Jerome A. Stone - Religious Naturalism

Religious Naturalism

Stone’s latest work,Religious Naturalism Today: The Rebirth of a Forgotten Alternative, looks at the history and revival of Religious Naturalism, a 1940’s option in religious thinking. It seeks to explore, develop and encourage spiritual ways of responding to the world on a completely naturalistic basis without a supreme supernatural being.

Stone traces its history and analyzes some of the issues dividing Religious Naturalists. He includes analysis of nearly fifty distinguished philosophers, theologians, scientists, and figures in art and literature, both living and dead. They range from Ursula Goodenough, Gordon D. Kaufman, William Dean, Thomas Berry and Gary Snyder to Jan Christian Smuts, William Bernhardt, Gregory Bateson and Sharon Welch. His history includes its birth from George Santayana to modern contributors such as Henry Nelson Wieman, Loyal Rue and Chet Raymo. He briefly explores Religious Naturalism in literature and art. Contested issues are discussed including whether Nature's power or goodness is the focus of attention and also on the appropriateness of using the term God. Mary Doak, author of Reclaiming Narrative for Public Theology says of it:

This is a timely contribution to contemporary theology. I know of no other book that provides such a clear yet nuanced account of the origins, development, and contemporary forms of religious naturalism. Stone's achievement ensures that religious naturalism will again be a major contender in theological debates

The individual perspectives on Religious Naturalism of Loyal Rue, Donald A. Crosby, Ursula Goodenough and Stone are discussed by Michael Hogue in his 2010 book The Promise of Religious Naturalism.