Erin Cline - The Problem of God: The Challenges of Faith, Religion, and Spirituality Today

The Problem of God by Georgetown University professor Erin Cline is a fascinating exploration of religious belief as the key to understanding ourselves and other people, societies, and cultures. Read on ofr a Q&A with the author to learn more.

What inspired your interfaith/religiously pluralistic approach to writing the book?

I believe faith is an important element of a good life but that it can look very different for different people. When it comes to religious outlook, our student body reflects the general American public in that they have gradually been becoming less religious, in a traditional sense. We have growing numbers of students who do not have a religious background. This tracks with the general public in the U.S. and declining attendance at churches, synagogues, Mosques, temples and other traditional religious communities. So: I wanted the book to be broadly accessible to the many people interested in exploring faith across different traditions and what spirituality or religion is, who may be coming from very different backgrounds. Ultimately, I want people to see the broad range of approaches and lives that involve faith and spirituality, so that they may explore their own path more deeply.

How does your prior work in the field of Chinese philosophy/religions inform the content of your book?

I have spent large amounts of time in different religious communities, this has led me to an appreciation for the diversity of ways in which people find spiritual fulfilment and the diversity of religious experiences. These experiences have also challenged me in a variety of ways, and I talk about those experiences as a way of helping readers to explore faith and spirituality in a more personalized way.

What do you feel is the importance of the required “Problem of God” course at Georgetown? What do you hope students take away from this class and way of learning?

I hope students will have greater respect and appreciation for different religious traditions and for religious people. I hope they will be convinced that St. Ignatius of Loyola was right when he claimed that there is a spiritual dimension of the human person that needs exercise, just like the body and the mind need exercise for us to flourish. I hope they will see how different faiths have distinctive resources for nurturing virtues like compassion and justice in us, and I hope they will explore being a part of a faith community where they can experience those goods. I also hope they will be open to having spiritual or religious experiences themselves and that they will have a way of understanding and describing those experiences.