No matter how many falsehoods the theist has spread about agnosticism, it has survived quite well over the decades and is a theology to be reckoned with. An international poll of most western countries taken in the early 90's, asked people their religion. 17% wrote agnostic. How many millions of acknowledged agnostics are there in the US alone? No one knows for sure. In addition, how many more Americans lean towards agnosticism and don't realize it? Millions more probably.
This book has been written to give a better understanding of both the agnostic and contemporary agnostic theologies. The theistic religion most discussed is Christianity. This is not because Christianity is better than other religions but because (1) agnosticism was developed in response to orthodox Christianity, (2) the theology of agnosticism is most prevalent in Christian dominated cultures and (3) because Jesus was not only a great teacher but the religious visionary western civilization is most familiar with.
Reference information on Christianity will be provided to help us better understand how and why contemporary agnosticism and its grandfather, agnosticism, developed. We'll gain a better understanding of contemporary agnostic principles by discussing this theology's position on key religious doctrines such as the fear of God, the apocalypse, life after death and prayer. To aid in this process, the reader is encouraged to take advantage of the glossary and several appendixes in the back.
This publication will use the power of knowledge and history to explore theology. Facts generally are presented from the standpoint of science and history rather than from the standpoint of faith. This book won't spend a great deal of time with drawn out essays. Instead, one point will be clarified concisely so the reader can move on to another. In this publication, the "Jesus of faith," which for so many centuries was unquestioned, will give way to the more likely "Jesus of history." We'll utilize a perspective of Jesus that has been intensely scrutinized by scientific and historically oriented research methods. In doing so, we hope to provide a better understanding of what this wondrous sage and visionary had to offer mankind.
This more scrutinized perspective of the life and teachings of Jesus began emerging in 1906 when Nobel Prize winner Albert Schweitzer (also known as a great doctor and humanitarian) wrote "Quest Of The Historical Jesus." Research on the subject of a historically more accurate Jesus has dramatically increased in the last 30 years. As well as being called "the Jesus of history," this perspective is also referred to as "the historically more accurate Jesus," and "the historical Jesus." More than 100 biblical scholars, researchers and professor participated in this scientific research. Almost all of these scholars have P. h Ds. or the theological equivalent. What they found was a better understanding of the founding prophet of Christianity and what this man of great wisdom said.