The Future of Faith - by Harvey Cox (Paperback)

About the Book

Legendary Harvard religion scholar Cox offers up a new interpretation of the history and future of religion. He explains why Christian beliefs and dogma are giving way to new grassroots movements rooted in social justice and spiritual experience.

Book Synopsis

"A beautiful book and a Cox classic....Readers will be grateful that they joined him on his journey." --E.J. Dionne Jr., author of Souled Out

"Insightful, provocative, and inspiring--I even found myself uttering a hearty evangelical 'Amen!'" --Richard Mouw, President, Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport

The Future of Faith is Harvard religion scholar Harvey Cox's landmark exploration of why Christian dogmatism is giving way to a grassroots Christianity rooted in social justice and spirituality. Cox laid the groundwork for modern religious writing with his 1965 classic, The Secular City, paving the way for writers like Diana Butler Bass, Karen Armstrong, Stephen Prothero, and Deepak Chopra, who calls The Future of Faith "a fresh vision for the resurrection of a new global Christianity."

From the Back Cover

The Rise and Fall of Belief and the Coming Age of the Spirit

There is an essential change taking place in what it means to be "religious" today. As religious people shift their focus to ethical guidelines and spiritual disciplines--not doctrine--we are seeing a universal trend away from hierarchical, regional, patriarchal, and institutional religion. Now, legendary Harvard scholar Harvey Cox offers a new interpretation of the history and future of religion, revealing how doctrines and dogma are giving way to new grassroots movements based in community, social justice, and spiritual experience. The Future of Faith is a major statement and a hopeful vision from one of the most revered theologians today.

Review Quotes

"At this crucial turning point in history, Harvey Cox reminds us of essential religious values and imperatives . . . A timely and prophetic book" - Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God
"For the last four decades, Harvey Cox has been the leading trend spotter in American religion." - Stephen Prothero, author of Religious Literacy
"What shape will the Christian faith take in the 21st century? In the midst of fast-paced global changes and in the face of an apparent resurgence of fundamentalism, can Christianity survive as a living and vital faith? With his typical brilliance and lively insight, Cox explores these and other questions in a dazzling blend of memoir, church history and theological commentary. He divides Christian history into three periods: the Age of Faith, during the first Christian centuries, when the earliest followers of Jesus lived in his Spirit, embraced his hope and followed him in the work he had begun; the Age of Belief, from the Council of Nicaea to the late 20th century, during which the church replaced faith in Jesus with dogma about him; and the Age of the Spirit, in which we're now living, in which Christians are rediscovering the awe and wonder of faith in the tremendous mystery of God. According to Cox, the return to the Spirit that so enlivened the Age of Faith is now enlivening a global Christianity, through movements like Pentecostalism and liberation theology, yearning for the dawning of God's reign of shalom. Cox remains our most thoughtful commentator on the religious scene, and his spirited portrait of our religious landscape challenges us to think in new ways about faith. " - Publishers Weekly
"With typical brilliance and lively insight, Cox explores questions in a dazzling blend of memoir, church history and theological commentary . . . Cox remains our most thoughtful commentator on the religious scene, and his spirited portrait of our religious landscape challenges us to think in new ways about faith." - Publishers Weekly
"Celebrated religious scholar Cox (Divinity/Harvard Univ.; When Jesus Came to Harvard: Making Moral Choices Today, 2004, etc.) argues that we are witnessing the dawn of a third epoch in Christian history. First came the Age of Faith, a time of emphasis on the message of Jesus, lasting from his crucifixion to Constantine's decision to make Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. Next came the Age of Belief, a long period marked by theological hegemonies and emphasis on creeds and theological points of view. Only in recent decades has this longstanding era begun to crumble against the insurgent Age of the Spirit, which is in many ways like the original Age of Faith. Cox examines the present death knells of two movements he describes as detrimental to people of faith: hierarchical theology, embodied mainly by the Catholic Church, and fundamentalism. These two movements, argues the author, stymie both faith and the true message of Jesus. Cox describes creed-making as a "toxin"; his disdain for orthodox theology is unmasked. As for the people, Cox attempts to show empathy toward Catholics, fundamentalists and even his own mid-20th-century divinity-school professors . . . Cox's work is intriguing, and there is certainly truth in his observations about global Christianity and the rise of Pentecostalism and liberation theology. The author is also an entertaining writer who has known seemingly every major religious figure in recent history, including three popes and figures ranging from Jerry Falwell to Gustavo Gutirrez." - Kirkus Reviews
"Celebrated religious scholar Cox argues that we are witnessing the dawn of a third epoch in Christian history . . . Cox's work is intriguing, and there is certainly truth in his observations about global Christianity and the rise of Pentecostalism and liberation theology." - Kirkus Reviews
"The Future of Faith is a tour de force. As passionate and challenging as his classic, The Secular City, Cox's new book invites the faithful, the skeptical, and the fearful into a spirit-filled vision of Christianity that can renew a hurting world." - Diana Butler Bass, author of A People's History of Christianity
"A lucid and congenial book . . . [Cox] is not alone, but he is most cogent, in thinking that the content of Christian faith is becoming more like that of the early church, rooted in personal and communal behavior, and its expression more syncretistic and secular than ever before. A book full of good news." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A lucid and congenial book . . . [Cox] is not alone, but he is most cogent, in thinking that the content of Christian faith is becoming more like that of the early church . . . A book full of good news." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"With its overarching themes, Cox's new book can be viewed as the culmination of his life's scholarship. In the book, he explains his belief that 'Faith is resurgent, while dogma is dying. The spiritual, communal, and justice-seeking dimensions of Christianity are now its leading edge as the 21st century hurdles forward, and this change is taking place along with similar reformations in the other world religions.'." - Boston Globe
"With its overarching themes, Cox's new book can be viewed as the culmination of his life's scholarship." - Boston Globe
"For those of us who have learned to pay close attention when Harvey Cox offers his latest reading of "the signs of the times," this book more than lives up to our expectations. The Future of Faith is insightful, provocative, and inspiring--I even found myself uttering a hearty evangelical "Amen" at many points!" - Richard Mouw, President of Fuller Theological Seminary and author of Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport
"The Future of Faith is insightful, provocative, and inspiring--I even found myself uttering a hearty evangelical "Amen" at many points!" - Richard Mouw, President of Fuller Theological Seminary and author of Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport
"Nobody knows if Harvey Cox will be proved right about the Age of Belief giving way to the Age of the Spirit, but I'm among those who hope and pray he's right. This important book has not only helped me understand the past, present, and future of this amazing phenomenon called Christianity ... it has also motivated me to keep working to help make actual the possible future Cox envisions." - Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian
"This important book has not only helped me understand the past, present, and future of this amazing phenomenon called Christianity ... it has also motivated me to keep working to help make actual the possible future Cox envisions." - Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian
"Harvey Cox has been a voice of both reason and faith in our cynical times. Now, he offers a fresh vision for the resurrection of a new global Christianity that will restore our faith both in ourselves and the divine." - Deepak Chopra, author of Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment
"Harvey Cox is the most important liberal theologian of the last half century because he could see around corners, catching the mood of the moment while also understanding where the zeitgeist would take us. The Future of Faith is, quite simply, a beautiful book and a Cox classic. It marries his own strong convictions with his exceptional capacity for sympathetic understanding. With the clarity and grace that has always been his gift, Cox tells the contemporary religious story while also offering his personal tales of exploration and spiritual renewal. Readers will be grateful that they joined him on his journey." - E.J. Dionne Jr., author of Souled Out