Jerome A. Stone
Encyclopedia
Jerome Stone—author, philosopher, and theologian—is best known for helping to develop the religious movement of Religious Naturalism
. Dr. Stone is on the Adjunct Faculty of Meadville Lombard Theological School
; is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at William Rainey Harper College; is in Preliminary Fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association
; and is a member of the Highlands Institute of American Religious and Philosophical Thought (HIARPT) and the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science
(IRAS).
and Rhode Island
, the son of a Protestant pastor. Though his family was of modest means he had access to a broad range of books. His father taught him respect for other religions early on. He was educated in the aesthetic and moral dimensions of church life. Instead of oppressive moralism, he was given a vision of moral integrity, service and a sense of the numinous.
At the age of sixteen he left home, an early entrant to the University of Chicago
. After a year of graduate studies, he transferred to Andover Newton Theological School
outside of Boston, MA. His Mdiv thesis was done there on Paul Tillich’s Concept of God as the Ground of Being. He then continued his graduate training at the University of Chicago Divinity School
, completing his doctorate there in 1973. His doctorate thesis was done on The Secular Experiences OF Transcendence: The Contributions of Bernard Meland, H. Richard Niebuhr
and Paul Tillich. During this time he served as pastor at three Congregational
and United Church of Christ
churches. He helped organize the Danville Council on Human Relations which is said to have become the seed bed for the first Head Start program to receive funding.
He went on to teach religion, philosophy, ethics and racism in America at Kendall College
, William Rainey Harper College and later at the Meadville Theological School. Over these years he developed a strong environmentalism. In 2002, Stone wrote:
Stone has moved from liberal Protestantism
through a flirtation with neo-orthodoxy to a more serious wrestling with Paul Tillich
and finally to a Religious Naturalism shaped by Henry Nelson Wieman
, Bernard Meland and John Dewey
.
Stone traces its history and analyzes some of the issues dividing Religious Naturalists. He includes analysis of nearly fifty distinguished philosophers, theologians, scientists, and figures in art and literature, both living and dead. They range from Ursula Goodenough
, Gordon D. Kaufman
, William Dean
, Thomas Berry
and Gary Snyder
to Jan Christian Smuts, William Bernhardt
, Gregory Bateson
and Sharon Welch. His history includes its birth from George Santayana
to modern contributors such as Henry Nelson Wieman
, Loyal Rue
and Chet Raymo
. He briefly explores Religious Naturalism in literature and art. Contested issues are discussed including whether Nature's power or goodness is the focus of attention and also on the appropriateness of using the term God.
Mary Doak, author of Reclaiming Narrative for Public Theology says of it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0791475387
The individual perspectives on Religious Naturalism of Loyal Rue
, Donald A. Crosby
, Ursula Goodenough
and Stone are discussed by Michael Hogue in his 2010 book The Promise of Religious Naturalism.
Religious naturalism
Religious naturalism is an approach to spirituality that is devoid of supernaturalism. The focus is on the religious attributes of the universe/Nature, the understanding of it and our response to it . These provide for the development of an eco-morality...
. Dr. Stone is on the Adjunct Faculty of Meadville Lombard Theological School
Meadville Lombard Theological School
The Meadville Lombard Theological School, located in Chicago, is a Unitarian Universalist seminary.It is a result of a merger in the 1930s between a Unitarian and a Universalist institution...
; is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at William Rainey Harper College; is in Preliminary Fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association , in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of...
; and is a member of the Highlands Institute of American Religious and Philosophical Thought (HIARPT) and the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science
Institute on Religion in an Age of Science
The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science is a non-denominational society that promotes and facilitates the ongoing dialectic between religion and science. Both members of IRAS and non-members congregate at the IRAS conference held annually at Star Island in New Hampshire.-History:IRAS...
(IRAS).
Biography
Stone grew up in ConnecticutConnecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
and Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, the son of a Protestant pastor. Though his family was of modest means he had access to a broad range of books. His father taught him respect for other religions early on. He was educated in the aesthetic and moral dimensions of church life. Instead of oppressive moralism, he was given a vision of moral integrity, service and a sense of the numinous.
At the age of sixteen he left home, an early entrant to the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. After a year of graduate studies, he transferred to Andover Newton Theological School
Andover Newton Theological School
Andover Newton Theological School is a graduate school and seminary located in Newton, Massachusetts. It is America's oldest graduate seminary and the nation's first graduate institution of any kind...
outside of Boston, MA. His Mdiv thesis was done there on Paul Tillich’s Concept of God as the Ground of Being. He then continued his graduate training at the University of Chicago Divinity School
University of Chicago Divinity School
The University of Chicago Divinity School is a graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries...
, completing his doctorate there in 1973. His doctorate thesis was done on The Secular Experiences OF Transcendence: The Contributions of Bernard Meland, H. Richard Niebuhr
H. Richard Niebuhr
Helmut Richard Niebuhr was one of the most important Christian theological-ethicists in 20th century America, most known for his 1951 book Christ and Culture and his posthumously published book The Responsible Self. The younger brother of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, Richard Niebuhr taught for...
and Paul Tillich. During this time he served as pastor at three Congregational
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
and United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
churches. He helped organize the Danville Council on Human Relations which is said to have become the seed bed for the first Head Start program to receive funding.
He went on to teach religion, philosophy, ethics and racism in America at Kendall College
Kendall College
-Summary:Kendall College in Chicago is a for-profit college offering programs in hospitality management, culinary arts, business, and early childhood education. Kendall College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools...
, William Rainey Harper College and later at the Meadville Theological School. Over these years he developed a strong environmentalism. In 2002, Stone wrote:
- Lets get religious for a minute. What if the earth and its creatures were sacred? The sacred we treat with overriding care. What if the earth and our sibling creatures were sacred, either inherently sacred, or because they have a derivative sacredness as creatures of God... I would say that my enlightenment involves finding out that I am of the earth, earthly. The continuing task is to find out what this means and to live by it.
Stone has moved from liberal Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
through a flirtation with neo-orthodoxy to a more serious wrestling with Paul Tillich
Paul Tillich
Paul Johannes Tillich was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. Tillich was one of the most influential Protestant theologians of the 20th century...
and finally to a Religious Naturalism shaped by Henry Nelson Wieman
Henry Nelson Wieman
Henry Nelson Wieman was an American philosopher and theologian. Hebecame the most famous proponent of theocentric naturalism and the empirical method in American theology and catalyzed the emergence of Religious Naturalism in the latter part of the 20th century.-Religious Naturalism:Wieman was...
, Bernard Meland and John Dewey
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
.
Religious Naturalism
Stone’s latest work,Religious Naturalism Today: The Rebirth of a Forgotten Alternative, looks at the history and revival of Religious Naturalism, a 1940’s option in religious thinking. It seeks to explore, develop and encourage spiritual ways of responding to the world on a completely naturalistic basis without a supreme supernatural being.Stone traces its history and analyzes some of the issues dividing Religious Naturalists. He includes analysis of nearly fifty distinguished philosophers, theologians, scientists, and figures in art and literature, both living and dead. They range from Ursula Goodenough
Ursula Goodenough
Ursula W. Goodenough is a Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis and author of the best selling book Sacred Depths of Nature...
, Gordon D. Kaufman
Gordon D. Kaufman
Dr. Gordon D. Kaufman was the Mallinckrodt Professor of Divinity at Harvard University where he taught since 1963. He lectured widely, and taught at universities across the United States , and also in India, Japan, South Africa, England, and Hong Kong...
, William Dean
William Dean
William Dean was the Chief Locomotive Engineer for the Great Western Railway from 1877, when he succeeded Joseph Armstrong. He retired from the post in 1902 and was replaced by George Jackson Churchward...
, Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry, C.P. was a Catholic priest of the Passionist order, cultural historian and ecotheologian ....
and Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder is an American poet , as well as an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist . Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry...
to Jan Christian Smuts, William Bernhardt
William Bernhardt
William Bernhardt is an American thriller/mystery/suspense fiction author best known for his "Ben Kincaid" series of books.Bernhardt has sold more than 10 million books in several different countries throughout the world. He has twice won the Oklahoma Book Award for Best Fiction, in 1995 and 1999,...
, Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
and Sharon Welch. His history includes its birth from George Santayana
George Santayana
George Santayana was a philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. A lifelong Spanish citizen, Santayana was raised and educated in the United States and identified himself as an American. He wrote in English and is generally considered an American man of letters...
to modern contributors such as Henry Nelson Wieman
Henry Nelson Wieman
Henry Nelson Wieman was an American philosopher and theologian. Hebecame the most famous proponent of theocentric naturalism and the empirical method in American theology and catalyzed the emergence of Religious Naturalism in the latter part of the 20th century.-Religious Naturalism:Wieman was...
, Loyal Rue
Loyal Rue
Dr. Loyal D. Rue is professor of religion and philosophy at Luther College of Decorah, Iowa , and focuses on naturalistic theories of religion.He has been awarded two John Templeton Foundation fellowships....
and Chet Raymo
Chet Raymo
Chet Raymo is a noted writer, educator and naturalist. He is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Stonehill College, in Easton, Massachusetts. His weekly newspaper column Science Musings appeared in the Boston Globe for twenty years. This is now a daily blog by him...
. He briefly explores Religious Naturalism in literature and art. Contested issues are discussed including whether Nature's power or goodness is the focus of attention and also on the appropriateness of using the term God.
Mary Doak, author of Reclaiming Narrative for Public Theology says of it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0791475387
This is a timely contribution to contemporary theologyTheologyTheology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
. I know of no other book that provides such a clear yet nuanced account of the origins, development, and contemporary forms of religious naturalism. Stone's achievement ensures that religious naturalism will again be a major contender in theological debates
The individual perspectives on Religious Naturalism of Loyal Rue
Loyal Rue
Dr. Loyal D. Rue is professor of religion and philosophy at Luther College of Decorah, Iowa , and focuses on naturalistic theories of religion.He has been awarded two John Templeton Foundation fellowships....
, Donald A. Crosby
Donald A. Crosby
Donald Allen Crosby is currently Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Colorado State University and Adjunct Instructor in the philosophy department at Florida State University. Crosby's interests focus on metaphysics, American pragmatism, philosophy of nature, existentialism, and philosophy of...
, Ursula Goodenough
Ursula Goodenough
Ursula W. Goodenough is a Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis and author of the best selling book Sacred Depths of Nature...
and Stone are discussed by Michael Hogue in his 2010 book The Promise of Religious Naturalism.
Major publications
- Religious Naturalism Today: The Rebirth of a Forgotten Alternative, State University of New York PressState University of New York PressThe State University of New York Press , is a university press and a Center for Scholarly Communication. The Press is part of the State University of New York system and is located in Albany, New York.- History :...
, December 2008 http://76.163.255.213:8080/studio/servlet/psoft.masonry.Builder?page_id=192&action=show - The Chicago School of Theology, 2 Vols, The Edwin Mellen PressEdwin Mellen PressThe Edwin Mellen Press, based in Lewiston, New York is a niche publisher of scholarly material and advanced research in the humanities and social sciences. They publish a variety of tomes including monographs, bibliographies, concordances, dictionaries, conference proceedings, dissertations, and...
, 1996, co-edited and wrote Preface. - The Minimalist Vision of Transcendence: A Naturalist Philosophy of Religion, SUNY Press, 1992.