Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface and acknowledgements
- 1 Religion and spirituality: from praxis to belief
- 2 Religion and science: theodicy in an imperfect universe
- 3 Religion and value: the problem of heteronomy
- 4 Religion and self-discovery: the interior journey
- 5 Religion and language: emotion, symbol, and fact
- 6 Religion and the Enlightenment: modernist and postmodernist obstacles
- 7 Religion and the good life: the epistemic and moral resources of spirituality
- 8 Religion and pluralism: which spirituality?
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - Religion and value: the problem of heteronomy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface and acknowledgements
- 1 Religion and spirituality: from praxis to belief
- 2 Religion and science: theodicy in an imperfect universe
- 3 Religion and value: the problem of heteronomy
- 4 Religion and self-discovery: the interior journey
- 5 Religion and language: emotion, symbol, and fact
- 6 Religion and the Enlightenment: modernist and postmodernist obstacles
- 7 Religion and the good life: the epistemic and moral resources of spirituality
- 8 Religion and pluralism: which spirituality?
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Frate, la nostra volontà quieta
virtù di carità, che fa volerne
sol quel ch'avemo, e d'altro no ci asseta …
Anzi è formale ad esto beato esse
tenersi dentro a la divina voglia …
E'n la sua volontade è nostra pace
Brother, our Will can find tranquillity
Through that true love which makes us to desire
No more than what we have, nor thirst for more …
And blessedness, for any creature, lies
In keeping fast within the will of God …
And in His will alone our peace belongs.
Dante Alighieri.SUBMISSION TO GOD: AN OBSOLETE IDEAL?
Dante's famous lines follow a long religious tradition in seeing submission to the will of God as representing the deepest fulfilment for the human spirit. The thought is not just that religious devotion provides peacefulness of mind, in the sense of securing some kind of tranquillizing or calming effect; rather, the idea is that God is the source of genuine value, and that orienting ourselves towards that source bestows meaning on our human existence and enables us to find true contentment. In the striking words of Augustine, of which Dante's lines are a clear echo, ‘You have made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it finds repose in You.’
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Spiritual DimensionReligion, Philosophy and Human Value, pp. 37 - 57Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005