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Stories We Tell Ourselves: Making Meaning in a Meaningless Universe
Throughout history we have told ourselves stories to try and make sense of what it all our place in a small corner of one of billions of galaxies, at the end of billions of years of existence. In this new book Richard Holloway takes us on a personal, scientific and philosophical journey to explore what he believes the answers to the biggest of questions are. He examines what we know about the universe into which - without any choice in the matter - we are propelled at birth and from which we are expelled at death, the stories we have told about where we come from and the stories we tell to get through this muddling experience of life.
Thought-provoking, revelatory, compassionate and playful, Stories We Tell Ourselves is a personal reckoning with life's mysteries by one of the most important and beloved thinkers of our time.
Thought-provoking, revelatory, compassionate and playful, Stories We Tell Ourselves is a personal reckoning with life's mysteries by one of the most important and beloved thinkers of our time.
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First published August 13, 2020
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About the author
Richard Holloway
73 books144 followersRichard Holloway is a Scottish writer, broadcaster and cleric. He was the Bishop of Edinburgh from 1986 to 2000 and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church from 1992 to 2000.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
December 8, 2020
Silly Like Us
Richard Holloway is an Anglican priest and bishop. This is important to know. He epitomises a tradition of religious tolerance that extends not just to the various High and Low factions of the Episcopal Church, but also to all other religions, including militant atheism.
Some find his stance, like that of his fellow Anglican Don Cupitt or historically the similarly-minded Baruch Spinoza, to be pantheistic at best and probably merely atheism hidden in a veil of religious language. But neither he nor I could care less about the label. He is, for me, a modern mystic who does what mystics have always done, namely to call out the linguistic idolatry of true believers.
Holloway knows that everything we can say or write, the only thing we can say or write, is part of a story. Some people, like him, are interested in the ‘big story’ of which other ‘smaller’ stories may be a part. The big story may either be religious or scientific. But these two categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive. They shade onto and inspire one another.
Holloway doesn’t want to evaluate the relative merits of any of these big stories. His issue is personal and ethical: “The difficulty is in identifying the story we are actually living by.” His method for accomplishing this is to make clear to himself as well as his reader that we are all stuck in a web of linguistic interpretation. That is, all our stories are fictions. They are the product of stories and they all produce more stories. “All our stories [are fictions], particularly the ones we think aren’t stories, aren’t fictions.”
So Holloway tells some stories about himself, some fictions he might take for granted and mistake for something other than fiction. He follows Hegel in sympathetically articulating contradictory stories about ‘big things’ like God, the Cosmos, Salvation, War... and, well, Scotland. He finds himself comprehending and reacting positive to stories on both sides of every issue, while being unwilling to commit fully to either side.
This is more or less standard philosophical dialectic. The expectation is that Holloway then would search for a resolution of the conflicting stories, a synthesis, or ‘bigger story.’ But he doesn’t. Rather than tell the bigger story, he searches in his own background for the much smaller stories which have contributed to his instinctive preferences. It is our unconscious memories of events, coincidences, and accidents that shape these little stories, not any rational choice.
What Holloway is trying to undermine is not religion but faith, that pernicious state praised as a virtue ever since St. Paul defined it as such. “Our problem is that, as well as possessing a capacity for reason and reflection, we are also a highly suggestible species, prone to crazes, panics, conspiracy theories and other psychological spasms: in short, beliefs. Beliefs, like communicable diseases, are highly infectious.”
And beliefs, as the ‘substance’ of faith, are impervious to experience, either personal or factual. As Holloway says, “... faith systems are usually authoritarian in their practice and self-definition and, with one or two exceptions, they tend to believe that their own version is the perfect and final word on the subject. Most of them were formed to promote a fixed belief in an ultimate reality whose existence, though uncertain, they are never permitted to doubt.”
“Where does it come from, this notion that a form of words held in our heads can either save us or kill us? Or that a thought or theory can damn or redeem us?,” Holloway asks. I think it obviously comes from a worship of words, a confusion of literature with reality to which we all are prone. This is our Original Sin. None of us can escape it fully. But we do need desperately to substitute the virtue of humility for that of faith in order to be slightly less silly.
Richard Holloway is an Anglican priest and bishop. This is important to know. He epitomises a tradition of religious tolerance that extends not just to the various High and Low factions of the Episcopal Church, but also to all other religions, including militant atheism.
Some find his stance, like that of his fellow Anglican Don Cupitt or historically the similarly-minded Baruch Spinoza, to be pantheistic at best and probably merely atheism hidden in a veil of religious language. But neither he nor I could care less about the label. He is, for me, a modern mystic who does what mystics have always done, namely to call out the linguistic idolatry of true believers.
Holloway knows that everything we can say or write, the only thing we can say or write, is part of a story. Some people, like him, are interested in the ‘big story’ of which other ‘smaller’ stories may be a part. The big story may either be religious or scientific. But these two categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive. They shade onto and inspire one another.
Holloway doesn’t want to evaluate the relative merits of any of these big stories. His issue is personal and ethical: “The difficulty is in identifying the story we are actually living by.” His method for accomplishing this is to make clear to himself as well as his reader that we are all stuck in a web of linguistic interpretation. That is, all our stories are fictions. They are the product of stories and they all produce more stories. “All our stories [are fictions], particularly the ones we think aren’t stories, aren’t fictions.”
So Holloway tells some stories about himself, some fictions he might take for granted and mistake for something other than fiction. He follows Hegel in sympathetically articulating contradictory stories about ‘big things’ like God, the Cosmos, Salvation, War... and, well, Scotland. He finds himself comprehending and reacting positive to stories on both sides of every issue, while being unwilling to commit fully to either side.
This is more or less standard philosophical dialectic. The expectation is that Holloway then would search for a resolution of the conflicting stories, a synthesis, or ‘bigger story.’ But he doesn’t. Rather than tell the bigger story, he searches in his own background for the much smaller stories which have contributed to his instinctive preferences. It is our unconscious memories of events, coincidences, and accidents that shape these little stories, not any rational choice.
What Holloway is trying to undermine is not religion but faith, that pernicious state praised as a virtue ever since St. Paul defined it as such. “Our problem is that, as well as possessing a capacity for reason and reflection, we are also a highly suggestible species, prone to crazes, panics, conspiracy theories and other psychological spasms: in short, beliefs. Beliefs, like communicable diseases, are highly infectious.”
And beliefs, as the ‘substance’ of faith, are impervious to experience, either personal or factual. As Holloway says, “... faith systems are usually authoritarian in their practice and self-definition and, with one or two exceptions, they tend to believe that their own version is the perfect and final word on the subject. Most of them were formed to promote a fixed belief in an ultimate reality whose existence, though uncertain, they are never permitted to doubt.”
“Where does it come from, this notion that a form of words held in our heads can either save us or kill us? Or that a thought or theory can damn or redeem us?,” Holloway asks. I think it obviously comes from a worship of words, a confusion of literature with reality to which we all are prone. This is our Original Sin. None of us can escape it fully. But we do need desperately to substitute the virtue of humility for that of faith in order to be slightly less silly.
August 19, 2020
I feel very strongly that if every priest and imam, every politician and CEO, every person, read this book then the world would truly be a better place. It is devastatingly humane. Written by the former Bishop of Edinburgh, it asks the big questions life the universe and everytihng--where did we come from? where are we going? And, most vitally, how do we make meaning? How do we understand pain, suffering and redemption? It blends science, philosophy and religion and acknowledges that there is art (and human prejudice)iin all those seemingly objective forms. It's told from the POV of a man who acknowledges his own frailties and prejudices and who has seen and felt first-hand those who have 'sinned' and been 'sinned' against.
It is an amazing work of erudition and reading it moved me to tears more than once.
It is an amazing work of erudition and reading it moved me to tears more than once.
July 9, 2022
Even though we tell ourselves different stories, I respect the story Holloway tells himself, and feel quite certain that he would respect mine, as I understand none of us are in the "convincing business". And we agree that making this world a better place is about the work, not necessarily the motivator. This book is a highly recommended read for anyone who wishes to think more about the stories we tell ourselves. The author explains so well and with a compassion this world sorely needs.
July 25, 2020
As a sworn atheist, I really like Holloway’s books because he asks the difficult questions about religion and provides interpretation without suggesting what the reader should believe. His work is really accessible, and definitely makes you think.
May 14, 2025
This book was thought provoking to say the least. In “Stories We Tell Ourselves,” Richard Holloway opens with the infamous quote by Ivan in Brothers Karamazov where he challenges Alyosha on the meaning of suffering for children. While he understands why adults suffer, he cannot fathom a God who would let children suffer, and so “returns his ticket” to God and the church, choosing atheism over Christianity. While Holloway once took a similar path to Ivan, he has since come back to a unique form of Christian practice. Throughout the book, Holloway examines the stories told by the Church and about the Church, examining their merit and impact on society. I think Holloway’s strongest section was the one on suffering, and why it causes an issue for some people of faith and not for others. I feel like there’s a lot I’m still mulling over and don’t quite have a fully formed opinion of this book yet.
September 5, 2022
A good, solid and thoughtful study of how religious texts and our interpretation of them informs our view of the cultures in which we live.
For a man close in his senior years, Holloway seems to have embraced the cadence of the modern critical left, and has a rather more jaundiced view of men, modern western civilisation, and our role in history, than mine, although his analysis of how the narratives of these times informed their behaviour is very much on point.
I found the section on suffering particularly interesting. It’s something that I don’t think I’ll ever comprehend properly - God or not - it does seem to be a shame that the precious few tiny organisms in the universe should experience consciousness, only to have it accompanied by pain. The author’s conclusion - to follow Jesus, rather than obey God, and to choose the moral path as if God was not watching tied everything together perfectly.
This was like a fireside chat with a wiser companion, and I learned a lot from it.
For a man close in his senior years, Holloway seems to have embraced the cadence of the modern critical left, and has a rather more jaundiced view of men, modern western civilisation, and our role in history, than mine, although his analysis of how the narratives of these times informed their behaviour is very much on point.
I found the section on suffering particularly interesting. It’s something that I don’t think I’ll ever comprehend properly - God or not - it does seem to be a shame that the precious few tiny organisms in the universe should experience consciousness, only to have it accompanied by pain. The author’s conclusion - to follow Jesus, rather than obey God, and to choose the moral path as if God was not watching tied everything together perfectly.
This was like a fireside chat with a wiser companion, and I learned a lot from it.
March 14, 2023
I'll save you the ordeal of reading this: follow Jesus, don't believe in god, do good things not because god tells you to but because it's the right thing to do. You're better of reading Epictetus or any of the ancient Greek philosophers as they were surprisingly in agreement on virtue.
The writing is meandering and painfully repetitive. I think we can all agree that concentration camps are bad without being reminded about it in every other paragraph. I don't think anyone will be shocked by a priest not believing in God, it's pretty much the expectation in the UK.
The writing is meandering and painfully repetitive. I think we can all agree that concentration camps are bad without being reminded about it in every other paragraph. I don't think anyone will be shocked by a priest not believing in God, it's pretty much the expectation in the UK.
December 7, 2022
I had first given this enchanting book 4 stars, simply because of the last short section where the author discusses the Christian story has he understands it. For the first 4/5ths of this book it was a solid 5 stars, thought-provoking and intelligent. But, then came the last bit with a lot of talk about Jesus ... and I shuddered in spite of myself.
I myself am an ex-evangelical Christian and the bitterness of my break with the faith has left such a sour taste that any discussion however pantheistic and generous, results in my automatic distrust. However, after giving it some thought and sleeping on it, I realised that the rest of the book argues for the exact opposite of my hasty reaction. The author does NOT at any point argue that the Christian faith or story is better or truer than any other story humanity has told itself since our consciousness awoke. In fact, Holloway argues that faith in stories, faith in words, is a vast error that has led humanity to countless tragedies and genocides. He rather quotes Scruton in saying "When a system of belief starts to persecute those who do not accept it, we know - or ought to know - that it is a pseudoscience." The author decides that the benefits of religious, political and secular stories lie in their fruit: are they helpful? ‘Saving’ knowledge, he discusses, comes not from a religious doctrine or political persuasion, but from the decidedly non-mystical gnostic saviours that we see all around us today - Epi-pens. Knowing CPR. Soup Kitchens and charity. He is rather like the teachings proported to be Jesus' in this way: let the tree be known by its fruit.
I think I almost fell in love with the way he talks about 'the God he does not accept' in the first half of the book. His understanding of the human history of spirituality, Eastern, Western and Mystical, and the contexts surrounding spiritual books and their authors touched a tender spot in my heart that I had almost forgotten I had - humans grasping for understanding in a dark world, humans hoping for better than the suffering around them, human animals projecting themselves and the patterns of life they see around them onto the heavens and calling it 'God(s)'. What a rich, deep well of history to learn from. And Holloway goes beyond the dusty books and stuffy study-for-its-own-sake, he has infused this book with poetry, with depth and ultimately with a practical application for every person, atheist or not - that your actions are the only windows into what you truly believe. (Our beliefs in the religious meaning of the word, ie the stories we tell ourselves about the world around us). Can the religious among us love for its own sake, as if there were no god? Can the atheistic love as if every living thing had significance, even in a universe that feels so meaningless?
"What if the god we think we have been encountering or responding to is just ourselves, deified? ... We know we are capable of great evil, so should it be any surprise that we find that version of God, that version of ourselves, in the stories composed by the artists whose work was collected into what later readers called the Book, what we call the Bible? All that divine rage and the slaughter it provoked. All that smashing of heads against the stone ... us, deified. God, fashioned in our image... anointing our darkness.
"But we are also capable of heroic kindness and sacrificial love, so God comes in that image too. Some of the tenderest stories we have ever told ourselves have been about the god who comes to us on wounded feet... us again. God fashioned in the image of our own capacity for mercy and loving kindness."
"Remember that none of us sees things clearly, as they are; only as we are, from where we stand; our particular perspective. And that includes much we don't and probably can never know about ourselves and the unconscious forces that drive us."
So, in the end after some introspection, this book ended up with 5 stars from me. As the author emphasises, his preferred story to make meaning from the world may not be mine, and that diversity in subconscious preference is its own kaleidoscopic beauty. After all that, this book took me on a tour back through the religious-tilted parts of my brain that I had boarded up in hopes they'd wither and disappear - a tour that reminded me why those stories meant so much to me in the first place, before the Doctrine and the sin-talk and the spin from the pulpit polluted it. The stories we tell ourselves are what make us human, and it can be a beautiful story, even in this meaningless universe, if we make it beautiful.
I myself am an ex-evangelical Christian and the bitterness of my break with the faith has left such a sour taste that any discussion however pantheistic and generous, results in my automatic distrust. However, after giving it some thought and sleeping on it, I realised that the rest of the book argues for the exact opposite of my hasty reaction. The author does NOT at any point argue that the Christian faith or story is better or truer than any other story humanity has told itself since our consciousness awoke. In fact, Holloway argues that faith in stories, faith in words, is a vast error that has led humanity to countless tragedies and genocides. He rather quotes Scruton in saying "When a system of belief starts to persecute those who do not accept it, we know - or ought to know - that it is a pseudoscience." The author decides that the benefits of religious, political and secular stories lie in their fruit: are they helpful? ‘Saving’ knowledge, he discusses, comes not from a religious doctrine or political persuasion, but from the decidedly non-mystical gnostic saviours that we see all around us today - Epi-pens. Knowing CPR. Soup Kitchens and charity. He is rather like the teachings proported to be Jesus' in this way: let the tree be known by its fruit.
I think I almost fell in love with the way he talks about 'the God he does not accept' in the first half of the book. His understanding of the human history of spirituality, Eastern, Western and Mystical, and the contexts surrounding spiritual books and their authors touched a tender spot in my heart that I had almost forgotten I had - humans grasping for understanding in a dark world, humans hoping for better than the suffering around them, human animals projecting themselves and the patterns of life they see around them onto the heavens and calling it 'God(s)'. What a rich, deep well of history to learn from. And Holloway goes beyond the dusty books and stuffy study-for-its-own-sake, he has infused this book with poetry, with depth and ultimately with a practical application for every person, atheist or not - that your actions are the only windows into what you truly believe. (Our beliefs in the religious meaning of the word, ie the stories we tell ourselves about the world around us). Can the religious among us love for its own sake, as if there were no god? Can the atheistic love as if every living thing had significance, even in a universe that feels so meaningless?
"What if the god we think we have been encountering or responding to is just ourselves, deified? ... We know we are capable of great evil, so should it be any surprise that we find that version of God, that version of ourselves, in the stories composed by the artists whose work was collected into what later readers called the Book, what we call the Bible? All that divine rage and the slaughter it provoked. All that smashing of heads against the stone ... us, deified. God, fashioned in our image... anointing our darkness.
"But we are also capable of heroic kindness and sacrificial love, so God comes in that image too. Some of the tenderest stories we have ever told ourselves have been about the god who comes to us on wounded feet... us again. God fashioned in the image of our own capacity for mercy and loving kindness."
"Remember that none of us sees things clearly, as they are; only as we are, from where we stand; our particular perspective. And that includes much we don't and probably can never know about ourselves and the unconscious forces that drive us."
So, in the end after some introspection, this book ended up with 5 stars from me. As the author emphasises, his preferred story to make meaning from the world may not be mine, and that diversity in subconscious preference is its own kaleidoscopic beauty. After all that, this book took me on a tour back through the religious-tilted parts of my brain that I had boarded up in hopes they'd wither and disappear - a tour that reminded me why those stories meant so much to me in the first place, before the Doctrine and the sin-talk and the spin from the pulpit polluted it. The stories we tell ourselves are what make us human, and it can be a beautiful story, even in this meaningless universe, if we make it beautiful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2021
The book masquerades as an impartial analysis of religion and beliefs, but when you get into it, the author provides the same classic talking points that the belief in an existence of God is as credible as the belief that there is no god. He confuses personal belief with evidence and fact and uses this as the groundwork of his arguments.
I give the book two stars as it’s interesting to try to understand how the authors mind works, though ultimately the book is not groundbreaking to this discussion.
I give the book two stars as it’s interesting to try to understand how the authors mind works, though ultimately the book is not groundbreaking to this discussion.
January 14, 2022
I'm not particularly religious but it was interesting to see someone who took his faith so seriously openly ask questions surrounding some of the main events that many religions lead by. I don't think I fully understand all of his points but I think that's more my mind began wandering throughout some of the book.
I did think this was very astute - "Remember that none of us see things cleanly as they are, only as we are; from where we stand; our particular perspective and that includes much we don't and probably can never know about ourselves and the unconscious forces that drive us".
I did think this was very astute - "Remember that none of us see things cleanly as they are, only as we are; from where we stand; our particular perspective and that includes much we don't and probably can never know about ourselves and the unconscious forces that drive us".
November 11, 2021
A rare DNF for me. The writing style is quite repetitious and I didn’t feel I was being told much, despite a lot of words. I just wanted the author to get on with it, be concise and make their point, but it rambled on, making it tiring to follow. And, what facts and ideas were put forward, were not a revelation. I felt it all lacked depth and was too rudimentary for either a history book or a philosophy book aimed at adults.
October 6, 2020
Inspirational
Richard Holloway’s latest book is a ‘glass of water in the desert’ for anyone traversing the wastelands of a lifetime’s search for wisdom. Every word carries the ring of the hard-won phronesis (Aristotle’s name for practical wisdom) of someone called to compassion, but constrained by humanity’s chosen structural injustice. By the time I finished it, I felt inspired to renew my feeble efforts to live a better life.
Richard Holloway’s latest book is a ‘glass of water in the desert’ for anyone traversing the wastelands of a lifetime’s search for wisdom. Every word carries the ring of the hard-won phronesis (Aristotle’s name for practical wisdom) of someone called to compassion, but constrained by humanity’s chosen structural injustice. By the time I finished it, I felt inspired to renew my feeble efforts to live a better life.
July 25, 2020
I had just read John Yorke's book about the structure of stories 'Into the Woods' and was particularly intrigued by Chapter 22, 'Why?', which looked at some of the different theories about why we tell stories. Then Richard Holloway's book came out so I thought I'd read that. I had read Godless Morality some years ago so was familiar with his accessible style of writing and his concern for the big questions.
As the title suggests this book looks at the stories we have constructed over the millennia to help us make sense of the apparent randomness of our being and our tiny presence in the vastness of the universe. Holloway is very fair minded in his comments on the various stories but as a liberally minded chap he dislikes stories based upon alleged certainties.
I found the book fascinating. The only part of the book I didn't find so interesting was the section on mysticism, not sure why.
Despite that, a great read and highly recommended.
As the title suggests this book looks at the stories we have constructed over the millennia to help us make sense of the apparent randomness of our being and our tiny presence in the vastness of the universe. Holloway is very fair minded in his comments on the various stories but as a liberally minded chap he dislikes stories based upon alleged certainties.
I found the book fascinating. The only part of the book I didn't find so interesting was the section on mysticism, not sure why.
Despite that, a great read and highly recommended.
June 8, 2021
There were some fine moments, but overall, this had the feel of several odds and ends squeezed together, not altogether successfully, into a single narrative. Best chapters were "Apollo and Dionysus," and the last chapter, "The Story I Tell Myself." Some nice interaction with modern theology and early 20th century philosophy--not the modern French kind but Nietzsche, in particular. I would recommend his "Leaving Alexandria" as a five-star alternative.
December 3, 2021
I was led to this via Will Stor’s “The Science of Storytelling” so I was expecting something similar to that book. Instead I got a thoughtful and well written book encompassing the author’s personal beliefs alongside a potted history of theology and psychology . Not quite what I signed up for. The book probably deserves more than three stars, but I did find some of it a little bit repetitive.
May 3, 2022
I heard about this book and thought it may be interesting to read. Some people leave the church and the Christian story and long to find the answers to the big questions: Why are we here? Where did we come from? etc. Since I have left Christianity and religion I have really never had the urge to find the answers but I do enjoy reading books like these that explore the big questions in life.
Richard Holloway is the former Bishop of Edinburgh and an author of several books. Basically, the book can be summed up as the universe is full of uncertainty. While this is not a groundbreaking statement, I can definitely get agree with it. Holloway views the world through stories. Decisions we make every day are influenced by stories we have internalized throughout our lifetimes. He makes good points about how Christianity, politics, atheism, etc are all stories and can be dangerous if we follow blindly. While Holloway still considers himself a Christian he discusses many stories in the Bible and what was happening in the world when they were written. I find this very interesting. When I considered myself a Christian (from ages ~7 until I was about 22ish) I interpreted the Bible as literal. It was not until I was in my later 20s that I realized not everyone reads the Bible as a literal historic document but as a book of history with fables included. Even though he cannot buy in to the Christian story 100% Holloway concludes that he wants to believe because the good aspects of Christianity are worth working toward and one should not throw out an entire story just because it has some bad aspects, so he chooses to do so. Holloway has resigned to living a life with uncertainty, which I think is all we can do.
Richard Holloway is the former Bishop of Edinburgh and an author of several books. Basically, the book can be summed up as the universe is full of uncertainty. While this is not a groundbreaking statement, I can definitely get agree with it. Holloway views the world through stories. Decisions we make every day are influenced by stories we have internalized throughout our lifetimes. He makes good points about how Christianity, politics, atheism, etc are all stories and can be dangerous if we follow blindly. While Holloway still considers himself a Christian he discusses many stories in the Bible and what was happening in the world when they were written. I find this very interesting. When I considered myself a Christian (from ages ~7 until I was about 22ish) I interpreted the Bible as literal. It was not until I was in my later 20s that I realized not everyone reads the Bible as a literal historic document but as a book of history with fables included. Even though he cannot buy in to the Christian story 100% Holloway concludes that he wants to believe because the good aspects of Christianity are worth working toward and one should not throw out an entire story just because it has some bad aspects, so he chooses to do so. Holloway has resigned to living a life with uncertainty, which I think is all we can do.
July 1, 2025
‘Stories We Tell Ourselves’ doesn’t answer many questions, and while this might strike some as frustrating upon first read, it is a feature not a bug. In fact, it’s the very point Holloway is (very competently) attempting to make: while we might find the beliefs others live their lives by to be completely absurd, we ultimately must recognize that we are equally guilty of subjectively interpreting the world around us. We all live by the stories we tell ourselves, and we should judge these stories only when they result in unjust harm to others.
Holloway talks the talk AND walks the walk. He frames his own Christian-adjacent world view as no more than the story he chooses to live by. He engages with conflicting stories with the most open of minds. He explores the ways in which the Christian story has induced suffering in women and non believers, and criticizes the church for the way in which it interprets the story of Christ.
Reading this book will not directly help you choose which of the many possible stories you want to live your life by. I’m only just in the beginnings of looking for mine. But it will provide you with an indispensable framework with which to evaluate these stories for yourself, and it will help you emotionally connect with the people around you on a deeper level, especially when their stories conflict with yours.
Holloway talks the talk AND walks the walk. He frames his own Christian-adjacent world view as no more than the story he chooses to live by. He engages with conflicting stories with the most open of minds. He explores the ways in which the Christian story has induced suffering in women and non believers, and criticizes the church for the way in which it interprets the story of Christ.
Reading this book will not directly help you choose which of the many possible stories you want to live your life by. I’m only just in the beginnings of looking for mine. But it will provide you with an indispensable framework with which to evaluate these stories for yourself, and it will help you emotionally connect with the people around you on a deeper level, especially when their stories conflict with yours.
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December 24, 2021The philosophical concepts are introduced in straight forward terms and without too much illustratory language. The collection of stories and background ideas build up the concepts and this makes the path of the author easier to keep in mind. I did have to read it a second time, I couldn’t concentrate so well the first time.
I liked parts on the different views of the big bang and how the universe originated. I also appreciated the gradual link between this and atheism and the concept of not god and how we don’t believe in the negative form of a god (apathetic agnostic)
Some links were slightly more confusing for me, like to Joan Didion and the Marilyn Manson murders, and then the slightly drawn out it seemed link to turkeys at Christmas. I found that part disturbing and personally I find it challenging to re read about disturbing treatment of animals. I know that this happens and personally I find it distressing and mentally challenging to deal with so explicitly.
Again in some later chapters I found some more smaller biblical stories more difficult to go along with.
I liked parts on the different views of the big bang and how the universe originated. I also appreciated the gradual link between this and atheism and the concept of not god and how we don’t believe in the negative form of a god (apathetic agnostic)
Some links were slightly more confusing for me, like to Joan Didion and the Marilyn Manson murders, and then the slightly drawn out it seemed link to turkeys at Christmas. I found that part disturbing and personally I find it challenging to re read about disturbing treatment of animals. I know that this happens and personally I find it distressing and mentally challenging to deal with so explicitly.
Again in some later chapters I found some more smaller biblical stories more difficult to go along with.
January 1, 2022
This book is essentially a conversation that Richard Dawkins is having with himself, about whether there is any purpose to the universe and how there can be a God in a world with so much suffering.
These are not new themes, and there are not really any truly new ideas in Stories We Tell Ourselves. However, it is still thought-provoking: Holloway manages to condense some tricky concepts into a slim volume, and his tone is straightforward without being simplistic.
I didn’t find a great deal of value in the first section, in which Holloway sets out scientific theories about the origins of the universe: this doesn’t feel like his area of expertise. But I appreciated his gentle suggestions that it would be helpful if we all acknowledged we might be wrong in our thinking, and that actually, rather than endlessly debating whether a god exists, we might create a better world if we simply behaved as if there was a god, who expected us to be kind to one another.
A thoughtful book which will, I expect, reward a second reading.
These are not new themes, and there are not really any truly new ideas in Stories We Tell Ourselves. However, it is still thought-provoking: Holloway manages to condense some tricky concepts into a slim volume, and his tone is straightforward without being simplistic.
I didn’t find a great deal of value in the first section, in which Holloway sets out scientific theories about the origins of the universe: this doesn’t feel like his area of expertise. But I appreciated his gentle suggestions that it would be helpful if we all acknowledged we might be wrong in our thinking, and that actually, rather than endlessly debating whether a god exists, we might create a better world if we simply behaved as if there was a god, who expected us to be kind to one another.
A thoughtful book which will, I expect, reward a second reading.
February 1, 2022
Audiobook review:
Holloway writes and talks very well on the subject of belief. However, people should be cautious in following his worldview. He says towards the end that “I’m no longer in the convincing (people regarding Christianity) business” but he certainly is. His aim is to convince himself and others that his view is correct. Holloway and his ilk believe that you should “make up your own version of what it’s all about”. This is no good - we need to search earnestly for the truth and honestly test religions on their claims (“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting - it has been found difficult and left untried” - Chesterton). Holloway says “I suspect that….” quite a lot to make things fit with his claims but does not substantiate his suspicions. I believe that he has tried Christianity and found it too difficult. Although he claims to still follow Jesus after a fashion, the words of Jesus show that he would not recognise him as a follower.
I found the recording quite muffled but others with better ears may not!
Holloway writes and talks very well on the subject of belief. However, people should be cautious in following his worldview. He says towards the end that “I’m no longer in the convincing (people regarding Christianity) business” but he certainly is. His aim is to convince himself and others that his view is correct. Holloway and his ilk believe that you should “make up your own version of what it’s all about”. This is no good - we need to search earnestly for the truth and honestly test religions on their claims (“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting - it has been found difficult and left untried” - Chesterton). Holloway says “I suspect that….” quite a lot to make things fit with his claims but does not substantiate his suspicions. I believe that he has tried Christianity and found it too difficult. Although he claims to still follow Jesus after a fashion, the words of Jesus show that he would not recognise him as a follower.
I found the recording quite muffled but others with better ears may not!
Read
January 22, 2024Read this book in the worst way possible—a paragraph here, a page there, on my phone's Kindle app while waiting in line or riding the bus or generally in between things. Which makes it really hard to sink down into a text or follow its line of thought over weeks and months. But I also kind of enjoyed just taking my time with it and living with certain sections for a period. I'm not somebody who can explain their relationship to religion with a word or a sentence, but if I had to recommend a book that most closely reflects my feelings about the whole thing, this would be it. "I am not sure I do accept God, or how God has been traditionally defined or understood. That’s one prong of my dilemma. But the other is that, unlike Ivan Karamazov, I find myself unable to tear up the ticket of my membership in one of the communities that worships the God I don’t think I believe in – the Christian Church."
November 26, 2020
I just finished listening to Stories We Tell Ourselves via Audible; I've ordered the book on Amazon, but it won't be available until January 2020. I've given it a preliminary rating of 4/5 stars. While thought-provoking, Holloway's views of Christianity are not mainstream (he does profess to be a Christian at the end of the audiobook, and is himself the former Bishop of Edinburgh). For example, he refers to some sayings of Jesus matter-of-factly from the Gospel of Thomas, a second-century Gnostic text that has been declared as heretical by the church for more than 16 centuries. Even the use of "Meaningless" in the title betrays common Christian belief. I am looking forward to a closer reading once the book is available.
July 25, 2021
Brilliant examination of how humans make sense of the world and why our stories are important. Holloway’s views align closely with my own, but even so this book gave me ideas I would never have thought of otherwise. I can certainly say I’ve finished this book with an altered, and improved, perspective of life.
The stories and analysis are generally Christian-based, understandable given Holloway’s background, and I see no issue with this, given the length of the book. All the same, I’d be curious to know what he could say about the many, many other stories humanity has conceived of. To be satisfied, however, I’d need a book thousands of pages long, and I have others to read! Other Holloway to read, now I’ve discovered him.
The stories and analysis are generally Christian-based, understandable given Holloway’s background, and I see no issue with this, given the length of the book. All the same, I’d be curious to know what he could say about the many, many other stories humanity has conceived of. To be satisfied, however, I’d need a book thousands of pages long, and I have others to read! Other Holloway to read, now I’ve discovered him.
April 6, 2023
Listened to the audio book read by the author.
I confess I often fall asleep when listening to audio books. I was having trouble sleeping so decided to download a book that I thought would be fairly interesting, read in a mellifluous tone and that I could fall asleep to and not miss anything.
The author has a lovely Scottish brogue. The book is super interesting and in the end I tried to stay awake as it was so interesting. The book had to be returned to the library and I tried to renew it, but darn it, someone else has downloaded it, so I will have to wait.
Due to falling asleep during it I missed quite a bit, but I want to hear it, so I will definitely down load it again to listen to.
I confess I often fall asleep when listening to audio books. I was having trouble sleeping so decided to download a book that I thought would be fairly interesting, read in a mellifluous tone and that I could fall asleep to and not miss anything.
The author has a lovely Scottish brogue. The book is super interesting and in the end I tried to stay awake as it was so interesting. The book had to be returned to the library and I tried to renew it, but darn it, someone else has downloaded it, so I will have to wait.
Due to falling asleep during it I missed quite a bit, but I want to hear it, so I will definitely down load it again to listen to.
March 14, 2025
Some really good sections, some chapters I had to do over and over to take in.
Perhaps the overall path of the book isnt as clear as I'd like it to be, it touches on science, magic mushrooms, greek gods, litrature, history, religion, not really in a super clear order for me, and the lack of clear chapter headings doesn't help. I guess what I'm saying is there are tweaks the editor could make to help ASD people follow it easier.
My favorate chapters were on the philosopy of original sin, the fall, and atonement theology.
Like many of Holloway's books, its philosophy heavy, I'm personally not massive on philosophy, so thats just a personal interterest thing.
Perhaps the overall path of the book isnt as clear as I'd like it to be, it touches on science, magic mushrooms, greek gods, litrature, history, religion, not really in a super clear order for me, and the lack of clear chapter headings doesn't help. I guess what I'm saying is there are tweaks the editor could make to help ASD people follow it easier.
My favorate chapters were on the philosopy of original sin, the fall, and atonement theology.
Like many of Holloway's books, its philosophy heavy, I'm personally not massive on philosophy, so thats just a personal interterest thing.
September 22, 2021
Listened to the audio version and probably wasn’t the ideal book for listening to rather than reading. A good few challenging concepts that would benefit from an immediate re-read in a paper copy. Loved his Scottish accent though.
As to the content I did find the quotes from many different sources often too lengthy and distracted me from hearing Holloway’s own story. The chapter on original sin was very insightful and put our current version of misogyny and patriarchy in context. I admire his objective and non judgemental attitude to the different paths people follow.
As to the content I did find the quotes from many different sources often too lengthy and distracted me from hearing Holloway’s own story. The chapter on original sin was very insightful and put our current version of misogyny and patriarchy in context. I admire his objective and non judgemental attitude to the different paths people follow.
March 15, 2023
This was a rather awkward and silly experience; a professed Anglican priest telling me in 200 pages there really is no godhead, biblical cosmology has been surpassed by science, all the while chastising his own religion for the endless oppression and maltreatment of women, the slaughtering of non- and other-believers and the systematic abuse of children. Exploring the narrative structure of the meaning of one's existence could make for a good read, but I keep wondering what sensible meaning could be found in the story Richard Holloway keeps telling himself.
April 18, 2022
I found the title to be misleading. This is mostly about one great story that we are being told: the Bible. (Yeah okay, there are several stories in there). It all comes back to Christian belief and it didn't say anything about this on the book. I didn't know the author was some Christian authority. I thought this would be about ubiquitous narratives. It is well written and full of interesting thoughts but had I known it was so closely knit to the Bible I wouldn't have picked it.
June 12, 2022
As a fellow ex-evangelical Christian, I have struggled not to find my path of how I want to live out my life and affect the world around me for the better, but to confront the religion I was taught as a child and believed through my youth. I have never wanted to wholly throw the more pure ideas and feelings away, and Richard Holloway presents a way that allows for a compromise. A way that I can actually still grow and learn from my past and use it for what it was.
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