Abstract
The Oxford theologian, Alistair McGrath, has observed that definitions of religion show a marked tendency to depend on the particular purposes and prejudices of individual scholars.1 However, whilst no universally accepted definition has emerged, McGrath suggests that that there is at least now some measure of agreement that religion involves belief and behaviour linked with a supernatural realm of divine or spiritual beings. This is consistent with the useful definition of religion offered by the sociologist, Steve Bruce, which I am going to follow here. Bruce defines religion as ‘beliefs, actions and institutions predicated on the existence of entities with powers of agency (that is, gods) or impersonal powers possessed of moral purposes (the Hindu notion of Karma, for example), which can set the conditions of, or intervene in, human affairs’.2
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Notes
This chapter has been developed from an earlier article: Oliver Bennett (2012), ‘The Manufacture of Hope: Religion, Eschatology and the Culture of Optimism’, International Journal of Cultural Policy, vol 17, no 2, pp. 115–130.
Alistair McGrath (2007), Christian Theology: An Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, p. 447.
Steve Bruce (2002), God Is Dead: Secularization in the West, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, p. 32.
See Shandon L. Guthrie (1995), ‘Comparative Soteriology and Logical Incompatibility’, http://www.sguthrie.net/SOTER.htm, [accessed 23 February 2010].
Paul Davies (1995), Are We Alone? Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, p. 85.
Richard Dawkins (1995), River out of Eden, London: Wiedenfeld & Nicholson, p. 17.
Oliver Bennett (2001), Cultural Pessimism: Narratives of Decline in the Contemporary World, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 1–4.
Theodor Adorno (1990), Negative Dialectics, trans. E.B. Ashton, London: Routledge, p. 320.
Raymond Tallis (1997), Enemies of Hope: A Critique of Contemporary Pessimism, London: Macmillan Press Ltd.
‘Catallaxy’ is the term used by the Austrian economist, Friedrich Hayek, to describe ‘the order brought about by the mutual adjustment of many individual economies in a market’. See Friedrich Hayek (1976), Law, Legislation and Liberty: A new statement of the liberal principles of justice and political economy vol 2, The mirage of social justice, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 108–109.
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross (2005), On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss, London: Simon & Schuster Ltd.
Anantanand Rambachan (1997), ‘Hinduism’, in Life After Death in World Religions, ed. by Harold Coward, New York: Orbis Books, pp. 66–86 (p. 74).
In Mahayanam Buddhism, this goal is deferred through the ‘Bodhisattva vow’, whereby final release (nirvana) is delayed until it has been achieved by all other beings. See Harold Coward (2003), Sin and Salvation in the World Religions: A Short Introduction, Oxford: Oneworld Publications, p. 151.
For an account of this, see Coward, Sin and Salvation in the World Religions, pp. 89–160; Samuel G.F. Brandon (1967), The Judgement of the Dead: The Idea of Life After Death in the Major Religions, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, pp. 165–177;
and Eva K. Neumaier-Dargyay (1997), ‘Buddhism’, in Life After Death in World Religions, ed. by Harold Coward, New York: Orbis Books, pp. 87–104.
See Damian Thompson (1996), The End of Time: Faith and Fear in the Shadow of the Millennium, London: Sinclair-Stevenson, for an extensive account of apocalyptic cults.
Philip Edgcumbe Hughes (1989), The True Image: The Origin and Destiny of Man in Christ, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, pp. 404–405.
Jürgen Moltmann (1993 [1967]), The Theology of Hope, trans. by J. W. Leitch, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, p. 2.
Tom Wright (2007), Surprised by Hope, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, p. 277.
It should be noted here that, at the level of lived experience, fear of damnation can outweigh the hope of salvation and result more in pessimism than optimism. In extreme cases, a religion-induced preoccupation with sin and guilt can lead to psychiatric disorders that require professional treatment. See Stanley Rachman (2003), The Treatment of Obsessions, Oxford: Oxford University Press;
and Dinesh Bhugra and Kamaldeep Bhui (2007), Textbook of Cultural Psychiatry, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Roland E. Miller (1990), ‘The Muslim Doctrine of Salvation’, Bulletin of Christian Institutes of Islamic Studies, vol 3, nos 1–4, pp. 153–154.
Pope John Paul II (1994), Crossing the Threshold of Hope, New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
J. John (2009), The Happiness Secret: Finding True Contentment, London: Hodder & Stoughton, p. 23.
John A.T. Robinson (1968), In the End God, London: Fontana Books, p. 133.
A. J. V. Chandrakanthan (1988), ‘The Silence of Buddha and his Contemplation of the Truth’, Spirituality Today, vol 40, no 2, pp. 145–156.
Stephen S. Smalley (2005), Hope For Ever: The Christian View of Life and Death, Milton Keynes: Paternoster Press, p. 10.
John has own ministry, known as the Philo Trust, which aims to ‘show how faith in Jesus Christ is not only reasonable, but relevant and vitally important’. According to the Trust’s website, John has to date completed thousands of speaking engagements in fifty-four countries on six continents. He is said to have authored over fifty titles and to have over a million copies of his books in print in thirteen languages. See Philo Trust (2010), Who is J. John? http://www.philotrust.com/about [accessed 22 September 2010].
Hanna Kassis (1997), ‘Islam’, in Life After Death in World Religions, ed. by Harold Coward, New York: Orbis Books, pp. 48–65 (p. 61).
Helen Keller (1903), Optimism, An Essay, New York: C. H. Crowell and Company, p. 13 and p. 29.
David G. Myers (2000), ‘Hope and Happiness’, in The Science of Optimism and Hope: Research Essays in Honor of Martin E. P. Seligman’, ed. by Jane E. Gillham, Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation Press, pp. 321–336 (pp. 331–333).
Although originating from the Evangelical Anglican tradition, Alpha now attracts support across all the major denominations for its introductory programmes in Christianity. Starting in London in the late 1970s, it expanded rapidly in the 1990s and now reports that 15 million people worldwide have attended over 33,500 courses in 163 countries. See Alpha (2010), ‘How Alpha began’, http://uk.alpha.org/how-alpha-began [accessed 27 September 2010].
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Bennett, O. (2015). Models of Salvation: Religion, Eschatology and Hope. In: Cultures of Optimism. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137484819_6
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