The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-First Century: Thomas Berry, Mary Evelyn Tucker: 9780231149525: Amazon.com: Books
The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-First Century 1st Edition
by Thomas Berry (Author), Mary Evelyn Tucker (Editor)
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A leading scholar, cultural historian, and Catholic priest who spent more than fifty years writing about our engagement with the Earth, Thomas Berry possessed prophetic insight into the rampant destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of species. In this book he makes a persuasive case for an interreligious dialogue that can better confront the environmental problems of the twenty-first century. These erudite and keenly sympathetic essays represent Berry's best work, covering such issues as human beings' modern alienation from nature and the possibilities of future, regenerative forms of religious experience. Asking that we create a new story of the universe and the emergence of the Earth within it, Berry resituates the human spirit within a sacred totality.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The subtitle declares that these collected essays, published from 1972 to 2001, are still relevant. Readers confronting the planetary degradation that Berry chronicles in later essays and those recognizing a basic human need for spirituality will likely agree. Berry, a Catholic priest and author of The Dream of the Earth, devoted his life's work to connecting modern people with a spirituality that respects and is fed by our relationship with nature. In four parts, this book addresses how the history and diversity of world religions offer ways to engage with Earth; how it is necessary to connect with a spirituality that is Earth derived; how science can be in conversation with the religious sensibilities of wonder and awe; and how our relationship to the natural world is crucial to our spirituality. In the earliest essays, Berry sounds most optimistic and urges readers to reconcile modern impulses and technology with religious traditions. The later essays strike a more imperative tone, pressing for a change of mind and soul to deeply engage our sacred universe. The essay collection acquires even more significance and urgency in light of Berry's death in June. (Sept.)
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Review
Dedicated readers of ecology, theology, or religious philosophy will want to savor each one [of these essays].
(Library Journal)
The volume is a fair encapsulation of the intellectual concerns for which Berry is best known.
(Christina Peppard Commonweal)
Thoams Berry demonstrattes in these papers the qualities he calls for: humanist vision and imagination.
(Resurgence)
When encountering the essays, one is struck by the clarity of analyses showing humanity's destructive antagonism toward the Earth. In them we observe the gradual evocation of a vision in which this antagonism is overcome so that we can live in harmony and peace on our planetary home.
(Norman Wirzba Journal of the American Academy of Religion)
The Sacred Universe is an important, inspiring compendium of the thought of a great soul and spiritually profound seeker, who cogently and consistently reminds, even after his death, that we must learn to feel at home in the universe.
(Stephen B. Scharper America)
This text will serve as an excellent introduction to [Thomas] Berry...
(Peter Ellard, Siena College The International Journal of Environmental Studies)
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Top Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 starsThe place of the human in the universe
By M. Clare Pierson on January 21, 2010
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Do you wonder about what the future holds for the earth and humans? This book is based on sound science and goes beyond science to give meaning to evolution, the connectedness of all that is and the place of the human on the earth. From where does the consciousness of humans come? where is evolving consciousness leading us? Explore what the extraordinarly perceptive mind of Thomas Berry presents in relation to these questions. Another work by this author is [[ASIN:0609804995 The Great Work: Our Way into the Future
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5.0 out of 5 starsa must read for those concerned about global warming and the fate the planet
By Veronica Catan on October 13, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
These are beautiful reflections on how beautiful and precious the planet Earth is. It explains how the real purpose of religion is to care for creation rather than being redeemed out of it. It also suggests that a sacred dimension is revealed much more clearly in nature than in Biblical texts.
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5.0 out of 5 starsAn Exciting Journey of Faith for the 21st Century
By Rev. David Price on March 30, 2014
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Thomas Berry is a leader before his epoch in a recognition of the first revelation of God, the Creation. He allows the reader to break away from historical Christian frameworks and move to being open and inclusive about the world, the Galaxy and the Universe.
This work is perfect for a thinking seeker who is on a journey with the intention to integrate faith with contemporary knowledge. It offers support to those who are often ridiculed for their courage to break away from religious and especially Christian creational understanding and integrate scientific knowledge into their Spiritual practice.
It is a good book of essays by a spiritual thinker, who was way ahead of his time and of his own spiritual community.
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5.0 out of 5 starsVIP, Very Important Publication for Everyone
By David Glass on April 19, 2015
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Thomas Berry is the dean of global reasonableness in all fields of endeavor, sensitive to and a proponent of the re-sacral-ization of reality on all levels and fronts. He speaks to the most reasonable and intelligent readers as a voice of sanity and responsibility in a world looking for new leadership and guidance. Expertly written by an excellent and thoroughly knowledgeable thinker of the first maginitude.
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5.0 out of 5 starsgift for my grandkids
By hunter42 on March 28, 2012
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
best book i've ever read and i'm a 70 year old voracious reader. will leave the book for my 2 grandkids to read when they can/will understand the book's message. discusses global type problems beyond the purview of religion and scripture AND what mankind must do to alter our toxic trajectory. hints at possible mass extinction unless we address the error of our consumptive ways which could leave the earth uninhabitable and closes with an optimistic worldview.
as i read, the book i had hoped someone would write, unfolded. my highest recommendation!
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe glories of life to be saved
By Brian Griffith on October 18, 2011
Format: Hardcover
This collection of Berry's essays spans about three decades, and captures the evolution of his thought. We watch a grand vision struggling for expression. The first efforts are wordy, dense, and filled with theological language. Berry is struggling to bring his whole religious heritage with him into the new ecological age. With each attempt his writing grows clearer in focus. He argues less against outdated sentiments, and stresses the glories of life to be saved. Finally, he becomes a grand old prophet, regaling us with admiration for the sacred cosmos.
--author of The Gardens of Their Dreams: Desertification and Culture in World History
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5.0 out of 5 starsA prophetic view of the universe and our place in ...
By Alfredus Magnus on July 19, 2014
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
A prophetic view of the universe and our place in it. A profound understanding of our world religious traditions and the manner in which scientific discovery fits into and enhances those traditions.
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5.0 out of 5 starsInclusive
By Marilynn G-R on April 28, 2014
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I found this book marvelous! Thomas Berry sees the largest picture here, of the universe and us as a part of it. A must read for understanding our connection to all that is.
Spirituality, Mind-Body, Gender, Ecology, Ageing, Peace, Scrapbook (in English and Korean)
