Dancing with the Sacred: Evolution, Ecology, And God

by Karl E. Peters

Karl Peters, culminating a lifetime of leadership in the science and religion dialogue, offers a rare combination of both theory and practice, the learned and the existential. Here is an exemplary role model of participating in the creative process -- what Peters metaphorically calls 'dancing with the sacred.' -- Holmes Rolston, University Distinguished Professor, Colorado State University

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to a degree, but it also seemed a bit too brief and unfocussed. It would have helped if Peters had gone into more detail overall, because as much as I like to indulge my short attention span, the chapters were perhaps too short and always seemed to end just as things were getting interesting.
The book reads like an intro text to a kind of religious naturalist worldview (with some Taoism thrown in), though I can't remember if the words "religious naturalism" were actually used. The index page says no. But, and correct me if I'm wrong, that basically seems to be what Peters is advocating. If you are quite new to the idea of religious naturalism and wanted to learn more then I guess I would recommend it. If you are an ex-Christian flapping around and looking for a landing point, then I would recommend it even more because that is apparently Peter's previous position and he discusses things from a Christian perspective quite a bit.
Otherwise? Ehh. Like, I liked a lot of his points but I didn't really learn anything new. I'm sure if you're a religious naturalist you will probably get a lot more out of it than I did.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only thing I don't like about this book is Peters' use of religious language—everything else about it is great. Of course, that is the whole point of the book—exploring what it means to be "religious" while also being a naturalist. Peters describes his personal life-stance as "naturalistic theism" (p.vii), with "god" being defined as the natural creative processes of the cosmos. While I like what he says about science, naturalism and finding meaning in life, I do not personally like his use of religious language because it has the potential of causing too much misunderstanding. This of course is simply my personal opinion, and no one else is required to agree with it.

Recently, I re-read this book: "Dancing with the Sacred: Evolution, Ecology, and God," by Karl E. Peters. Despite the fact that Peters likes to use the “god” word, this book is about his understanding and identification of the natural creative processes of nature as the equivalent of God. This book is still one of my favorites because it is one of the most profound books I have ever read.

Death is a subject that most people do not want to think about, but as I get older, I realize that death is inevitable—it cannot be avoided. In Chapter 15 titled “From Life to Love,” Peters explains that death is a necessary part of the processes of life; death makes room for new life to be born and to have a chance to flourish. “Things have to die so that new things can be born.” (page 115). “Death opens up new possibilities for life. Death contributes to making all things new.” (page 116). “I would not wish suffering and death on anyone. But the universe seems to be so constituted that one cannot separate creation from destruction, pleasure from pain, joy from sorrow. In the midst of destruction new seeds of existence are being sown.” (page 118). When death is understood in this manner, the “circle of life” is not as difficult to accept as a natural aspect of the universe.