Outsider Test for Faith
eBook - ePub

Outsider Test for Faith

How to Know Which Religion Is True

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Outsider Test for Faith

How to Know Which Religion Is True

About this book

Fostering mutual understanding by viewing religion from an outsider perspective Depending on how one defines religion, there are at least thousands of religions in the world. Given such religious diversity, how can any one religion claim to know the truth? Nothing proposed so far has helped us settle which of these religions, if any, are true—until now. Author John W. Loftus, a former minister turned atheist, argues we would all be better off if we viewed any religion—including our own—from the informed skepticism of an outsider, a nonbeliever. For this reason he has devised "the outsider test for faith." He describes it as a variation on the Golden Rule: "Do unto your own faith what you do to other faiths." Essentially, this means applying the same skepticism to our own beliefs as we do to the beliefs of other faiths. Loftus notes that research from psychology, anthropology, sociology, and neuroscience goes a long way toward explaining why the human race has produced so many belief systems, why religion is culturally dependent, and how religion evolved in the first place. It's important that people understand these findings to escape the dangerous delusion that any one religion represents the only truth. At a time when the vast diversity of human belief systems is accessible to all, the outsider test for faith offers a rational means for fostering mutual understanding.

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Yes, you can access Outsider Test for Faith by John W. Loftus in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Atheism. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Prometheus
Year
2013
eBook ISBN
9781616147389

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Praise for The Outsider Test for Faith
  5. Contents
  6. Introduction
  7. 1. What Is the Outsider Test for Faith?
  8. 2. The Fact of Religious Diversity
  9. 3. The Fact of Religious Dependency
  10. 4. The Perspective of the Outsider
  11. 5. Objecting to the Facts
  12. 6. Is the Test Self-Defeating?
  13. 7. Does the Test Have Hidden Faith Assumptions?
  14. 8. Does the Test Unfairly Target Religion?
  15. 9. Debating Christianity Based on the Test
  16. 10. Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All?
  17. Conclusion
  18. Appendix: World Maps
  19. Notes
  20. Bibliography
  21. Index of Names
  22. Index of Subjects
  23. Back Cover