Books
The Philosopher and the Gospels (Lion, 2011).
A philosophical study of the teaching of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels, suggesting that it falls under four main rather forbiddingly titled heads: conditional universalism, spiritual eschatology, responsive-participatory virtue ethics, and unitive idealism. The text is less forbidding than these headings, and seeks to be at once scholarly, challenging, and readable.
Is Religion Irrational (Lion Hudson, 2011)
A defence of the reasonableness of belief in God. The book can be read on its own. But it is also the basis of a series of CD audio-talks, modelled on Oxford tutorials, produced by 'the invisible college', and titled 'Why I am not an Atheist'.
More than Matter (Lion Hudson, 2010)
A defence of Idealist philosophy, with a friendly attack on one of my old philosophy teachers, Gilbert Ryle, and, at least by implication, his Cambridge counterpart Ludwig Wittgenstein. Includes also critiques of philosophical materialism, phenomenalism, and common sense.
The God Conclusion (DLT, 2009); in the USA God and the Philosophers (Fortress Press)
A survey of what the major European philosophers have said about God, defending some currently unfashionable positions like Cartesian dualism, Aquinas’ ‘Five Ways’, Platonism, and Berkeley’s Idealism.
Why There Almost Certainly Is a God (Lion, 2008)
A riposte to Richard Dawkins, showing how his largely unstated philosophical views distort his atheistic arguments, and how those views are countered by many philosophers.
Christianity: a Guide for the Perplexed (SPCK, 2007)
These are all short popular restatements of the main beliefs of Christianity, in the light of scientific and critical thought.
God, Faith and the New Millennium (Oneworld, 1998).
A Short Introduction to Christianity (Oneworld, 2000), re-issued as Christianity: a Beginners’ Guide (2008)
Re-Thinking Christianity (Oneworld 2007)
The book is concerned with the question of the identity of the Christian tradition. It takes six historical case-studies - the New Testament renunciation of Torah; the Hellenistic formulation of doctrines in the first Ecumenical Councils; medieval developments in doctrines of Hell, Purgatory and Atonement; the Reformation emphasis on faith; German liberal Protestantism; and Liberation theology. By analysing these cases, the argument is propounded that Christian faith essentially invites continual reformulation in new cultural circumstances. It makes positive recommendations about the forms Christian belief should make in a scientific, culturally diverse and pluralistic age.
Pascal’s Fire: Scientific Faith and Religious Understanding (Oneworld June 2006).
A contribution to the historical and ideological relationships between science and religion since the Enlightenment. It considers the views of Galileo, Newton, Darwin and Heisenberg and many of their successors on the relation of religion and science, defends the non-reducibility of humane studies to purely scientific explanations of human beliefs, and addresses the question of whether the ‘God of Abraham’ is different from ‘the God of the scientists’ (Pascal’s Memorial, from which the book title is derived)
Divine Action (Collins, 1990, re-issued by Templeton Foundation Press, 2008))
The Big Questions in Science and Religion (Templeton Foundation Press, 2008)
Two books on religious belief in a scientific world. The latter addresses most of the major questions in the field in a non-dogmatic way, but one that is sympathetic to many religious beliefs.
God, Chance, Necessity (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 1996).
A response to Jacques Monod’s ‘Chance and Necessity’, showing how religion can be positively enhanced by modern scientific thought.
What the Bible Really Teaches (SPCK 2004) ISBN 0-281-05680-3
The Word of God? The Bible after modern scholarship (SPCK, 2010)
Two connected books on how to read and interpret the Bible. The first looks at the texts as they stand, and brings out some often understressed or even misunderstood features of the Bible, especially, oddly enough, in circles which call themselves ‘Biblical’. The second asks how we can take the Bible as the Word of God after Biblical criticism has done its worst (or best, depending on your point of view).
The Case for Religion (Oneworld 2004) ISBN 1-85168-337-2
This presents an academic case both for the continued use of the concept of ‘religion’, and for a non-naturalistic account of religion. It considers the views of Freud, Durkheim, Frazer, Tylor and Jung, attempts a systematic philosophical categorisation of the major global religious traditions, and surveys the historical change of religious traditions from local through canonical and critical phases to the present global interaction of traditions.
Is Religion Dangerous? (Lion, 2007; new edition with additional chapter on evolutionary psychology, 2010)
The Concept of God (Basil Blackwell, 1974)
Rational Theology and the Creativity of God (Basil Blackwell,1984).
God: a Guide for the Perplexed (Oneworld, 2002) ISBN 1-85168-284-8
Three books about the idea of God, the first heavily influenced by Wittgenstein, the second by A. N. Whitehead, and the third – my favourite book – a philosophical survey of the history of ideas about God.
Comparative Theology, in 5 volumes:
Religion and Revelation (Oxford; Clarendon Press, 1994)
Religion and Creation (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996)
Religion and Human Nature (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998)
Religion and Community (Oxford; Clarendon Press, 2000)
Religion and Human Fulfilment (SCM Press, 2008)
This, I suppose, is my major academic contribution to the study of religions and to theology. These volumes compare and contrast and doctrines of Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Christianity on each topic. The aim is to present the doctrines accurately, but to let them interact and influence each other. The books are written from within a Christian tradition, and a Christian systematic theology is developed throughout the series. But this is a theology radically influenced by a global religious perspective. The intended result is both a Christian systematic theology in a global context, and an attempt to show how the world’s major religious traditions can interact positively and fruitfully in the modern world.
A Vision to Pursue (London: SCM Press, 1991)
An attempt to state, in a popular way, a post-critical and liberal view of Christian faith.
Images of Eternity (Darton, Longman, Todd, 1987); re-issued as
Concepts of God (Oneworld, 1993)
Ideas of God (or the Ultimate) in five main religious traditions – Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, by analyzing the works of Aquinas, Maimonides, Al Gazzali, Sankara, Ramanuja, Buddhaghosa and the Lotus Sutra.
The Battle for the Soul (Hodder and Stoughton, 1985), re-issued as
Defending the Soul (Oxford: Oneworld Press, 1992), and as
In Defence of the Soul (Oneworld, 1998)
Defends the idea of the soul against criticisms from Freud, materialism, etc.
The Turn of the Tide (BBC, 1986)
The book of a BBC series alleging (too soon!) that the ‘sea of faith’ was returning up Dover Beach.
The Promise (SPCK, 1980; revised edition, 2010)
A literary re-telling of the Bible story from Genesis to Deuteronomy, bringing out some major theological points.
The Christian Way (SPCK, 1976)
The Living God (SPCK, 1984)
Books written primarily for a Church congregation (in fact, Lent courses given at Hampstead Parish Church), outlining a contemporary form of Christian belief.
Holding Fast to God (SPCK, 1982)
A polemical book analyzing and criticizing Don Cupitt’s theological and philosophical work, especially his ‘Taking Leave of God’.
The Divine Image (SPCK, 1976)
The Rule of Love (Darton, Longman, Todd, 1989)
These are more popular books, briefly expounding the basis of Christian ethics, and analyzing the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5 - 7), respectively.
Ethics and Christianity (The Muirhead Library of Philosophy: Allen and Unwin, 1970)
Kant's View of Ethics (Basil Blackwell, 1972)
These are academic books the first of which tries to outline the basic structure of a Christian meta-ethics or philosophy of ethics, and the second gives a fairly complete account and critical analysis of the development of Kant’s view on ethics, based on all his extant works.
Fifty Key Words in Philosophy (Lutterworth Press, 1968)
