The Demonic Turn: The Power of Religion to Inspire of Restrain Violence - Softcover

"The events of September 11 provoked serious moral questions about religion...and in these pages I will argue these people are religious the way they are because of the choices they made about how to be religious...people are religious in particular ways and how they construct and practice religion rests, finally on a fundamental moral turn to be religious either in a life-affirming way of demonically."

Exploring the differences between concepts of God related to elimacy and absolutism. Steffan names abslusim as the destructive, life-delying religion. "Absolutism" he says "is the central reason and the main course for religion becoming dangerous and surmomg demonic." Part I explores the power and danger of religion and the two options for being religious the life affirming option with its vision of goodness and demonic option with its destructiveness in the context of ultimacy, its negation of freedom and its self-description and denial of goodness. Part II explores religion and the restraint of violence as its looks all the pacified option, the case of holy war, and the case of just war.