Description
The world's great religious and philosophical traditions often include poignant testimonies of spiritual turmoil and healing. Following episodes of harrowing personal crisis, including addictions, periods of anxiety and panic, and reminders of mortality, these accounts then also describe pathways to consolation and resolution.
In Making Peace with the Universe, Michael Scott Alexander reads diverse classic religious accounts as masterpieces of therapeutic insight. In the company of William James, Socrates, Muslim legal scholar turned mystic Hamid al-Ghazali, Chinggis Khan as described by the Daoist monk Qui Chuji, and jazz musician and Catholic convert Mary Lou Williams, Alexander traces the steps from existential crisis to psychological health. He recasts spiritual confessions as case histories of therapy, showing how they remain radical and deeply meaningful even in an age of scientific psychology. They record the therapeutic affect of spiritual experience, testifying to the achievement of psychological well-being through the cultivation of an edifying spiritual mood.
Mixing scholarly learning with episodes from his own skeptical quest, Alexander demonstrates how these accounts of private terror and personal triumph offer a model of therapy through spiritual adventure. An interdisciplinary consideration of the shared terrain of religion and psychology, Making Peace with the Universe offers an innovative view of what spiritual traditions can teach us about finding meaning in the modern world.
About the Author
Michael Scott Alexander is associate professor of religious studies and Maimonides Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of Jazz Age Jews (2001), winner of the National Jewish Book Award.
Reviews
Impressively informative and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, Making Peace with the Universe is an extraordinary contribution to community and academic library Religious Philosophy collections in general, and Spiritual Healing reading lists in particular. * Midwest Book Review *
What happens when worlds fall apart? It's a question that so many of us have asked ourselves in times of crisis. The marvel of Michael Scott Alexander's book is that he has transformed his own search into a discovery of the wisdom of the ages. Erudite and deeply personal, this book captures the pain of losing faith and the joy of rediscovering a deeper meaning. -- Rebecca L. Davis, author of More Perfect Unions: The American Search for Marital Bliss
What if the classics of religious thought actually made you feel . . . better? In this stunning, accessible book, Michael Scott Alexander-the most chill professor you never had-shows that the greatest minds of the past were deeply attuned to the crises of the present, midlife and otherwise. Their solutions, and his, map a path through the dark wood of our lives to the promised land of human flourishing. -- Noah Feldman, author of Divided by God: America's Church-State Problem-and What We Should Do About It
A brilliant exploration of religious and spiritual experiences as they relate to the ability to heal the mind and promote psychological health. A missing piece of the puzzle of how religion intersects with psychological well-being. -- Andrew Newberg, author of Neurotheology: How Science Can Enlighten Us About Spirituality
It's not so hard to find a good book, but it's hard to find a book that's good in a totally new, surprising way. I've been reading about religion for 25 years, and I have never seen anything like Making Peace with the Universe, which combines religion scholarship, memoir, marital gossip, pop-music criticism, and an ode to friendship into one potent cocktail of love. If you seek, find this. -- Mark Oppenheimer, author of Knocking on Heaven's Door: American Religion in the Age of Counterculture
This incredible book mines the spiritual insights of history's deepest souls. Alexander speaks to the reality that some truths emerge outside of a classroom or lab. From Socrates to jazz great Mary Lou Williams, we see that wisdom's pursuit is often a torturous and tear-soaked journey. Yet it's worth the ride! -- Jonathan L. Walton, author of A Lens of Love: Reading the Bible in Its World for Our World
Book Information
ISBN 9780231198592
Author Michael Scott Alexander
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
In Making Peace with the Universe, Michael Scott Alexander reads diverse classic religious accounts as masterpieces of therapeutic insight. In the company of William James, Socrates, Muslim legal scholar turned mystic Hamid al-Ghazali, Chinggis Khan as described by the Daoist monk Qui Chuji, and jazz musician and Catholic convert Mary Lou Williams, Alexander traces the steps from existential crisis to psychological health. He recasts spiritual confessions as case histories of therapy, showing how they remain radical and deeply meaningful even in an age of scientific psychology. They record the therapeutic affect of spiritual experience, testifying to the achievement of psychological well-being through the cultivation of an edifying spiritual mood.
Mixing scholarly learning with episodes from his own skeptical quest, Alexander demonstrates how these accounts of private terror and personal triumph offer a model of therapy through spiritual adventure. An interdisciplinary consideration of the shared terrain of religion and psychology, Making Peace with the Universe offers an innovative view of what spiritual traditions can teach us about finding meaning in the modern world.
About the Author
Michael Scott Alexander is associate professor of religious studies and Maimonides Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of Jazz Age Jews (2001), winner of the National Jewish Book Award.
Reviews
Impressively informative and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, Making Peace with the Universe is an extraordinary contribution to community and academic library Religious Philosophy collections in general, and Spiritual Healing reading lists in particular. * Midwest Book Review *
What happens when worlds fall apart? It's a question that so many of us have asked ourselves in times of crisis. The marvel of Michael Scott Alexander's book is that he has transformed his own search into a discovery of the wisdom of the ages. Erudite and deeply personal, this book captures the pain of losing faith and the joy of rediscovering a deeper meaning. -- Rebecca L. Davis, author of More Perfect Unions: The American Search for Marital Bliss
What if the classics of religious thought actually made you feel . . . better? In this stunning, accessible book, Michael Scott Alexander-the most chill professor you never had-shows that the greatest minds of the past were deeply attuned to the crises of the present, midlife and otherwise. Their solutions, and his, map a path through the dark wood of our lives to the promised land of human flourishing. -- Noah Feldman, author of Divided by God: America's Church-State Problem-and What We Should Do About It
A brilliant exploration of religious and spiritual experiences as they relate to the ability to heal the mind and promote psychological health. A missing piece of the puzzle of how religion intersects with psychological well-being. -- Andrew Newberg, author of Neurotheology: How Science Can Enlighten Us About Spirituality
It's not so hard to find a good book, but it's hard to find a book that's good in a totally new, surprising way. I've been reading about religion for 25 years, and I have never seen anything like Making Peace with the Universe, which combines religion scholarship, memoir, marital gossip, pop-music criticism, and an ode to friendship into one potent cocktail of love. If you seek, find this. -- Mark Oppenheimer, author of Knocking on Heaven's Door: American Religion in the Age of Counterculture
This incredible book mines the spiritual insights of history's deepest souls. Alexander speaks to the reality that some truths emerge outside of a classroom or lab. From Socrates to jazz great Mary Lou Williams, we see that wisdom's pursuit is often a torturous and tear-soaked journey. Yet it's worth the ride! -- Jonathan L. Walton, author of A Lens of Love: Reading the Bible in Its World for Our World
Book Information
ISBN 9780231198592
Author Michael Scott Alexander
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
