Description
Relativism and fundamentalism have become almost caricatures of political and cultural stances, with watered down meanings. This volume presents eight pieces exploring the differences from sociological, historical and theological perspectives and ultimately finding ways to reach common ground. Developed from a project of the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs at Boston University, this volume offers primarily Judeo-Christian perspectives. The editor, Peter L. Berger, is a senior research fellow at the same institute and the contributors primarily come from sociology positions in academia. No index is provided. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Our contemporary culture is dominated by two extremes — relativism and fundamentalism. Neither is desirable: relativism claims that all questions of truth are irrelevant, whereas fundamentalism insists on sole possession of absolute truth. Internationally renowned sociologist of religion Peter Berger has gathered a group of scholars to consider how, from out of different traditions, one can define a middle position between both extremes. / After an extensive introductory overview by Berger, three essays (“sociological descriptions”) give an objective picture of how relativism and fundamentalism play out in today’s world. In the second part (“theological directions”) authors from several different Christian traditions and one conservative Jewish tradition flesh out a normative middle ground that is neither relativist — they affirm specific truth claims — nor fundamentalist — their affirmations include tolerance of the claims of others.
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