Hellfire and Lightning Rods

Renowned philosopher Frederick Ferre invites us to contemplate a new world to be constructed out of the debris of modernity. Hellfire and Lightning Rods displays a vision in which the dichotomies between religion, philosophy, science, and technology can be seen as too-narrow construals of a single, but polyvalent, organic world. Ferre wisely notes that the conceptual worlds of premodern animism, modern "e;scientism,"e; and biblical orthodoxy have major internal flaws and create immense practical problems. Yet, while they are largely unconvincing to persons who see the need for "e;postmodern"e; approaches, a successor to these views is nowhere near universally accepted. In that context, Ferre suggests that an important interim worldview that he calls "e;multi-mythic organicism"e; will help humanity recover spiritual dimensions now lacking.