Most Popular Books by Keith Ward

A short, definitive account of Keith Ward''s theology, based on the philosophy of personal idealism, this book records his views about God, revelation, the kingdom of God, life after death, the incarnation, atonement, and the Trinity. In summary, it is a concise and clear account of most central Christian doctrines, formed in the light of modern science and Idealist philosophy. In the My Theology series, the world''s leading Christian thinkers explain some of the principal tenets of their theological beliefs in concise, pocket-sized books.

The concept of the ''social Trinity'', which posits three conscious subjects in God, radically revised the traditional Christian idea of the Creator. It promoted a view of God as a passionate, creative and responsive source of all being. Keith Ward argues that social Trinitarian thinking threatens the unity of God, however, and that this new view of God does not require a ''social'' component. Expanding on the work of theologians such as Barth and Rahner, who insisted that there was only one mind of God, Ward offers a coherent, wholly monotheistic interpretation of the Trinity. Christ and the Cosmos analyses theistic belief in a scientific context, demonstrating the necessity of cosmology to theological thinking that is often overly myopic and anthropomorphic. This important volume will benefit those who seek to understand what the Trinity is, why it matters and how it fits into a scientific account of the universe.

Many commentators today claim that religion is dangerous and harmful. In addressing this question, Keith Ward begins by defining what religion actually is and how most human harm has been caused. He then looks at why people say that religion is dangerous, focusing particularly on religious wars and conflicts and on specific attacks on religion, such as the claims that God is wrathful, that religion is intolerant, that religious morality is primitive and cruel. Keith Ward argues that religion produces great good - for example, in terms of hospitals, the abolition of slavery, great art and music, moral heroism, and philosophy and science. Religion, he concludes, is the best rational basis for morality.

Language about God is something like the language of poetry—intended not to increase our information about the world—we know facts about the world already—but to evoke in us a certain attitude or way of looking at things or feeling about things. What sort of view of the world, then, is language about God trying to convey? Keith Ward suggests it is that the world is an expression of a reality beyond it. In this book, he unpacks the meaning of the word God and explains why we need to get rid of the crude and unhelpful assumptions that still abound. This is a book for all who are curious about how God, and God’s actions, can be understood today.

In this book, eminent theologian Keith Ward takes a fresh look at the ancient philosophy of Idealism, connects it with findings in modern science, and shows that a combination of good science, good philosophy, and a passion for truth and goodness, can underpin religious faith. Going back to first principles, he argues for the Idealist view that all knowledge begins with experience. Critically examining the idealism of Plato, Kant, and Hegel, Ward shows how this philosophy is strengthened by a knowledge of modern physics, and how it can lead to a new and vivid presentation of Christian faith. A work of philosophical rigour that makes clear the rational nature of belief in God, this book challenges the easy assumptions of materialism and the relativity of truth that undermine both science and religion. Ward writes in an accessible and readable style that gives new life and practical usefulness to idealist philosophy.

A brilliant and accessible rebuttal of The God Delusion from one of Christianity''s most incisive thinkers In this, his first new book since the best-selling God: A Guide for the Perplexed (Oneworld, 2002), Keith Ward turns his attention to the role - and the validity of religion over the centuries and in the world today. His erudite yet informative and factual narrative outlines the various attempts that have been made throughout history to explain religion, including the anthropological, psychological, sociological and philosophical theories of key thinkers from Immanuel Kant to Sigmund Freud. Adopting a comparative approach, the book covers all the religious traditions from West and East alike, concluding in a compelling manner that not only are the world faiths much more than a series of theoretical perspectives, but that, in the face of discord and violence, religious understanding retains more resonance than ever before within our global community.

The Christian faith is often charged with being outmoded and anachronistic. A monolithic institution rooted in the past, many critics have claimed that it lacks the resources to adapt to modern society''s needs and advances. In "Rethinking Christianity", Keith Ward argues persuasively that this view is not only uncharitable, but refuted by historical evidence. Mapping the evolution of six major beliefs, from the Hellenistic restatement to the challenged of evolutionary theory, Ward demonstrates that Christianity has always been expressed in constantly changing ways in response to new knowledge and understandings of the world. Controversial, liberal, and confronting the principal questions facing Christianity today, Ward uses this basis to support the construction of his own ground-breaking theology: a ''systematic theology'' for the post-scientific age.

If the New Atheists are to be believed, religious belief is not only dangerous and irrational, but just plain stupid. With increasingly intolerant polemic they are dismissing the views of religious people, and misconstruing them in the process. In this book, Keith Ward debunks the notion that rationality and intelligence are incompatible with belief in God, going through some of the main criticisms raised by the New Atheists (and their predecessors), for example: - Does God cause evil? - Is the universe intelligently designed? - Is God free? This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the current cultural war between atheism and belief.

Continuing Keith Ward''s series on comparative religion, this book deals with religious views of human nature and destiny. The beliefs of six major traditions are presented: the view of Advaita Vedanta that there is one Supreme Self, unfolding into the illusion of individual existence; the Vaishnava belief that there is an infinite number of souls, whose destiny is to be released from material embodiment; the Buddhist view that there is no eternal Self; the Abrahamic belief that persons are essentially embodied souls; and the materialistic position that persons are complex material organisms. Indian ideas of rebirth, karma, and liberation from samsara are critically analysed and compared with semitic belief in the intermediate state of Sheol, Purgatory or Paradise, the Final Judgement and the resurrection of the body. The impact of scientific theories of cosmic and biological evolution on religious beliefs is assessed, and a form of ''soft emergent materialism'' is defended, with regard to the soul. In this context, a Christian doctrine of original sin and atonement is presented, stressing the idea of soterial, as opposed to forensic, justice. Finally, a Christian view of personal immortality and the ''end of all things'' is developed in conversation with Jewish and Muslim beliefs about judgement and resurrection.

First Published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Originally published in 1972, The Development of Kant''s Ethics is Keith Ward''s exceptional analysis of the history of Kant''s ideas on ethics and the emergence of Kantian ethics as a mature theory. Through a thorough overview of all of Kant''s texts written between 1755 and 1804, Ward puts forth the argument that the critical literature surrounding Kantian ethics has underplayed Kant''s concern with the role of happiness in relation to morality and the significance of the tradition of natural law for the development of Kantian ethics. Covering all of Kant''s extant works from Nova Dilucidatio to Opus Postumum, Ward traces the progression of Kant''s views from his early ideas on Rationalism to Moral Sense Theory and the development of Critical Philosophy, and finally to his later-life writings on the relationship between morality and faith. Through careful analysis of each of Kant''s works, Ward details the scientific, philosophical, and theological ideas that influenced Kant—such as the works of Emanuel Swedenborg—and demonstrates the critical role these influences played in the development of Kantian ethics. Offering a rare and extraordinary historical view of some of Kant''s most important contributions to philosophy, this is an invaluable resource for scholars engaged in questions on the origins and influences of Kant''s work, and for students seeking a thorough understanding of Kant''s historical and philosophical contexts.

Religion is an important social force, both for good and evil, in the modern world. This book considers the main ways in which religion and society interact, and the ways in which the major world religions need to adapt themselves in the modern world. The author, a Christian theologian, describes the major types of religious community in the world, and proposes a radical vision of the church as a person-affirming, world-transforming society in the emerging global community of many faiths and cultures.

Does being a Christian in the modern scientific age require intellectual suicide? What future for Christianity in the Third Millennium? In God, Faith and the New Millennium Keith Ward has produced a powerful and upbeat study of Christian belief that tackles questions such as these head on. In what he describes as a summary of his life’s work on Christianity, religion and science, Ward’s new and positive interpretation presents a Christian faith in harmony with the scientific worldview while remaining true to its traditions. This is a cutting-edge study that will provoke and inspire every Christian and anyone interested in the debate on the role of faith in the modern world. Through his examination of key issues such as Creation, evolution and the divine purpose, Ward demonstrates that there is a ‘natural fit’ between the scientific worldview and mainstream Christian beliefs – Christian faith gives insight into the meaning and purpose of the universe, the physical structure of which modern science has marvellously discovered.

Jesus'' teaching has changed the world. Yet his sayings can often seem cryptic and hard to understand. In Love Is His Meaning, Keith Ward explores the various figures of speech and images that Jesus used, and finds they are all ways of expressing and evoking the self-giving love of God, manifested supremely in Jesus'' life. They communicate spiritual truths, often not in a literal but in a poetic way. They encourage us to take our own moral decisions with sensitivity and care for others. They show that God''s love will never abandon anyone, and that it extends to everyone in the world without exception. And they promise a fulfilment of our hopes for a just and peaceable world that surpasses anything we might describe or imagine. Putting aside literalist, authoritarian, legalistic, judgemental and divisive presentations of Jesus'' teachings, the author shows that what remains is the gospel of a divine love - a love stronger than death, and the only power that can and will redeem our disordered world.

''The question of what it is to be a human person is the biggest intellectual question of our day.'' Keith Ward has taught philosophy and theology in British universities for the past 40 years, and he is now weighing in on a major intellectual battle: whether human persons are purely materialistic - nothing but matter - or whether there is another, deeply valuable part of us, which transcends our bodies in nature and moral worth: the soul. For centuries philosophers have debated the question, but the battle has taken the limelight through the works of the New Atheists. In this book Professor Ward guides the reader through a panoply of thinkers and traditions, arguing that there is more to humanity than bodies. In fact, he argues, there is more to the entire universe than the naked eye perceives. (And contrary to the New Atheist assertions, there are good philosophical arguments to back this up!)

Proposes an original approach to religious diversity, from religious pluralism and inter-faith dialogue to new existential challenges.

An engaging and convincing response from a leading philosopher-theologian to Dawkins'' arguments

Written for marketing and finance directors, CEOs, and strategists, as well as MBA students, this practical book explains the principles and practice behind rigorous due diligence in marketing. It connects marketing plans and investment to the valuation of the firm and how it can contribute to increasing stakeholder value. Completely revised and updated throughout, the Second Edition features new case examples as well as a completely new first chapter containing the results of new research into risk and marketing strategies amongst Finance Directors and Chief Marketing Officers.

Can religious beliefs survive in the scientific age? Are they resoundingly outdated? Or, is there something in them of great importance, even if the way they are expressed will have to change given new scientific context? These questions are among those at the core of the science-religion dialogue. An Anglican priest who was once an atheist offers compelling insights into the often contentious relationship between diverse religious views and new scientific knowledge. He identifies ten basic questions about the nature of the universe and human life. Among these are: Does the universe have a goal or purpose? Do the laws of nature exclude miracles? Can science provide a wholly naturalistic explanation for moral and religious beliefs? Has science made belief in God obsolete? Are there any good science-based arguments for God? Ward considers concepts from Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity, while featuring the speculations of cosmologists, physicians, mathematicians, and philosophers.

The "new materialism" argues that science and religious belief arencompatible. This book considers such arguments from cosmology, biology, andociobiology view points, and shows that modern scientific knowledge does notndermine belief in God, but points to the existence of God.

A defense of the New Testament view that all things are to be united in Christ, which entails that the ultimate destiny of the universe, and of all that is in it, is to be united in God. Keith Ward argues that this conflicts with classical ideas of God as simple, impassible, and changeless--ideas that many modern theologians espouse, and which Ward subjects to careful and critical scrutiny. He defends the claim that the cosmos contributes something substantial to--and in that way changes--the divine nature, and the cosmos is destined to manifest and express the essential creativity and relationality of a God of beatific, agapic, redemptive, and unitive love.

Bender and Ward present practical applications of financial theories for experienced financial managers using simple mathematics to convey the conceptual logic behind corporate financial strategy.

Designing World Class Corporate Strategies considers the key role of corporate centres within very large, primarily multi-business organisations. At present, these corporate centres are under attack as not creating and value and merely adding cost to their groups. The authors have developed a corporate configurations model which demonstrates four ways in which corporate centres can add significant value. However this requires the centre to act in specific ways depending on the external environment in which the group is operating. Designing World Class Corporate Strategies is highly readable, with a large number of illustrative examples included in the text. Academic references and theoretical underpinnings are placed in the final chapter of the book, so that the book is focused on the professional market for strategy and creating value.

This book is the second part of a major project of comparative theology begun with Religion and Revelation (Clarendon Press, 1994), which looks at major concepts of faith in all four of the main scriptural religions of the world. In Religion and Creation, the author explores the idea of a creator God in the work of twentieth century writers from Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. He develops a positive concept of God which stresses God''s dynamic and responsive relation to the temporal structure of the universe, and the importance of that structure to the self-expression of the divine being. Professor Ward goes on to present a Trinitarian doctrine of creation, drawing inspiration from a wider set of theistic traditions and recent discussions in physics in the realm of cosmology.

Can theology be expounded almost entirely in jokes? This is an attempt to do so. But it is also a record of how one person recovered from fundamentalism, and found a different, more positive spirituality within Christian faith. It seeks to speak to those who only know an exclusive and dogmatic version of Christianity, and who feel the need for something more universally compassionate and friendly to informed scientific thought. Ward argues that we need to escape from the image of a vindictive, wrathful, judgmental God, who saves just a few people from endless torture for no obvious reason. He proposes instead a view of the universe as evolving towards a goal, guided by a supreme cosmic consciousness, which manifests its nature in this historical process. Jesus is the human image of this consciousness, an image of universal self-giving love and a foreshadowing of the transformation of human lives by their union with the divine. The jokes are there because Christian faith should be really joyful, hopeful, and positive good news for everyone—that there is a spiritual basis and goal of the universe which wills everyone without exception to share in its unlimited wisdom and love.

Keith Ward—philosopher, ethicist, theologian, Anglican priest, cathedral canon, and book-writing addict—has spent his life thinking about “the big questions” (and, what’s more, getting paid for it!). This philosophical pilgrimage led him from jobs at Glasgow and St. Andrew’s Universities in Scotland, to Cambridge University, then on to King’s College, London, followed by Oxford University (by invitation of the Queen!), before moving back to London at Gresham College, Heythrop College, and Roehampton University. Along the way he became a fellow of the British Academy and of a number of academic institutions, gathering up doctorates from various places, and writing more books than your bookshelf can handle. This sounds awfully dull, but according to Keith Ward, it was great fun, and he experienced all these things with a feeling of slight surprise, and with an irrepressible sense of humour. Having retired, exhausted, at eighty-one, Ward could not resist one more book. This is it—a humorous account of his life and thought, especially to show how he developed his own philosophy of personal idealism. It is both a genuinely amusing account of the life of an English academic and a rather profound account of an anti-materialistic and scientifically informed philosophy.

Groundbreaking, ingenious and devastatingly clear, Keith Ward’s Pascal’s Fire is guaranteed to reignite the timeless dispute of whether scientific advancement threatens religious belief. Turning the conventional debate on its head, Ward suggests that the existence of God is actually the best starting-point for a number of the most famous scientific positions. From quantum physics to evolution, the suggestion of an ‘ultimate mind’ adds a new dimension to scientific thought, enhancing rather than detracting from its greatest achievements. Also responding to potential criticisms that his ultimate mind is unrecognisable as the God of Abraham, Ward examines our most fundamental beliefs in a new light. Emerging with a conception of God that is consistent with both science and the world’s major faiths, this ambitious project will fascinate believers and sceptics alike.

Is there a universal concept of God? Do all the great faiths of the world share a vision of the same supreme reality? In an attempt to answer these questions, Keith Ward considers the doctrine of an ultimate reality within five world religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. He studies closely the works of definitive, orthodox writers from each tradition - Sankara, Ramanuja, Asvaghosa, Maimonides, Al-Ghazzali and Aquinas - to build up a series of ''images'' of God, a common core of belief. Ward discovers that while the great religious traditions of the world retain their differences, there are convergences of thought at the deepest level, with a broad similarity of structure in concepts of God. He concludes that a recognition of these beliefs, as well as encouraging a clearer acceptance of the mystery of the divine, might also lead to an increase in understanding and tolerance of other faiths, to the enrichment of one''s own.

From ultra-light flying to vibrating bombs, The Cactus Flower offers an array of short stories, personal memoirs, and poetry that reflect the life of author Keith Neale Ward. The selections address the realities of family, the adventures of youth, the inspirational messages of life, and the knowledge gained from experience. In the lead fiction story, The Thinking Man, an interesting phenomenon occurs when The Director combines the occupants of two separate, but adjoining auditoriums. An inspirational entry, Infinite Possibilities, tells the story of one of Ward''s more unique engineering professors who challenges the law of gravity. In A Shot in the Dark, Ward narrates the account of employing a unique solution to rescue his brother, Ricky, from a Cleveland pool hall. In The Cactus Flower, Ward shares his experiences and the lessons learned during his lifetime. Some humorous and entertaining, others inspirational and moving, the stories reiterate Ward''s contention that something special happens during every encounter, every day. The key is to share the joy of these experiences with other people.

Most people agree that Jesus’ parables are about the kingdom of God. But what is that? They seem to have a lot about hell and judgment, but how is that consistent with the Parable of the Prodigal Son and Jesus’ search for “lost sheep”? They speak of the “Son of Man,” but who or what is that? Some have thought they predict the end of the world, but could that be a failure to understand biblical language? In a new survey of Jesus’ parables, Keith Ward proposes that they imply a theology of the universal and unlimited love of God, a moral demand to care for the well-being of all living things, a compassion for the poor and rejected of the earth, an open door of repentance that even death cannot close, the offer of new life in the Spirit, and an ultimate goal of universal creative sharing in the life of the cosmic Christ.

Is the mind just a by-product of the brain? Or is mind the fundamental reality, which creates matter? In The Priority of Mind, Keith Ward mounts a definitive defence of mind as prior to matter. In an accessible style, he unpacks the sources and abilities of the mind, situates it in the wider world, or cosmos, and proposes a relation between mind and virtue, and the nature of mind after death. Along the way, he explores the different philosophical approaches to the mind-matter question taken by thinkers over time, settling on idealism as the teaching of most classical philosophers, and as most consistent with modern science. Lay readers and scholars alike will relish Ward''s clear, methodical exposition, and his counterarguments against the materialist narrative that dominates much of popular philosophical thinking today.

Extraordinary performance from ordinary people is a must read for the high performing manager with the ambition to reach corporate leadership status. The book is as practical as it is exciting. How to succeed and which personal qualities are required from those who display the capability for great responsibility, are the themes that run throughout. The book focuses on both the key value adding activities and disciplines for driving through change and the styles of corporate leaders that attract success Extraordinary performance from ordinary people highlights how the leaders of the company, as a corporate team, can adopt and adapt the four value creating styles. It emphasises how to recognise which leadership framework suits the challenges of particular competitive environments. This insight nurtures a confidence to act decisively adopting an approach to communication which harnesses the energies of the organisation to achieve stretching performance targets. It concentrates on how leaders make a difference by what they do. Diagnostic models that show what really works and under which circumstances are core to this book.

‘Keith Ward . . . makes complex matters readily accessible.’ Rowan Williams At the heart of Christian faith lies a vision of Christ present at the beginning of creation, in the crucified and risen Jesus, and at the end of all things. This vision retains its ancient power and gains new depth as it is reshaped in the light of our advanced understanding of a vast and evolving cosmos. To help us form a truly contemporary Christian spirituality, Keith Ward, writing in our own time and place (rather than the fourteenth century of Julian of Norwich or the twentieth of Thomas Merton), offers a set of reflections on what he believes to be the unique and life-transforming revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. And as we explore the spiritual truths relating to this mystery expressed in the Gospels, meditation leads naturally to prayer.