Abstract
Steve Clarke, Russell Powell and Julian Savulescu (eds), Religion, Intolerance and Conflict: A Scientific and Conceptual Investigation, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2013; 304 pp.: 9780199640911, £30.00/$55.00 (hbk)
Another important book on religion and violence (see ‘Short notices’ in the January issue of Theology for others). This collection of papers by evolutionary anthropologists, experimental psychologists and analytical philosophers reaches the broad conclusion that: ‘While there may be circumstances under which religion promotes intolerance and discord within social groups, it generally promotes social cohesion within particular groups; and while there may be circumstances under which religion promotes tolerance and harmony between social groups, it generally promotes intolerance and hostility between differing social groups’ (p. v). Several of the contributors write explicitly as secular atheists, but some (notably Roger Trigg) do not and in an appendix John Perry and Nigel Biggar are invited to respond (distancing themselves from such generalizations about ‘religion’). This is an essential book for anyone who wants to write intelligently on this important topic.
Graham Tomlin,
Looking through the Cross: The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2014
, London and New York: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2013; 240 pp.: 9781408188477, £9.99/$17.95 (pbk)
Graham Tomlin's Lent Book was commissioned by a Liberal Catholic Archbishop but now appears under the watch of his Evangelical successor (oddly that was exactly what happened with my own 1992 Lent Book). It invites readers to look at the cross – set in the context of both the New Testament and first-century barbaric Roman practices – and then to look through the cross in order to counter worldly ambitions, pretensions, conflicts and powers in our own lives. It is well written, accessible and stimulating. It can be strongly recommended for parishes.