The Battle for the Soul: A Comparative Analysis in an Age of Doubt

261 Pages·2011·2.467 MB·English

by  Robert Crawford (auth.)

The Battle for the Soul
Books by Robert Crawford
Can We Ever Kill?
Journey into Apartheid
Making Sense of the Study of Religion
A Portrait of the Ulster Protestants
The Saga of God Incarnate
The God/Man/World Triangle
What Is Religion?
Is God a Scientist?
A Dialogue between Science and Religion
The Battle for the Soul
A Comparative Analysis in
an Age of Doubt
Robert Crawford
THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL
Copyright © Robert Crawford, 2011.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-60944-0
All rights reserved.
First published in 2011 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-37595-0 ISBN 978-0-230-11833-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230118331
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Crawford, Robert G. (Robert George), 1927–
The battle for the soul : a comparative analysis in an age of doubt /
Robert Crawford.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Soul. 2. Resurrection. 3. Future life. 4. Religions. 5. Religion and science.
6. Science—History—21st century. 7. Technology—History—21st century.
I. Title.
BL290.C73 2011
202(cid:1).2—dc22 2010036206
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: March 2011
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of John Girvan with whom
I shared many hours of study and fellowship
during our undergraduate years.

Contents
Introduction ix
1 The Jewish Soul 1
2 The Christian Experience of the Soul 25
3 The Soul and the Development of Christian Belief 45
4 The Muslim Claim 59
5 The Hindu and the Immortal Soul 79
6 The Buddhist Denial of the Soul 97
7 The Sikh Path 121
8 The Philosopher and the Soul 139
9 Can We Avoid the Dualism of Body and Soul? 151
10 Did Darwin Kill the Soul? 165
11 After Darwin 179
12 The Darwinians 193
13 The Way Forward 207
Notes 231
Index 247

Introduction
W
hen Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus was performed
in London in 1594 it produced a shock reaction in many quar-
ters. The shock was not only because Faustus was depicted as
wanting to acquire power and the control of nature through
magic but that he was willing to sell his soul to get it.
One wonders what the reaction of the audience would be
today. Is the soul still regarded as precious? Surveys of public
opinion are not totally reliable but those carried out by the BBC
in the “Soul of Britain” series in 2000 do give an idea of the
views of many.
Respondents were asked: “Do you consider yourself solely to
be a biological organism that ceases to exist at death?” 52 per
cent replied “No,” but 31 per cent answered “Yes,” and 17 per
cent said that they did not know. Further questions revealed
a range of opinion regarding belief in the soul, God, and life
after death. Many of these respondents did not belong to any
traditional religion though they realized the importance of the
issues.1
How are we to define the soul? The dictionary states that it
is the spiritual part of a person regarded as the centre of per-
sonality, intellect, will, emotions, and believed by many to sur-
vive bodily death. It is the essential part of something; thus we
speak of “the soul of the nation,” and if we meet a person who
displays little feeling we say, “You have no soul.”
Mr. Gordon Brown, prior to his becoming Prime Minister
of Britain, promised that he would bring the soul back to the
party, which meant that he would get rid of sleaze, policy fail-
ures, and inculcate duty, honesty, hard work, family values,
and respect for others. In the event the promise was marred by
the glaring example of greed in his party and others. Misuse
of expenses resulted in loss of confidence in the leaders of the