Ok...maybe I should not write a review since I couldn't finish. It was awful...plodding, discombobulated...very poorly written...I was asked to review this for the library cart at the local detention center....The "Christian" library cart. If someone with a master's degree has difficulty having any interest on any level with this very poorly written book, I would never think that an inmate who is looking for inspiration , information or even escape find anything of interest.He is basically sayin...

Huston Smith was a brilliant thinker on religious topics. His honesty and piercing insights help you see that what has become a tired topic for many deserves not only a second look but a central place in our collective psyche. I left Evangelical Christianity over a decade ago because of the peer pressure to conform in behavior and political belief. While I haven't missed going to church, I have missed the feeling of a close connection to the transcendent. Smith helped me understand what I had lo...

This book joins my very short list of books I "Quit-Before-Finishing." I got to about 40%. It's very dry and academic, not at all the type of pop science or pop culture books that I favor. Smith's writing style also turned me off. Full of digressions and asides, and so many "I" statements, "I'll get to that later," "I've defined this as such-and-such." I'd prefer to just learn about something without having his constant opinions injected (though I realize this is part of what many readers like a...

Some very interesting points about the importance of religion or, at least, transcendence. True to its title, the book tries to explain why religion is relevant particularly in the current materialistic age. However, some of the claims about the science are dubious. Nevertheless the point seems quite clear, which isn't, in my opinion, a attack on science etc... rather a reminder that rationality and its product, science, cannot alone serve as a reason for us to exist.

Huston Smith's 2001 book still addresses with relevance the question of "why religion matters." Identifying valuable aspects to religious, scientific, and postmodern worldviews, he notes also deficiencies and defines what he thinks the salient difference is that makes religion indispensable. Huston believed that science also mattered, and discusses how its value must be recognized while not being overstated.

Well written, certainly covers every aspect of the subject one might consider, but I would have preferred 150 pages. Some chapters I will find useful; others might serve as reference material. Lots of literary references and interesting stories but, as Franklin said, "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."

This was a difficult book for me to get through as philosophy is not my strong suit. But, I learned a tremendous amount from this book and it definitely left me with lessons that I will not soon forget. It is a book I am sure I will reference back to many times in the future.

Provides an excellent summary of the current climate of Scientism by using the analogy of a tunnel - it’s roof, floor and two sides to represent the scientific hierarchy, law, higher education and media. The second part is more of a mixed bag and the attempt at a perennial viewpoint is far from convincing but he comes at it with the right spirit.

No one would question how influential Huston Smith was (he died in December, 2016) in the study of world religions. His book on the subject has sold over 2 million copies since it was first published in 1958. In 2000 he wrote his apologia for religion in the face of the growing post-modern position that faith is no longer necessary in the age of enlightenment. He is a skilled writer, and his prose is certainly accessible, even entertaining. In Why Religion Matters, Smith lays out his case for wh...

I believe there may have been a time when the world changed at a much slower pace -- when information was something that could be consumed slowly --- savored --- mulled over ---(maybe in the middle ages) but now the world changes in exponential ways and it is helpful to have someone of Smith's stature offer insight into how our post modern world organizes data.His approach is very mid-century in its reliance on analytical thought, but at the same time he doesn't deny the mystical glimpses of a w...

With Why Religion Matters Huston Smith, a lifelong eminent scholar of religion issues a manifesto for the continuing relevance of traditional religious beliefs, arguing that the broad outlines of traditional religious worldviews are superior to the worldview of scientism, which has become modernity's reigning dogma. Both confirmed secular humanists and and religious fundamentalists especially should read this book, as it harbors surprises for both. Smith punctures the shibboleths of each of thes...

Interesting reading but I wasn't totally convinced by Huston Smith's arguments. As a former scientist and current Buddhist I consider myself at the meeting point of science and religion but am not sure I want to go back to a time when religious belief had a lot of power over society. Personal religious belief can be very transformative and encourage us to be kinder and more ethical people. Religious organisations, however, often seem to produce division and conservatism.

I think Huston Smith is both a smart and wise man. His research, training, and experience make him uniquely qualified to write a book about why religion (and not just "spirituality," as he qualifies it,) still matters in our society.This isn't that book.This book's biggest problem is one of tactics.Smith's stated intention with his book is to simultaneously demonstrate the blind spots in a strictly scientific worldview and to demonstrate how religion can add value and insight. To that end, he ma...

For the most part, Why Religion Matters seemed to be a response to the western scientific worldview. Smith reveals the cracks in what he calls "Scientism"; the naturalistic notion that all things can be explained using science. Smith's argument seems to be well summarized in his quotation of Jacques Monod: "No society before ours was ever rent by contradictions so agonizing. in both primitive and classical cultures the animistic tradition saw knowledge and values stemming from the same source. f...

Me reading this book comes pretty darn close to the proverbial case of the clergyman preaching to the choir, so I'm not sure how useful my review will be. . . But I'll offer my two cents anyway.I've been tired of and disturbed by the steady drumbeat of science and technology for some time now. I admit this distaste comes from a very subjective and self-serving position of someone coming, both as a student and a teacher, from the now thoroughly unprivileged academic field of the humanities. The w...

This book discusses how the status of religion has changed throughout the history, focusing on three main periods: traditional (premodern), modern, and post modern times. Smith successfully presented his argument supported with evidence. However, for me, I feel that the book explained the second part of the title which is “the fate of human spirit in the age of disbelief” pretty well but did not answer the first part which was more important to me “why religions matter”. All in all, the book was...

I picked this up off my uncle's shelf thinking that it would be some kind of fundamentalist Christian argument for why people should be Christian. But upon seeing that it was written by Huston Smith, I decided to check it out - and it's amazing! It's more about why what we commonly think of as spirituality matters - and it addressed some fundamental conflicts that I'd been dealing with in myself. For instance, the fundamental disbelief in anything "more" than what can be proven by an empirical e...

As I was reading Why Religion Matters I thought about The Case for God by Karen Armstrong. To me both authors make a strong case that God is not dead. While Karen Armstrong refers to mostly Judeo-Christian religious artifacts and texts in history to make her case, Huston Smith tackles the issue of "Big Picture" mostly by referring to the works of various thinkers, philosophers, and scientists throughout western history.The tone of writing in Why Religion Matters may seem abrasive and dense. Howe...

This review was originally posted on my blog.Most of the book deals with things we already know yet never learn.-- Huston SmithThis is perhaps one of the most enlightening books I've ever read, and yet I feel like I've only grasped a small bit of its meaning. It is with that warning that I attempt this review.I should add at the outset that this is one of those books where no matter what you expect it to be, after reading it, you will find that it wasn't what you expected.I heartily recommend it...

Smith is an interesting fellow to read, and this book is no exception. Included are: 1. How the media, academia, scientism, and the law have given modern society tunnel vision when it comes to what really matters and what gives our lives meaning2. How liberal values like tolerance and justice are important, but modernity is too quick to forget that it is conservative values like truth and righteousness before God that get drunkards out of ditches and infuse the mundane everyday with meaning. Lib...