Living With Ambiguity: Religious Naturalism And The Menace Of Evil

Living with 8dY`^l`kp Religious Naturalism and the Menace of Evil D O N A L D A . C R O S B Y LIVING WITH AMBIGUITY This page intentionally left blank. LIVING WITH AMBIGUITY Religious Naturalism and the Menace of Evil DONALD A. CROSBY State University of New York Press Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2008 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production and book design, Laurie Searl Marketing, Anne M. Valentine Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Crosby, Donald A. Living with ambiguity : religious naturalism and the menace of evil / Donald A. Crosby. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7914-7519-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Nature—Religious aspects. 2. Naturalism—Religious aspects. 3. Philosophical theology. 4. Good and evil. I. Title. BL65.N35C76 2008 202'.12—dc22 2007042266 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 for all my students Through the years you have inspired, challenged, and often confounded me with your written and oral questions, observations, and arguments, giving me the privilege of working with you as your teacher and fellow learner. This page intentionally left blank. CONTENTS Preface 1 RELIGION OF NATURE AS A FORM OF RELIGIOUS NATURALISM ix 1 2 AMBIGUITIES OF NATURE 21 3 NATURE AS THE FOCUS OF RELIGIOUS FAITH 43 4 PERSPECTIVISM, PLURALISM, AND AMBIGUITY 67 5 RELIGIOUS RIGHTNESS AND MORAL VALUE 79 6 COPING WITH AMBIGUITY 91 Notes 113 Works Cited 117 Index 121 This page intentionally left blank. PREFACE I’m sitting on my back porch enjoying the wonders and beauties of nature. Birds are singing in the trees, squirrels are scampering about, the camellias are in bloom, the sky is a brilliant blue, and the grass is moist and glistening after a recent rain. All seems peaceful and at rest. But in the pond below my back yard a blue heron has just caught a frog in its menacingly sharp beak, and somewhere nearby a red-tailed hawk is eagerly tearing and consuming the flesh of a small bird it has captured and killed. The faint wail of sirens can be heard in the distance. Is there a fire? Has there been an automobile accident? Has someone just suffered a stroke or been shot? Are fire trucks, ambulances, and/or police cruisers speeding to the rescue or, in the case of the police cars, to apprehend a criminal? While I enjoy the serenity of nature in my back yard, a frog and a small bird have met violent deaths in order that the heron and hawk can have their dinners, and a person or persons have been injured—perhaps severely—or someone is in imminent danger of dying from a clot in his or her bloodstream, or someone will be arrested for a crime. Here we have the ambiguity of the whole of nature in miniature. Tranquility and suffering are there. Beauty and horror are there. Life and death are there. People living in harmony with one another are there, as well as people committing crimes, some of them grievous and h