The Significance of Religious Experience
Howard Wettstein
Oxford University Press
The loud debate between the New Atheists and defenders of traditional religion is beside the point for Howard Wettstein, in this plainly written, original study of the foundations of religious commitment. Wettstein sees religion--and specifically his own Jewish tradition--in a way that is at once new and Biblical. Wettstein is interested in the big questions. Among those in focus here: What is the role of religious experience in making sense of religious faith? What is the place of doctrine in the life of faith? How does the Bible's concept of faith (<i>emunah) </i>differ from the philosopher's notion of belief?<br>Wettstein offers an original approach to these questions. And he provides new perspective on a variety of central topics: the nature of awe and its place at the heart of religious life; ritual; problems of evil and suffering, with special attention to the Book of Job and to the <i>Akedah</i>, the biblical story of the binding of Isaac; and the virtue of forgiveness. One of the book's highlights is its literary (as opposed to philosophical) approach to theology that at the same time makes room for philosophical exploration of religion. Another is Wettstein's rejection of the usual picture that sees religious life as sitting atop a distinctive metaphysical foundation, one that stands in need of epistemological justification.