The New Spirituality

An Introduction to Progressive Belief in the Twenty-first Century

Gordon Lynch

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9781845114138
• eBook ISBN: 9780857715142
• Edition: 1

Much attention has been given in recent writings about religion to fundamentalism and the 'religious right'. But less attention has been given to their opposite - the emergence of a new generation of progressive religious thinkers and organisations on the 'religious left'. "The New Spirituality" is one of the first books to give a comprehensive and authoritative account of this burgeoning progressive religious movement. It offers a clear and engaging analysis of the cultural roots, key ideas and organisational structures of this new faith, assessing its significance in the changing moral and religious landscape of contemporary western society. Gordon Lynch argues that we are witnessing the rise of a new religious ideology which reveres the natural world, connects religious faith with novel scientific theories, and has a forward-looking agenda for society's transformation. "The New Spirituality" will be essential reading for students attempting to understand the shape of religious belief in the twenty-first century.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. The roots of the new, progressive spirituality
• 2. The ideology of progressive spirituality
• 3. Progressive spirituality and the new generation of religious progressive organizations
• 4. Progressive spirituality and modern religion in the West
• 5. The collapse of civilization? Progressive spirituality and the demoralization debate
• 6. Future prospects for progressive spirituality and the progressive milieu
• Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index