The New Believers: Re-imagining God

By Rachael Kohn

Why is Buddhism the fastest growing religious tradition? Why does paganism attract so many women? Why are scientists so interested in religion? ABC presenter Rachael Kohn explores such key questions... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0732275318
• ISBN13: 9780732275310
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers PTY Limited
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Diverse vewis changing society's ideas of God

THE NEW BELIEVERS: RE-IMAGINING GOD Rachel Kohn Sydney: HarperCollins, 2003 Rewvied by Darren Cronshaw Rachel Kohn has taught religious studies in universities but is more well know for her religious documentaries on ABC TV and her weekly Radio National program The Spirit of Things. Her book The New Believers explores how a diversity of spokespeople and religions are reshaping their spirituality and conceptions of God. The myriad of opinions she draws on are from mainstream religious leaders (priests, rabbis, gurus, psychotherapists and theologians) and non-institutional expressions of people interested in higher aspirations and values. She discusses how these `new believers' are re-imagining God to embrace Westernised Buddhism, environmentalism, the arts, the self-help movement, spiritual psychotherapy, scientific discoveries and/or new readings of the Bible. Recognising that old ways and rigid formulas are not working for many, especially women, she generally applauds experiments and fresh questioning as an aid to renewal: "The most significant ingredients in all the trends that are represented by the writers, researchers and thinkers whose ideas are discussed here is their open critique, their unfettered research and their daring exploration into new expressions of faith, all of which contribute to the richness of our religious culture. It is not only the challenge that they pose to the individual which is to be valued, but also the wake-up call they send to the religious establishment, which often can be impervious to the currents of change affecting its congregations and perplexed by demands it has not foreseen" (p.194). Nevertheless Kohn is discerning about the undermining of morality and the danger of religious extremism. For example, she questions the dismissal of morality in Neale Walsch's popular Conversations with God. She argues it is imperative Islam changes its approach to jihad, shariah and honour killings. And she condemns the catastrophe of sexual abuse in churches and domestic abuse in Jewish households. Rather than holding back out of a misguided sense of political correctness or sensitivity, she contends we need to call religions to account for their shortcomings as well as celebrate seeds of renewal. Originally reviewed in Australian Journal of Mission Studies, Vol.2, No.2 (December), p.75.

will of god vs perfect freedom

Rachael Kohn's book is a wonderfully comprehensive overview of contemporary religious and spiritual trends and beliefs. She packs an amazing amount of information into a reasonably short book. I should have had no hesitation according it a five-star rating and recommending it unreservedly, except for one grating flaw: she fails to really understand the motivations of the new believers. Kohn is almost continually worrying and carping at the negatives she perceives in the new movements. For example, she seriously suggests Wicca feminists are ready to replace the male God with an intolerant and power-mad Goddess, and that Don Cupitt's Sea Of Faith organisation, and Neale Donald Walsch's books Conversations With God, 1, 2 and 3, encourage believers to throw overboard all moral absolutes since the most sacred thing is life itself (in the case of Cupitt) and the world of the senses is an illusion (in Walsch's). She seems to think much of the new spirituality is at root selfish and immoral - as a result, perhaps, of the rejection of the will of God that traditional believers think must take total precedence over human morality and ethics - and potentially hostile to the idea that 'the purpose of the religious life is to produce people and communities who are holy and who sanctify life by their spiritually motivated actions' (p. 140). In my view, the motivation of the majority of the new believers is - via experience of perfect inner freedom - self-acceptance/reliance. Perfect freedom - like the will of God - takes one infinitely beyond ethics and morality, the difference being that it encourages acceptance of the way things are, rather than attempts to make them what the religious person thinks God wants them to be. The new believers want to know and accept who they truly are and encourage others to do the same. Traditional faiths and institutions have refused to accept people as they really are. The suffering - the soul-sickness - this rejection has caused has become unbearable. Few today will tolerate attempts to limit their freedom and happiness in the name of tradition, discipline and commitment. Someone who learns to accept himself will almost invariably respect and fight for the morally absolute rights of all individuals. How is this failing to contribute to society and 'sanctify life'? Self-acceptance should lead to an unbounded belief in 'live and let live'. The only people who have reason to fear the new believers are those who interpret the words 'will of God' as permission to impose unquestioning obedience and religious and social uniformity on others.