Man and Nature in God

Contemporary American life is tinged with dissatisfaction. Increased wealth and comfort and technological advances have not made individuals happier or society more companionable. Today Americans marry later or not at all, and they fail at marriage as often as they succeed. Man and Nature in God is a story of contemporary American decadence, a grim tale of our flagging relation to nature, a tale confirmed at the center of our sexual lives. Sandelands grounds his critique in a modern philosophical error. We have conflated a particular metaphysical outlook--the subjective standpoint of science--with our relationship, as humans, to nature. We fail to see that however much we may learn about nature by treating it as object to our subject, we cannot in this way learn what we most want and most need to know about nature and about ourselves. Answers to such questions as "How are we related to nature?" and "How are we to think and act truly in nature" continue to elude us.Cast as ideology by the "isms" of humanism, naturalism, and postmodernism, today's subjective standpoint has turned the question of truth into one question of politics. The unhappy result has been and continues to be a profound and deadly misunderstanding of nature as well as man, epitomized in contemporary American culture today. Taking this as his starting point, Sandelands suggests how we can save ourselves from our mortifying philosophical error, thereby claiming our true relation to nature, and reinvigorating our sexual lives. He identifies the need for a natural philosophy that takes God to be the starting point of self-understanding.Although the book is about philosophy, it is not only for the academic philosopher. Although it is about theology, it is not only for the theologian or student of religion. And although the book takes modern biological and social sciences to task, it is not only for biological and social scientists. Instead, Man and Nature in God is for everyone concerned about the dismal state of cultural life in America today.

- Man and Nature in God is a story of contemporary decadence by a psychologist who identifies the need for God as the starting point for a philosophy that redeems us from American culture's sorry state of affairs.- - Science and Theology News -Only a whole can have part. These words orient Lloyd Sandelands' quest to discover the whole in a world of parts, indeed in a world that risks coming apart. Like all great thinkers, he struggles to find connections and meaning in life's moments, vivid and compelling moments that distract us from their broader texture. Looking behind, across and within these moments, he finds unity in God. Whether we ultimately agree with him or not, we are privileged to come to terms with his ideas. This is a brilliant book.---James P. Walsh, University of Michigan Business School -In a time of struggle over the relationship between faith and reason, Professor Sandelands opens a door into the coming reality where the dichotomy is broken down. He challenges us to reconsider an appreciation of the totality of nature as a system designed by God for which humans are given a place, not solely above it, but also within it. And, he challenges us to see the grand design inherent in all of our relations....What he is offering is a challenging and yet beautiful synthesis of how we see the world around us and the people that inhabit that world.---Andrew Hoffman, University of Michigan -At certain times in life we have transformational experiences. We transcend our own paradigms and suddenly all the world looks different. We see what could not be seen with a clarity that empowers us and makes us empowering to others. This book is fruit of such a transformation. Intending to write still another book as a scientific naturalist, Lloyd Sandelands, to his own surprise, finds God at the very core of nature. That changes everything. Suddenly he sees and understands that which he could not formly see and understand. The result is an empowering document in which he helps us to see man and nature in a way that lifts us above the dysfunctional patterns of twentienth century life. Sandelands offers us a new awareness of the unities at the core of human expereince and new possibilies for flourishing in partnership with nature and with God.---Robert Quinn, University of Michigan , " Man and Nature in God is a story of contemporary decadence by a psychologist who identifies the need for God as the starting point for a philosophy that redeems us from American culture's sorry state of affairs." - Science and Theology News "Only a whole can have part. These words orient Lloyd Sandelands' quest to discover the whole in a world of parts, indeed in a world that risks coming apart. Like all great thinkers, he struggles to find connections and meaning in life's moments, vivid and compelling moments that distract us from their broader texture. Looking behind, across and within these moments, he finds unity in God. Whether we ultimately agree with him or not, we are privileged to come to terms with his ideas. This is a brilliant book."--James P. Walsh, University of Michigan Business School "In a time of struggle over the relationship between faith and reason, Professor Sandelands opens a door into the coming reality where the dichotomy is broken down. He challenges us to reconsider an appreciation of the totality of nature as a system designed by God for which humans are given a place, not solely above it, but also within it. And, he challenges us to see the grand design inherent in all of our relations....What he is offering is a challenging and yet beautiful synthesis of how we see the world around us and the people that inhabit that world."--Andrew Hoffman, University of Michigan "At certain times in life we have transformational experiences. We transcend our own paradigms and suddenly all the world looks different. We see what could not be seen with a clarity that empowers us and makes us empowering to others. This book is fruit of such a transformation. Intending to write still another book as a scientific naturalist, Lloyd Sandelands, to his own surprise, finds God at the very core of nature. That changes everything. Suddenly he sees and understands that which he could not formly see and understand. The result is an empowering document in which he helps us to see man and nature in a way that lifts us above the dysfunctional patterns of twentienth century life. Sandelands offers us a new awareness of the unities at the core of human expereince and new possibilies for flourishing in partnership with nature and with God."--Robert Quinn, University of Michigan , "" Man and Nature in God "is a story of contemporary decadence by a psychologist who identifies the need for God as the starting point for a philosophy that redeems us from American culture's sorry state of affairs." - " Science and Theology News " "Only a whole can have part. These words orient Lloyd Sandelands' quest to discover the whole in a world of parts, indeed in a world that risks coming apart. Like all great thinkers, he struggles to find connections and meaning in life's moments, vivid and compelling moments that distract us from their broader texture. Looking behind, across and within these moments, he finds unity in God. Whether we ultimately agree with him or not, we are privileged to come to terms with his ideas. This is a brilliant book."--James P. Walsh, University of Michigan Business School "In a time of struggle over the relationship between faith and reason, Professor Sandelands opens a door into the coming reality where the dichotomy is broken down. He challenges us to reconsider an appreciation of the totality of nature as a system designed by God for which humans are given a place, not solely above it, but also within it. And, he challenges us to see the grand design inherent in all of our relations....What he is offering is a challenging and yet beautiful synthesis of how we see the world around us and the people that inhabit that world."--Andrew Hoffman, University of Michigan "At certain times in life we have transformational experiences. We transcend our own paradigms and suddenly all the world looks different. We see what could not be seen with a clarity that empowers us and makes us empowering to others. This book is fruit of such a transformation. Intending to write still another book as a scientific naturalist, Lloyd Sandelands, to his own surprise, finds God at the very core of nature. That changes everything. Suddenly he sees and understands that which he could not formly see and understand. The result is an empowering document in which he helps us to see man and nature in a way that lifts us above the dysfunctional patterns of twentienth century life. Sandelands offers us a new awareness of the unities at the core of human expereince and new possibilies for flourishing in partnership with nature and with God."--Robert Quinn, University of Michigan

Lloyd E. Sandelands