Who Knows?: A Study of Religious Consciousness

by Raymond M. Smullyan

Is there really a God, and if so, what is God actually like? Is there an afterlife, and if so, is there such a thing as eternal punishment for unrepentant sinners, as many orthodox Christians and Muslims believe? And is it really true that our unconscious minds are connected to a higher spiritual reality, and if so, could this higher spiritual reality be the very same thing that religionists call "God"? In his latest book, Raymond M. Smullyan invites the reader to explore some beautiful and some horrible ideas related to religious and mystical thought. In Part One, Smullyan uses the writings on religion by fellow polymath Martin Gardner as the starting point for some inspired ideas about religion and belief. Part Two focuses on the doctrine of Hell and its justification, with Smullyan presenting powerful arguments on both sides of the controversy. "If God asked you to vote on the retention or abolition of Hell," he asks, "how would you vote?" Smullyan has posed this question to many believers and received some surprising answers. In the last part of his treasurable triptych, Smullyan takes up the "beautiful and inspiring" ideas of Richard Bucke and Edward Carpenter on Cosmic Consciousness. Readers will delight in Smullyan's observations on religion and in his clear-eyed
presentation of many new and startling ideas about this most wonderful product of human consciousness.

Genres: Philosophy, Religion, Nonfiction, Theology

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Raymond M. Smullyan was a logician, musician, Zen master, puzzle master, and writer.

Reviews

[Swarner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raymond Smullyan is my Logician Dumbledore. I own and read every book of his I can get my hands on. Which is well over a dozen.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually bought this book in 2013, forgot that I had it, and then realized I had it when I tried to purchase it again after reading an article about Smullyan at Wikipedia. Oh, well.... Anyway, the book is in three sections. The first section is Smullyan's thoughts on Martin Gardner's book The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener. This was the most interesting section of the book, to me. I am a Gardner fan from way back, and I'd never encountered that particular book by him (trust me, it's on my reading list now!). Smullyan jumps around from topic to topic within Garder's book, discussing the immortality of the soul, the existence of God, and Garder's fideism, which Smullyan lauds. That is, Gardner thinks it is impossible to prove the existence of God, but he chose to believe in Him, anyway. I would philosophically disagree with both Gardner and Smullyan on this--I agree with Mortimer Adler that while God's existence can't be proved with 100% certainty, it can be demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt. Still, Gardner and Smullyan make good arguments for their perspective, and I can respect that.

The second part of the book deals with universalism--the notion that all people, even the most evil, will ultimately be saved; or, alternately, that there is no eternal hell. This has been a topic of some interest to me, and I have written extensively about it at my blog. I am therefore pretty much in agreement with Smullyan, who argues in favor of universalism; but Smullyan doesn't really raise in issues with which I'm not already familiar. This section of the book would be most helpful to someone who had never studied the concept of universalism before.

The third section of the book deals with what Smullyan refers to as Cosmic Consciousness, basing his terminology largely on the writings of Richard Maurice Bucke. Cosmic Consciousness is more or less the intuitive realization of oneness with the cosmos and a concurrent elevation of one's morality and consciousness. Smullyan doesn't use the term, but it's somewhat like what Hinduism would call jivamukti or what Zen would call satori or "enlightenment". This part of the book is interesting; but I do not share the optimism of Bucke and Smullyan that the human race is evolving towards a more or less Utopian state in which everyone has Cosmic Consciousness.

On the whole, the book was worthwhile and enjoyable. Smullyan has a breezy, easygoing style that will be welcome to those who are unaccustomed to theology and philosophy. I've encountered a lot of the ideas he deals with many times before, so there wasn't much new in the book to me; but I still liked it, and I'd recommend it to all.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Raymond Smullyan. Not this book, though. Seemed like some lightly edited reflections on specific things he'd recently read.

[Richard Locke Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

another lovely book by smullyan. it would make most of us happier if we read it

[Teo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2014.11.05–2014.11.07

Contents

Smullyan R (2003) Who Knows - A Study of Religious Consciousness

Preface

1. Wherefore the Whys
• Wherefore the Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener?

2. Through Dark Clouds
• A Painful Conversation
• Soft and Hard Christianity
• Is Hard Christianity Logically Consistent?
• The Psychology of Hard Christianity
• Ultra-Hard Christianity
• Is It?
• More on Hard Christianity and Sadism
• A Curious Fact
• Two Faces of Jesus
• Why Was Jesus Sorrowful?
• A Strange Thought
• More on This
• A Thought on Calvinism
• Religion as a Consolation?
• The Fundamental Moral Question
• An Interesting Legal Question
• A Question of Semantics
• Down to Brass Tacks
• A Dialogue
• Fear and Hope
• The Key Question: How Would You Vote?
• A Dilemma Indeed!
• Collective Salvation
• Collective Salvation II
• Meeting with a Born Again Christian
• Fear and Love of God
• Retributive Ethics
• More on Retributive Ethics
• Karma
• C. S. Lewis on Hell
• A Final Word on Soft Christianity
• Luther's Defense
• The Moslem and Jewish Positions
• The Swedenborgians

3. Cosmic Consciousness
• Cosmic Consciousness

References
Index

[Sina · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you'd like to read anything rational, not rationalized, on religious consciousness, then try Smullyan's "Who Knows?" and "The Tao is Silent." and couple of his other books. "Who Knows?" is more recent and is his only book, as far as I know, that quite comprehensively deals with Cosmic Consciousness.

[Napalmlolita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sort of a proponent of retributive ethics, so I was not impressed by the author's thoughts on hell. The last chapter on cosmic consciousness was boring.