The Beginning and the End of 'Religion'

Covers the study of religions, theology and science and the secularisation of modern culture.

This collection of papers is the most recent book to be published by the well-known British theologian, Nicholas Lash. Bringing together in one volume some previously published material as well as some new material, it provides an accessible distillation of Lash's ideas about Christian theology in a 'post-modern' society.The common view that 'religion' is something quite separate from politics, art, science, law and economics is one that is peculiar to modern Western culture. In this book Professor Lash argues that we should begin to question seriously that viewpoint: the modern world is ending and we are now in a position to discover new forms of ancient wisdom, which have been obscured from view. These essays explore this idea in a number of directions, examining the dialogue between theology and science, the secularity of Western culture and questions of Christian hope. Part One examines the dialogue between Christianity and Hinduism, while Part Two considers the relations between theology and science, the secularity of Western culture, and questions of Christian hope, or eschatology.