Some New World - Myths of Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age

In his famous argument against miracles, David Hume gets to the heart of the modern problem of supernatural belief. 'We are apt', says Hume, 'to imagine ourselves transported into some new world; where the whole form of nature is disjointed, and every element performs its operation in a different manner, from what it does at present.' This encapsulates, observes Peter Harrison, the disjuncture between contemporary Western culture and medieval societies. In the Middle Ages, people saw the hand of God at work everywhere. Indeed, many suppose that 'belief in the supernatural' is likewise fundamental nowadays to religious commitment. But dichotomising between 'naturalism' and 'supernaturalism' is actually a relatively recent phenomenon, just as the notion of 'belief' emerged historically late. In this masterful contribution to intellectual history, the author overturns crucial misconceptions – 'myths' – about secular modernity, challenging common misunderstandings of the past even as he reinvigorates religious thinking in the present. 01.0_pp_i_i_Some_New_World 02.0_pp_ii_ii_Reviews 03.0_pp_iii_iii_Some_New_World 04.0_pp_iv_iv_Copyright_page 05.0_pp_v_vi_Contents 06.0_pp_vii_x_Acknowledgements 07.0_pp_xi_xiv_Abbreviations 08.0_pp_1_12_Introduction 09.0_pp_13_23_Humes_Dilemma 10.0_pp_24_67_Languages_of_Belief 11.0_pp_68_129_Inventing_Epistemology 12.0_pp_130_217_The_Age_of_Evidences 13.0_pp_218_282_The_Birth_of_the_Supernatural 14.0_pp_283_352_The_Shape_of_History 15.0_pp_353_380_What_the_Greeks_Saw 16.0_pp_381_456_Bibliography 17.0_pp_457_467_Index