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Overview
Listening for God proceeds from the authors belief that, across a wide spectrum of outlooks, people are attracted to religion, yet wary of it. The book is intended to speak, in an honest and reflective way, to those who have conflicting feelings about religion, and are put off by the needlessly polarized and blithely self-assured style of much writing about it. Grounded in his won religious tradition yet manifesting great respect and appreciation for other traditions, Lesnick recounts the odyssey of his own encounter with religion, from a mild form of conventional adherence to Conservative Judaism as an adolescent, to a long period of alienation from all religion, to a gradual and deepening re-engagement with Judaism through his sympathetic exposure to religions.Lesnick articulates the ways in which the author has found it illuminating to turn to religion as an aid to discernment of moral truth, rather than as a source of metaphysical knowledge or belief. The God of which he speaks is both the repository of truth about moral life and force that draws him to struggle to discern and follow it.
The book offers the reader a bridge between apparent polarities too often found in the world and ourselves-between emotion and reason, experience and authority, knowledge and belief, faith and doubt, ethics and ritual, hope and despair. Written by a teacher of law, it asks, where do moral imperatives come from, and how do the answers found in religion and in law affect one another? Listening for God is a record of, and a grateful prayer for, sustaining courage and hope in a fallen world.
Synopsis
Listening for God proceeds from the author's belief that, across a wide spectrum of outlooks, people are attracted to religion, yet wary of it.
Booknews
A reflection on the power and meaning of religious faith by one who travelled from complete alienation to religion to a reengagement with Judaism. After an autobiographical examination, the author explores issues of how religion can be thought of in a world that has often used religion to justify inhuman acts. Professing a profound respect for other traditions, as well as atheists, he discusses how religious language, metaphor, and images can serve as aid to finding moral truth, rather than a metaphysical system. Paper edition (unseen), $17.95. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.