
Bea: | I understand how that Socratic skepticism may be fun for you. You like to play those games. |
Thomas: | Itās not fun and games. Itās understanding. Thatās what youāre paying big tuition bucks to this university for, isnāt it? |
Bea: | You are, maybe. You just love to tear ideas apart, like Socrates, donāt you? |
Thomas: | But the Socratic method isnāt āme versus you.ā Itās logic. |
Bea: | Your logic,... |