THE MAKING OF THE NEW SPIRITUALITY: The Eclipse of the Western Religious Tradition

In this wide-ranging survey, Herrick (a professor of communications at Hope College) explores the historical roots of what he calls the "New Religious Synthesis." This synthesis, which brings together streams of thought from Darwin to Swedenborg to Jung, is challenging the "Revealed Word" tradition of historical Christianity with increasing success thanks to its doctrinal flexibility and knack for public relations. (Herrick amply documents the popularizing instincts of several centuries' worth of spiritual innovators, from medieval kabbalists to Joseph Campbell.) Herrick is clearly no fan of the New Religious Synthesis, and his tone wavers between academic detachment and disdain. But he does an impressive job of showing just how continuously a tradition of pantheism, evolutionary thinking, mysticism and shamanism has existed in Western culture, thus dispelling the notion that today's alternative spiritualities are either genuinely new or a leap over history into a purer past. He shows particular insight into the long relationship between magic and science, and his chapter on Darwin admirably charts the legacy of evolution in spiritual thought. A final chapter unveils Herrick's own evaluation of the New Synthesis's claims and scores some telling points. Unfortunately, Herrick's prose (and a small type size) do little to engage the reader, and his cover-the-waterfront approach diminishes the book's analytical vigor. Still, this is a solid introduction to a vast subject. (May)