Making Sense of “God”: What God-Talk Means and Does

by Norman Solomon

Publisher:

Wipf and Stock

, 2023

All over the world people talk about God and argue endlessly about what God said and what, if anything, we should do about it. Do they know what are they talking about? Do they ever seriously consider what it might look like or feel like if God actually spoke to you? How could you tell, if someone said God spoke to them, whether they were deluded, bluffing, or high on drugs? The reflections, dialogues, and arguments in this book address such questions, often with humor, sometimes provocatively as when the author suggests the ancient gods have returned to invade the institutions of our great religions, or when two spirits, William and James, viewing the world from afar, voice their doubt as to whether the human species will ever attain the pinnacles of cooperation, reason, beauty, and love. Ancient texts from the Mayan Popol Vuh through the Bible to the Chinese classics are invoked, and the discoveries of modern science from anthropology to zoology are brought into play as the reader is gently led to an appreciation of the role of religious language in modern society.

Praise for Making Sense of “God”

“Making Sense of ‘God’ is not about God, but about ‘God.’ With great erudition and philosophical sophistication, but at the same time with a charming and light touch, Norman Solomon asks what those of us who live in the contemporary world, and not just next to it, can mean when we speak of God. The book poses important questions and invites the reader to ponder them in the company of a learned and profound thinker.”

—Menachem Kellner, chair of the department of philosophy and Jewish thought, Shalem College



“Norman Solomon’s exploration of the deepest of questions combines clear exposition and disarming humor with exceptionally wide-ranging knowledge, careful philosophical analysis, and, above all, rigorous intellectual honesty. A remarkable book.”

—Martin Goodman, emeritus professor of Jewish Studies, University of Oxford



“This amazing book was not written to answer the question whether God exists. Rather, it offers a wide-ranging investigation of the meaning of the term ‘God’ throughout time and place. Philosophy, linguistics, anthropology, psychology, history, and several sciences are called upon to analyze all aspects of ‘God-talk.’ Norman Solomon engages his readers in deeply humane and unflinchingly honest discussions in which probing the right questions is far more important than finding any one conclusive answer.”

—Anna Sapir Abulafia, FBA, professor emerita of the study of the Abrahamic religions, University of Oxford

Product Details

• Title: Making Sense of “God”: What God-Talk Means and Does
• Author: Norman Solomon
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Print Publication Date: 2023
• Logos Release Date: 2023
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781666761467, 9781666761443, 1666761443, 9781666761450, 1666761451, 166676146X
• Resource ID: LLS:9781666761467
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2023-05-17T10:02:29Z

About Norman Solomon

Norman Solomon served as rabbi to Orthodox congregations in England for 22 years, after which he engaged in interfaith relations, setting up the Centre for the Study of Judaism and Christian-Jewish Relations at Birmingham and taking part in international interfaith conferences in more than 20 countries. In 1995 he was appointed Lecturer in Modern Jewish Thought at Oxford, and though now retired remains a member of Wolfson College, Oxford and the Oxford University Teaching and Research Unit in Hebrew and Jewish Studies.