cover image Truth in Religion

Truth in Religion

Mortimer Jerome Adler. Scribner Book Company, $20.88 (176pp) ISBN 978-0-02-500225-8

In this parochial, dogmatic essay, philosopher Adler ( Six Great Ideas ) argues that pluralism, while desirable in matters of taste, has no place in the realm of truth. Arguing that religious beliefs, even if beyond proof, ought to obey the logic of truth, he suggests that the major religions of the Far East foster cultural schizophrenia by compartmentalizing scientific facts and religious views. After determining that Eastern cosmological religions cannot be considered ``logical and factual,'' Adler weighs the three monotheisms--Christianity, Judaism, Islam--and indecisively posits, ``We can only say that one of these religions is truer than the other two.'' His skewerings of Joseph Campbell, of Protestant thinker Harvey Cox, and of Roman Catholic theologian Hans Kung add to the controversial nature of this devisive tract. (Oct.)