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The Saviour Syndrome: Searching for Hope and Meaning in an Age of Unbelief
Who do we look up to? Christ the Savior is no more. In the modern West, the life of the most significant figure in the history of the culture is assumed to be obsolete. What remains? Quite a lot, actually. In this groundbreaking work, acclaimed sociologist John Carroll argues that humans in the Western tradition are, by their nature, savior seeking. What he describes as a 'savior syndrome' impels humans to find someone, or some equivalent, to show the way to a better life and counter the quintessentially modern ordeal of unbelief. Drawing on literature, history, and a range of popular culture sources from the Sopranos to the Bachelorette, he demonstrates how we are constantly investing people around us—teachers, leaders, performers, athletes, even children—with exemplary or transcendent qualities that we look up to and identify with, and strike to emulate. Jesus himself may be no more, but the archetype he founded continues to resonate long after his eclipse.
288 pages, Paperback
Published April 4, 2023
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About the author
John Carroll
18 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
John Carroll is a professor of sociology at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and a fellow of the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University.
John Carroll is a professor of sociology at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and a fellow of the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 1, 2023
As usual a great and challenging read from John Carroll. The way he blends reality, art and literature while illustrating his points is amazing if not unique.
One must remember that many of the characters he uses to illustrate his points are not real but the creations of other talented human beings and hence, not real-life examples. but they can really 'get the reader in' and before long fact and ideas blend into one another and the reader tends to forget the above.
I would think that his 'id' or 'inner savior' id just another name for the soul, but I think John is not into that. Therefore, he does not have to answer the questions: "Where do we come from?" or, "What happens after our death?"
Despite the title the author does not particularly dwell on the idea of "hope" which is a very Christian idea. I believe that our society has lost 'hope' and that is why suicide has become quite common especially with the young.
The other point I would make is that Christianity still exists in the post-Christian west in quite large numbers in some places in spite of society's great push to obliterate it.
If the post-Christian Western society really acts in this way, then john Carroll's "LAW" really does not exist except through old traditions. The society would be more likely to be the "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die" one and sadly this way of living does exist in the Western World as I observe by the morals -free behavior we hear about in many of our citizens.
Nevertheless I found this book fascinating and will read another of John's challenging books soon.
One must remember that many of the characters he uses to illustrate his points are not real but the creations of other talented human beings and hence, not real-life examples. but they can really 'get the reader in' and before long fact and ideas blend into one another and the reader tends to forget the above.
I would think that his 'id' or 'inner savior' id just another name for the soul, but I think John is not into that. Therefore, he does not have to answer the questions: "Where do we come from?" or, "What happens after our death?"
Despite the title the author does not particularly dwell on the idea of "hope" which is a very Christian idea. I believe that our society has lost 'hope' and that is why suicide has become quite common especially with the young.
The other point I would make is that Christianity still exists in the post-Christian west in quite large numbers in some places in spite of society's great push to obliterate it.
If the post-Christian Western society really acts in this way, then john Carroll's "LAW" really does not exist except through old traditions. The society would be more likely to be the "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die" one and sadly this way of living does exist in the Western World as I observe by the morals -free behavior we hear about in many of our citizens.
Nevertheless I found this book fascinating and will read another of John's challenging books soon.
June 8, 2023
Everything John Carroll writes - books, essays, articles - is worth reading. This book lost is “mojo” for me at times, but some passages and chapters were pretty remarkable and Carroll deserves great credit for his take on our condition with a higher power to believe in etc. I loved his take on Gatsby.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews