Religions and extraterrestrial life : how will we deal with it?
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Religions and extraterrestrial life : how will we deal with it?
(Springer-Praxis books in popular astronomy)
Springer, c2014
Available at 1 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes indexes
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In the twenty-first century, the debate about life on other worlds is quickly changing from the realm of speculation to the domain of hard science. Within a few years, as a consequence of the rapid discovery by astronomers of planets around other stars, astronomers very likely will have discovered clear evidence of life beyond the Earth. Such a discovery of extraterrestrial life will change everything.
Knowing the answer as to whether humanity has company in the universe will trigger one of the greatest intellectual revolutions in history, not the least of which will be a challenge for at least some terrestrial religions. Which religions will handle the discovery of extraterrestrial life with ease and which will struggle to assimilate this new knowledge about our place in the universe? Some religions as currently practiced appear to only be viable on Earth. Other religions could be practiced on distant worlds but nevertheless identify both Earth as a place and humankind as a species of singular spiritual religious importance, while some religions could be practiced equally well anywhere in the universe by any sentient beings.
Weintraub guides readers on an invigorating tour of the world's most widely practiced religions. It reveals what, if anything, each religion has to say about the possibility that extraterrestrial life exists and how, or if, a particular religion would work on other planets in distant parts of the universe.
Table of Contents
Part I: Discovering Extrasolar Planets.- Once Upon a Time.- Pluralism Through Western History.- The Discovery of the Century.- Detecting Exoplanets.- Are Angels Extraterrestrials?.- Part II: Major Religions of the World and Extraterrestrial Life.- Judaism.- Setting the Stage for Modern Christianity.- Roman Catholicism.- Orthodox Christianity.- The Church of England and the Anglican Communion.- Mainline Protestant Christianity.- Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christianity.- From Christian Roots.- Mormonism.- Islam.- Hinduism.- Buddhism.- Jainism.- Sikhism.- Baha'i Faith.- Are We Ready?.- Appendix: The Exoplanets Revealed by the Kepler Mission Through 2013.
by "Nielsen BookData"