Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World

Miroslav Volf

Paperback, 304 pages

9780300227130

More than almost anything else, globalization and the great world religions are shaping our lives, affecting everything from the public policies of political leaders and the economic decisions of industry bosses and employees, to university curricula, all the way to the inner longings of our hearts. Integral to both globalization and religions are compelling, overlapping, and sometimes competing visions of what it means to live well.

In this perceptive, deeply personal, and beautifully written book, a leading theologian sheds light on how religions and globalization have historically interacted and argues for what their relationship ought to be. Recounting how these twinned forces have intersected in his own life, he shows how world religions, despite their malfunctions, remain one of our most potent sources of moral motivation and contain within them profoundly evocative accounts of human flourishing. Globalization should be judged by how well it serves us for living out our authentic humanity as envisioned within these traditions. Through renewal and reform, religions might, in turn, shape globalization so that can be about more than bread alone.

Contents

Introduction: Where I Stand

Part One:

1. Globalisation and the Challenge of Religions

2. Religions and the Challenge of Globalisation

Part Two

3. Mindsets of Respect, Regimes of Respect

4. Religious Exclusivism and Political Pluralism

5. Conflict, Violence and Reconciliation

Epilogue: God, Nihilism and Flourishing