Atheism in Christianity: The Religion of the Exodus and the KingdomIn the twenty-first century, religion has come under determined attack from secular progressives in documentaries, opinion pieces and international bestsellers. Combative atheists have denounced faiths of every stripe, resulting in a crude intellectual polarization in which religious convictions and heritage must be rejected or accepted wholesale. In the long unavailable Atheism in Christianity, Ernst Bloch provides a way out from this either/or debate. He examines the origins of Christianity in an attempt to find its social roots, pursuing a detailed study of the Bible and its fascination for 'ordinary and unimportant' people. In the biblical promise of utopia and the scriptures' antagonism to authority, Bloch locates Christianity's appeal to the oppressed. Through a lyrical yet close and nuanced analysis, he explores the tensions within the Bible that promote atheism as a counter to the authoritarian metaphysical theism imposed by clerical exegesis. At the Bible's heart he finds a heretical core and the concealed message that, paradoxically, a good Christian must necessarily be a good atheist. This new edition includes an introduction by Peter Thompson, the Director of the Centre for Enrst Bloch Studies at the University of Sheffield. |
Contents
ROUND THE CORNER | 1 |
The Strange Ubiquity of the Bible and Its Language | 10 |
PROMETHEUS A MYTH | 17 |
Copyright | |
22 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Atheism in Christianity: The Religion of the Exodus and the Kingdom Ernst Bloch Limited preview - 2009 |
Atheism in Christianity: The Religion of the Exodus and the Kingdom Ernst Bloch Limited preview - 2020 |
Common terms and phrases
Adam Adam Kadmon alien already apocalyptic archetypal astral myth atheism Barth become beginning Bible biblical Book of Job called Canaan certainly Christ Christian Church comes concept cosmic cosmos course creation Creator death despite Deus disciples divine doctrine earth Egypt element Enlightenment Ernst Bloch eschatological Eschaton evil Exodus fact faith Father Feuerbach figure final freedom Genesis Gnostic God's gospel hand heaven heavenly Hegel hope human hypostasized idea immanent Israel Jahvist Jesus Job's Kingdom later liberation light logos longer Lord makanthropos Marcion Marx Marxism Matt means Messiah metaphysics moral Moses mystery mysticism mythical nature Nazirites On-high Ophites Paul present priestly priestly code prophets purely question reached realm redaction religion religious resurrection salvation sense serpent simple Slavoj Žižek sort soul speak spirit stand Testament theodicy things Thomas Münzer thought topos tradition transcendence true Utopia words Yahweh