Professor Miroslav Volf of Yale University continues his important explorations into the political and public theology with his 2015 title, Flourishing. Its subtitle reveals the focus of the essay, namely Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World. His basic thesis is bold and highly contested in the secular and pluralistic culture of ours: ‘far from being a plague on humanity, as many believe and some experience, religions are carriers of compelling visions of flourishing’ (p. xi). In other words, he is arguing that – rightly understood – we need ‘more’ rather than ‘less’ of religion for the goal of human flourishing to materialise, an argument directly in conflict with not only new atheism but also the (in)famous ‘secularisation thesis’.
A highly innovative feature of the book is that while locating himself deeply in Christian tradition, Volf announces to make a sincere effort to tap into the resources of other living faiths. He does that respectfully and in the spirit of hospitality in that he is not claiming to speak on behalf of other traditions, though. Furthermore, as he has been doing increasingly in recent years, not only are theological, biblical and philosophical resources employed; there are also important contributions from sociology, political sciences, economy and related fields.
A leading argument of the book concerns the mutual relationship between globalisation and religion. Contesting the standard view according to which globalisation helps defeat the power of religion on the way to a secular society, he rather argues that religion indeed has contributed to the current rise of globalisation and that globalisation ‘needs world religions to deliver it from its shadows’. How so? He boldly argues that religions ‘can situate the pursuit of life that goes well into a more encompassing account of flourishing life in which life being led well has primacy over life going well and life feeling good’ (p. 55). Furthermore, Volf claims that religions may help gain a realistic assessment of globalisation, both of its liabilities and gains to humanity. Religions and globalisation are far from enemies; they rather interact and are deeply intertwined with each other. With this and related arguments, the book also goes against the standard complaint against religions according to which they are hopelessly otherworldly. He contends that – while refusing to ‘flatten’ the world after materialistic and naturalistic ideologies – religions, indeed, affirm ordinary life making it not opposite to but rather integrally related to transcendence from which its ultimate value is derived.
Coming from the war-stricken Balkans, Volf has in many writings considered the relation of religions to violence. This book is no exception. Again, he goes against the tide and, while acknowledging the violence-driven potential of all living faiths, sets his hopes on religions’ capacity to not only foster tolerance – a key value for secular pluralisms – but also respect towards other religions and secular people. He also believes firmly that religions have the capacity to cultivate freedom (of religion) even when theologically the majority of believers in all traditions are exclusivist. Indeed, one of the most compelling, and certainly contested, arguments is that ‘Religious Exclusivism and Political Pluralism’ may live peacefully together (the title of chapter 4). That is a bold claim, indeed, and in many ways counterintuitive. When did you last read a book of this sort, which not only tolerates but in a qualified sense endorses religious exclusivism!
As always, Volf writes well and eloquently. His interlocutors and conversation partners range from Kant, Hobbes and Rousseau to Marx, Engels and Nietzsche, all the way to Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama, among others. The references alone are worth gold. Altogether this is an important and sophisticated appeal for the positive function of religions in the pluralistic and secular global world. It is an invitation for a new kind of conversation.
The main challenges and liabilities in my reading include the following. First, for a comparative theologian the book promises more than it delivers in that resources from other faiths are used minimally and (with the exception of Islam), mostly merely as illustrations. Second, one wonders why the book does not engage more widely the intense multidisciplinary conversation under way about the meaning of globalization, even though it is the book's main issue. Third, similarly, the wide and diverse debate among theologians concerning the meaning and conditions of violence both in our faith and in other traditions does not receive much attention; however, it has everything to do with the potential of various faith traditions to cultivate freedom, tolerance and respect.
