© 1996 Meredith Sprunger
© 1996 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
| Values: Learn Them or Lose Them | Spring 1996 — Index | Significant Books: Earth Currents by by Howard A. Snyder |
New Revised Edition
by John M. Templeton
Continuum Publishing Co. 1995, pp. 172
John Templeton is known primarily for his financial investment prowess, yet it is his reputation as a man of spirituality that has made him one of the most respected personalities of the twentieth century. He is founder of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion and has long labored to promote research in the deep links between science and religion.
In The Humble Approach Templeton emphasizes and elaborates on the basic attitudes of humility and openmindedness needed by scientists and theologians to discover new vistas of truth and reality. "Why do millions of people think theology has become obsolete, when no one thinks physics or astronomy can become obsolete? That is the subject of this book, The Humble Approach. Theology was called the queen of the sciences in ages gone by and can deserve that title again when it adopts the humble approach.” (p. 4)
We are living, Templeton observes, in “the blossoming time of man.” There is an exponential increase in knowledge and invention. If we are humble enough to become openminded searchers “more revelations about God’s universe will probably be discovered in the next century than in all the millenniums before.” (p. 11) Egotism and dogmatism are our worst enemies.
We are living, Templeton observes, in “the blossoming time of man.” There is an exponential increase in knowledge and invention. If we are humble enough to become open-minded searchers “more revelations about God’s universe will probably be discovered in the next century than in all the millenniums before.”
Some theologians, religious leaders, and lay people are frequently blind to the obstacles they themselves erect…Some do not want even to consider the possibility of a future of progressively unfolding spiritual discoveries…The humble approach to human knowledge is meant to help as a corrective to the parochialism that blocks further development in religious studies. Taking the humble approach reminds us that each person’s concept of God, the universe, even his or her own self is too limited. (p. 2)
We are in need of a new theology based on our enlarged view of the cosmos and an expanded concept of history — a theology not yet taught in the seminaries. This could serve as the basis of a “new, unprecedented religion.” (p. 32) Our view of God is much to small and we must find ways to “avoid the most common pitfall of theology: the attempt by man to put limits on God.” (p. 38) Templeton believes God is ready to give us new revelation if we will open our minds and search for it. He reprimands some clergy for unwittingly encouraging religious strife by working for political and social goals rather than purely spiritual ones.
Templeton proposes that Humility Theology initiate a new research program to discover and verify laws of the spirit (values) that are just as empirically and practically demonstrable as the laws of matter.
The main purpose of the Templeton Foundations is to encourage enthusiasm for accelerating discovery and progress in spiritual matters and in knowledge about the unlimited creative spirit. In conclusion, we don’t think we’ve really discovered what to do yet. All of this is in the embryonic stage, in the formative stage, maybe about the same stage as many sciences were two centuries ago. That’s very important to remember in the humble approach. (p. 139)
This is a stimulating book recommending an attitude toward the search for truth that theologians could well adopt. To the degree that this becomes a reality, the discovery of the Fifth Epochal Revelation may be the most important event of the twenty-first century.
| Values: Learn Them or Lose Them | Spring 1996 — Index | Significant Books: Earth Currents by by Howard A. Snyder |