36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein book review. Early on, when he was still under Klapper’s spell and dating Roz, a budding “warrior anthropologist,” Seltzer let her accompany him on a visit to New Walden. The Cosmological Argument. Wealth, fame and job security are his; now all he needs is love. 3.0 out of 5 stars Product delivered as advertised. Yet Azarya knows that New Walden’s survival depends on him. The Argument from Irreducible Complexity C. The Argument from the Paucity of Benign Mutations D. The Argument from the Original Replicator 4. This faith-fed food fight leads him to break with Klapper and dig his own rut as a psychology of religion professor at Frankfurter, where he is ignored by the faculty for more than a decade. The Argument from Design A. Review: 36 Arguments for the Existence of God, by Rebecca Goldstein. Review written by David Rosman. This novel takes the reader straight to the heart of one of the major debates of the present day, the clash between faith and reason. The novel's answer to God's absence? "—The Jerusalem Report Published February 19, 2010 . Why is that something to perpetuate?” You might as well ask why serve cholent and kugel on the Sabbath. The arguments have names such as The Argument from the Big Bang, The Argument from Survival After Death, The Argument from Suffering. There is the old world Rabbi who is surprisingly up to date; a prodigy who, like "The Chosen"'s Danny Saunders, strains to discover the real world. We made it easy for you to exercise your right to vote. If I can be granted the license to end with a rabbinic flourish the book itself would frown upon, I would say this work is evidence of the gifted novelist's ability to create world in imitation of the Author of all. Rebecca Goldstein's "36 Arguments for the Existence of God" recalls this admonition. They are mostly straw men. Her book is … 36 Arguments For the Existence of God: A Hard Work of Fiction This here is one of them there smart folk books. But there are a great many of them, and this … From the author of The Mind-Body Problem: a witty and intoxicating novel of ideas that plunges into the great debate between faith and reason. The Argument from the Big Bang 5. The 36 arguments Seltzer believes he has refuted so decisively include the traditional ones proposed and debated by philosophers for centuries, as well as more contemporary arguments such as the Argument from the Hard Problem of Consciousness, the Argument from Mathematical Reality, and the Argument from Pragmatism. 3. Her point of view — personal, intellectual, Jewish and gendered — flavored his. His book is structured around refutations of the 36 arguments for God. Rebecca Goldstein. Published February 19, 2010 Updated February 19, 2010 . By Rebecca Goldstein Atlantic, £12.99. The first lesson I learned from my wise Talmud teacher was that if the text offers you multiple arguments for a conclusion, it is because no one argument is sufficient. Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Arguments for the Existence of God. The Classical Teleological Argument B. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: Review of 36 Arguments for the Existence of God by Rebecca Goldstein, plus back-story and other interesting facts about the book. ©2021 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Cass' love interests all have an element of extravagance, from the early love of the poet Pascale ("I must of necessity break your heart") to the chilly, beautiful academic star Lucinda, to the anthropologist Roz, a near caricature of the large hearted woman who embraces everything from savage tribes to befuddled men. He is evidently a caricature of Harold Bloom or someone uncannily like him. The Cosmological Argument 2. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction by Rebecca Goldstein (2011-02-01) at Amazon.com. Despite the arguments that are tacked on to the back, it is more pageant of life than polemic. In “36 Arguments for the Existence of God,” Goldstein shows that philosophers and scholars may construct as many proofs or disproofs of divinity as they like. Click to read the full review of 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction in New York Journal of Books. The Ontological Argument 3. "36 Arguments for the Existence of God" is an intriguingly structured work, tricky but also very traditional; a book that tries to make a serious argument but also tells a captivating story. W ith atheism fashionable and religious fundamentalism on the rise, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God gently mocks the delusions of both the godly and the godless. Review: 36 Arguments for the existence of God. As the boy grows up, Seltzer wishes he’d been chosen by M.I.T alone, not by God. 36 triumphs in a whole bunch of literary subgenres…. In her splendid 1995 novel “Mazel,” she enfolded the stories of a Jewish grandmother, daughter and granddaughter with different attitudes toward Old World tradition (it’s the grandma who’s the free spirit). But despite the suspicion of religious enthusiasm that threads through the book I found myself reading at first with attention and then with joy. The book is Cass Seltzer's story. 36 triumphs in a whole bunch of literary subgenres....[It is] a novel whose manifold delights can only be hinted at in a review. These preoccupations recur throughout her work. All the same, the stitches that join Goldstein’s men, women and themes show more in this novel than they do in her others. Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is the author of the novel, Mind Body Problem. 01 Mar 2010. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein Diane Leach. I have read several of Rebecca Goldstein's works in the past, and I confess I expected more warmth toward religious life. Now almost 60, Goldstein remains fascinated by the codes and beliefs she absorbed in her Orthodox girlhood and continues to transmit her defiance and doubts to her characters. This is the novel as scythe; an attempt to raze the arguments that have been raised for God, but also to show a certain hollowness and even craziness at the heart of religious life. The Argument from the Big Bang 5. Nothing can be the cause of itself. But in the wake of Sept. 11, as “religion as a phenomenon” emerges in the public imagination, Setlzer writes a book that shows “how irrelevant the belief in God can be to religious experience.” He calls the book “The Varieties of Religious Illusion,” a nod to William James’s “Varieties of Religious Experience.” Lanky and boyish at 42, he earns a spot on the best-seller list, a starring role in a Time cover story on “The New Atheists” and an offer from Harvard. Thoughtful, witty, and – I cannot stress enough – really entertaining, “36 Arguments” is part campus comedy, part romantic farce, part philosophical treatise. Tap here to turn on desktop notifications to get the news sent straight to you. appendix: 36 arguments for the existence of god 1. "36 Arguments for the Existence of God---A Work of Fiction" is a brilliant and entertaining novel. The Argument from Irreducible Complexity C. The Argument from the Paucity of Benign Mutations D. The Argument from the Original Replicator 4. Seltzer’s best seller (like Goldstein’s novel) comes with an appendix that lists and refutes 36 arguments for the existence of God, “formally constructed in the preferred analytic style.” In that appendix, Seltzer conducts the exercise that William James called “the darling dream of philosophic dogmatists”: devising reliable “tests for truth” about the nature of God and the universe. "the argument from Strange Laughter or the Argument from Fraught Distance") as though 18th century novelistic conventions were grafted onto modern seminars in epistemology. Goldstein: satirical and cerebral . Appendix: 36 ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. 2. Discussion Questions 1. --The Globe and Mail (Toronto) The best Jewish woman writing in America today....Her latest, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God is flat out the most gratifying novel--woman's, Jewish, American, whatever--this reviewer has read in many a long reading season. These pages serve as an atheist's mini-handbook. 4. Fri 9 Apr 2010 19.06 EDT First published on … 36 Arguments for the Existence of God By Rebecca Newberger Goldstein Pantheon/Random House 402 pp. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. But to people of faith such questions remain as inarguable as the persistence of kugel. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God is one of her most popular works. Yet, in the philosopher-novelist Rebecca Newberger Goldstein’s latest work of fiction, “36 Arguments for the Existence of God,” the rotund and orotund Jonas Elijah Klapper, the “Extreme Distinguished Professor of Faith, Literature and Values” at Frankfurter University (think of Brandeis), proposes the traditional Jewish Sabbath meal of cholent (bean and potato stew) and kugel (pudding) to his overawed grad student, Cass Seltzer, as a worthy dissertation topic. 36 arguments for the existence of God : a work of fiction by Goldstein, Rebecca, 1950-Publication date 2010 Topics Faith and reason Publisher New York : Pantheon Books Collection inlibrary; printdisabled; internetarchivebooks; china Digitizing sponsor Internet Archive Contributor Internet Archive Language English. Review of the 36 Arguments for the Existence of God - # 1: Pastor Jennifer v2: 2/23/12 5:34 AM: Well since this site has fallen into limbo I thought I'd do the eulogy by beginning with an explication of argument number one. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God plunges into the great debate of our day: the clash between faith and reason. 1. . Book Review: 36 Arguments for the Existence of God November 18, 2009 Adam Lee Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! 36 Arguments for the Existence of God reader reviews and comments, and links to write your own review (Page 1 of 1). Yet even here he is being theologically teased, in this case by his author. Each of the chapters has an 'argument' title (e.g. On the flip side the single defender of theism in the book is a flinty, arrogant academic, and the one 'convert' to faith is downright nuts. But the lay reader need not quail; Goldstein’s lofty psycho-religio-philosophical subtext, or rather metatext, doesn’t gray her roman à clef about love, Jewish cultural identity and academic infighting. Cass … This is a charming story, deftly told, crackling with intelligence. God is the only thing that is outside of the … These include the Cosmological Argument (God must exist because everything that exists must have a cause), the Argument from Design (beautifully designed things must have a designer), and the Argument from the Beauty of Physical Laws (the laws of nature are intrinsically beautiful). It is after this memorable meal that Klapper orders his disciple to explore “God’s indwelling immanence” through the “intriguing mystery of the kugel.” Seltzer balks. See how this article appeared when it was originally published on NYTimes.com. Love is "the splendor that's still there after the disenchantment of the world." Review written by David Rosman. Seltzer’s rebellions — rejecting Orthodox Judaism, shrugging off the influence of a controlling mentor, and coming up with a theory for the meaning of life and love that excludes supernatural agency — mirror Goldstein’s own. 6. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God plunges into the great debate of our day: the clash between faith and reason. It’s still January, but 36 Arguments for the Existence of God by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is without a doubt the funniest work of existential philosophy you’ll read all year. All the arguments are appended to the book. On purely intellectual grounds the skeptics would seem to have everything on their side. Review of the 36 Arguments for the Existence of God - # 1 Showing 1-20 of 20 messages. On purely intellectual grounds the skeptics would seem to have everything on their side. His book has dismantled 36 famous arguments that have commonly been put forward to prove God’s existence. The Classical Teleological Argument B. This satire on academia and religion is crippled by its need to show how clever it … 27, the Argument From the Upward Curve of History, which begins “There is an upward moral curve to human history” and ends “God exists.” Here, Seltzer strangely fails to avail himself of the most obvious refutation: If there’s an upward moral curve to human history, how do we explain the emergence of reality TV? . I stress that, above all, "36 Arguments" is a story and not a disguised tutorial on the existence vel non of God. Today is National Voter Registration Day! Goldstein’s choice of the number 36 is … “The tzaddikim, or righteous ones, proclaimed that there are profound matters enfolded in the kugel.”, Klapper, a “Jewish walrus in a shabby tweed jacket” and the author of “The Perversity of Persuasion,” among other masterpieces, is given to staring upward as he orates, letting “the riches of his prodigious memory” spill forth. To Roz, the massive synagogue looked “like a Costco that had found God.” Seeing the Valdener womenfolk scurry through sex-segregated streets, Roz felt “pique over the Hasidic attitude toward women.” Nonetheless, when she and Seltzer met Azarya, the golden-tressed boy slated to be the next Valdener rebbe, they felt themselves in the presence of a genius whose existence lay “outside of natural psychological processes” — itself a proof of God (the 28th in Seltzer’s appendix). 36 Arguments for the Existence of God by Rebecca Goldstein: review. Everything that exists must have a cause. So watch out, he said -ten weak arguments are still weaker than one strong one. Goldstein doesn't push the reader to accept or deny God’s existence… So the pleasures to be found in “36 Arguments for the Existence of God” are scattershot. Steven Pinker interviews Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of 36 ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. Part of HuffPost Entertainment. He has written a book called "The Varieties of Religious Illusion". Imagine, if you can, a novel that imbues pot roast, green beans and scalloped potatoes with Gnostic import — not just evoking the aroma of Sundays past, with their “old orderliness, aloof from all disruption,” as in Marilynne Robinson’s last novel, “Home,” but embodying specific doctrinal precepts and divine mysteries. In her 1983 novel “The Mind-Body Problem,” she wrote of a dishy lapsed Modern Orthodox Jewish philosophy student who ditched faith for scholarship, then tried to acquire genius by marrying one. Verified Purchase . For instance, why has Seltzer’s ex-girlfriend Roz popped up at Frankfurter all of a sudden? “The Valdeners are a different story.” Seltzer presses him: “Why should the Valdeners continue with their superstitions and their insularity and their stubborn refusal to learn anything from outside? Click to read the full review of 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction in New York Journal of Books. Review: 36 Arguments for the Existence of God, by Rebecca Goldstein. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God A Work of Fiction. She trivializes the cosmological argument and also the even more dubious a priori ontological arguments and the refutations are more often than not silly. Ultimately "36 Arguments for God" is a primer on living in a world bereft of a loving, benevolent intelligence superintending our lives. He comes up with a probability chart to help him guess. She left the village and raised her family in a non-kosher, non-Sabbath-observing home, but Klapper persuades Seltzer to rekindle his Valdener ties and wrangle an invitation to a members-only feast at the rebbe’s table. Nietzsche's madman may not run through the streets proclaiming God's death; now it is done more causally, in seminar rooms and coffee shops. the argument from design), The Moral Argument, and The Argument from Religious Experience. She sews her philosophical inquiry to the material of everyday life. His ex-wife, a cruel, “lupine” French poet, left him for a one-legged neurologist, and his new girlfriend, Lucinda, a brittle, competitive game theorist, is out of town. “There’s no way I’m writing a dissertation on the hermeneutics of potato kugel,” he protests. that in a million years nothing that happens now will matter”) to Premise 8 (“God exists”). 1. The protagonist, Cass Seltzer, is a psychology professor who specializes in debunking religious beliefs and traditions. [It is] a novel whose manifold delights can only be hinted at in a review. To taste their rigor, sample No. If you need so much, as my Talmud teacher might say, you haven't got a lot. He is also, Seltzer regretfully concludes, “going off the deep end.”. In the appendix, 36 arguments for the existence of God are presented in order to be refuted. "—The Jerusalem Report There are, however, two preliminary issues to be dealt … The argument is supported by the cast: the characters crafted to capture the reader's heart include a man whose central achievement is a book arguing against the existence of God and a prodigal child whose life threatens to be hemmed in by the Hasidic sect into which he is born. Some of the characters feel familiar. [It is] a novel whose manifold delights can only be hinted at in a review. Mergitur. The chronology floats back and forth across two decades according to no particular scheme; some characters are less developed than others; and the insertion of e-mail correspondence and inside jokes can strike the reader as unhelpfully random. Reviewed by Mark Kingwell . Tackling that topic is a tall order to fill, and Goldstein gives it a good,although not entirely successful try. World events are being shaped by fervent believers at home and abroad, while a new atheism is asserting itself in the public sphere. The unsympathetic portrait of religion, in other words, is overridden by the novelist's warmth toward her characters. For all those who think you can't tell a book by its cover, I offer 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction as Exhibit 1 against the proposition. Curiously, for a novel that asserts the irrelevance of God, the unifying thread that knots all the pieces together, however loosely, is Orthodox Judaism. And he’s not kidding. “All of the dishes have kabbalist significance,” he tells Seltzer. Lewis Jones gets to grips with 36 Arguments for the Existence of God by … By parading the many arguments that have been offered, the novelist subtly proffers a critique of faith. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God is brimming with richly realized characters, brimming with ideas, brimming with life. Author and Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapter. Yet people refuse to accept their seemingly irrefutable arguments and … 36 Arguments for the Existence of God by Rebecca Goldstein Steven Poole sits through a series of lectures Steven Poole. The arguments themselves are arranged under the following headings: Pascal’s Wager, The Ontological Argument, The Cosmological Argument (including the first cause argument), The Teleological Argument(i.e. Seltzer dismisses this argument as “the fallacy of wishful thinking.” Or consider No. And as such, in order to enjoy it, you have to really enjoy weeding your way through smart folk stuff, like mazes of logical proofs, esoteric Jewish mysticism, faith vs. reason debates, and metaphysical philosophy. Published February 19, 2010 Updated February 19, 2010 . The universe cannot be the cause of itself (from 3). "36 Arguments for the Existence of God" is an intriguingly structured work, tricky but also very traditional; a book that tries to make a serious argument but also tells a captivating story. 4.4 • 7 Ratings; $13.99; $13.99; Publisher Description. Some of the most gripping parts of this book are the mathematical asides and the fabulous chart in which Cass tries to figure out who should say "I love you" first in order to extract maximum benefit from the exchange. The book is more playful than hectoring. The Argument from the Fine … Reviewed in Canada on August 23, 2019. “Human understanding will continue without Azarya Sheiner,” he tells Seltzer. The Cosmological Argument 2. World events are being shaped by fervent believers at home and abroad, while a new atheism is asserting itself in the public sphere. Published February 19, 2010 . Named for the town of Valden, in Hungary, New Walden happens to be the place where Seltzer’s mother grew up. Even in her nonfiction, like “Betraying Spinoza” (2006), a study of the famous philosopher who was ejected from Amsterdam’s Jewish community for his heretical views, she merged her personal history with her idol’s. Reason recoils. In each we see a particular kind of mind at work, a novelist nurtured on philosophy. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God (Goldstein) Article Index; Summary: Author Bio: Book Reviews: Discussion Questions: Full Version: Print: Page 4 of 4 . So you would think that a rabbi like me who writes in defense of faith would have flung the book across the room in fury. Goldstein draws a considerable amount of wit and some fascinating interactions from all of them. (Goldstein His proudest achievement is his book, The Varieties of Religious Illusion , in which he argues that all religions are manifestations of the illusion that God exists. appendix: 36 arguments for the existence of god 1. Book Review: 36 Arguments for the Existence of God November 18, 2009 Adam Lee. The Ontological Argument 3. In “36 Arguments for the Existence of God,” Goldstein shows that philosophers and scholars may construct as many proofs or disproofs of divinity as they like. But there are a great many of them, and this novel’s bracing intellectual energy never flags.
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