Religion is the third and final volume in Robert Cummings Neville's systematic development of a new philosophical theology. Unfolding through his earlier volumes, Ultimates and Existence, and now in Religion, philosophical theology considers first-order questions generally treated by religious traditions through philosophical methods while reflecting Neville's long engagement with philosophy, theology, and Eastern and Western religious traditions. In this capstone to the trilogy, Neville provides a theory of religion and presents a sacred worldview to guide religious participation. His philosophical theory of value enlightens religions' approaches to ethics, spirituality, and religious institutional living and collaboration. With a detailed examination of plausibility conditions for sacred worldviews, the book concludes with an exploration of "religionless religion" for which institutions of religion are of penultimate value.Through the development of philosophical theology, Neville has built a unique, multidisciplinary, comparative, nonconfessional theological system, one that addresses concerns and provides tools for scientific and humanistic scholars of religion, postmodern thinkers, intellectuals from both secular and religious backgrounds, and those interested in the global state of religion today.

Cross References Preface Introduction I. Theology for Whom? II. The Question of Truth in Popular Religion III. Explaining Religion IV. Understanding Religion Part I. Understanding Religion Part I. Preliminary Remarks 1. Science and Culture I. Cognitive Science with Evolutionary Biology II. Social Science and Phenomenological Understandings of Religion III. Evolution and Semiotics IV. The Cultural Evolution 2. Axial Age Religion I. The Axial Age Revolution II. The Tribal Underground of Axial Age Religion III. Religious Membership and Practice IV. Sacred Worldviews of Axial Age Religions 3. Theology and the Religious Situation I. Confessional Theologies II. Interpreting between Transcendence and Intimacy III. Back-Reading History IV. The Religious Situation 4. A Viable Sacred Canopy I. The Problem of Transcendent and Intimate Symbols II. Transcendent Concepts of Ultimacy III. The Critical Interpretation of Intimate Symbols IV. The Religious Situation and the Axial Age Part I. Summary Implications Part II. Historical Religions Part II. Preliminary Remarks 5. Abrahamic Religions Prologue I. Form/Value/Possibilities/Obligation II. Components/Groundedness/Wholeness III. Existential Location/Engagement/Love IV. Absolute Value-Identity 6. Buddhism Prologue I. Form/Value/Possibilities/Obligation II. Components/Groundedness/Wholeness III. Existential Location/Engagement/Love IV. Absolute Value-Identity 7. Hinduism Prologue I. Form/Value/Possibilities/Obligation II. Components/Groundedness/Wholeness III. Existential Location/Engagement/Love IV. Absolute Value-Identity 8. Chinese Religion Prologue I. Form/Value/Possibilities/Obligation II. Components/Groundedness/Wholeness III. Existential Location/Engagement/Love IV. Absolute Value-Identity Part II. Summary Implications Part III. Normative Religion 9. Value I. Differential Value in a Purposeless Cosmos II. The Formal Nature of Value III. The Actualization of Value: Future, Present, Past IV. Obligation, Responsibility, and Conjoint Action 10. Religious Ethics I. The Religious Dimension of Ethics II. Religious Values III. Ritual Forms of Normative Action IV. Minimal Ethics, Freedom, and Life Abundant 11. Spirituality I. Wisdom: A Spirituality of Form and Choice II. Discipline: A Spirituality of Groundedness and Comportment III. Desire: A Spirituality of Existential Location IV. Excellence: A Spirituality of Value-Identity 12. Religious Companionship I. Semiotic Space II. Religious Community Defined III. Critical Belonging IV. Ultimate Belonging Part III. Summary Implications Part IV. Religionless Religion 13. The Plausibility of Sacred Worldviews I. Consistency II. Appropriateness for Predicaments and Ecstatic Fulfillments III. Sustaining Intimacy and Transcendence in Symbols IV. Authority in Orientation 14. The Implausibility of Sacred Worldviews I. Consistency and Science II. Appropriateness for a Global Society III. Transcendence and Intimacy in a Purposeless Cosmos IV. Authority, Fallibility, and Containment 14. Imploding Worldviews and Ontological Predicaments I. Cosmological and Ontological Boundary Conditions II. Apophasis and Kataphasis III. The Desperation of Meaning-Making IV. Terror of the Infinite 16. Ontological Salvation and Ecstatic Fulfillment I. The Dao Cannot Be Named II. "To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruit" III. "Love your enemies" IV. This Is Not the Only Time or Place Part IV. Summary Implications Notes Bibliography Index