Vol. 33 No. 11 · 2 June 2011

There are several interesting articles this month, as always, in the LRB. Are there any LT members out there who also subscribe to the LRB and are interested in discussing articles, book reviews, and more?

In the current issue, I just finished reading Galen Strawson's article "Religion is a Sin," in which he reviews two books by Mark Johnston: "Saving God" and "Surviving Death."

Johnston's work seems to be a search for a new way to express the religious impulse that is part of our humanity. Johnston finds the Abrahamic faiths to be idolatrous in this sense: any god that your human mind can imagine is not much of a god. He particularly finds spurious the desire for a "personal God" who is willing to bend the laws of the universe to tend to our petty concerns. Johnston goes on to distinguish between the pantheism of Spinoza versus a panentheism that transcends the natural world.

Johnston seeks to redefine the concept of salvation, moving away from the survival of one's individual consciousness through increased selflessness, to contentment with the idea that what one values and strives for and loves will continue after one is gone. Is humanity ready for this?

Well, I'm out here and I subscribe but I have to admit my last few issues are sitting, still in their polythene wrappings, in a pile in the corner of the room. It's not because I don't want to read them, I just haven't had the time lately. However, my current study block is on Genesis, Paradise Lost etc so the article you mention just might come in handy. Thanks for pointing it out, I must get round to it

I know what you mean, Booksloth, it is hard to keep up. Nice to meet you and I hope you have time to post soon!

I only used to see the LRB from time to time, but now I have a sub bought for me as a birthday present......