The New Statesman reviews a provocative book by Richard Holloway, the former Bishop of Edinburgh:
It is the after-religion category that most clearly defines his own position, one he set out in his previous book, Looking in the Distance. “People in this position see religion as an entirely human construct, a work of the human imagination, but one that carries enduring meaning.” Religious narratives are potent myths, he argues, because of what they reveal about human nature. He goes on to quote Richard Rorty’s argument that the New Testament and the Communist Manifesto are flawed, but that both are valuable texts because they inspire us to believe that our future could be better. “It is possible to respect religion,” Holloway concludes, “because, at its best, it challenges our brutish selfishness and our cultivated sadism, as well as offering us the hope of a better future for the world and its children.”
Are Holloway’s critics correct in saying that he has “stretched the definition of liberal theology past breaking point”?