Book Description

For centuries books have changed lives. Some even improved lives.This book provides an historical sketch of mankind's path during the past four millennia with a focus on mankind's use of faith and reason as faculties to guide life. Along this path there have been endless efforts to guide human lives; some even sought to reduce the brutishness of humans. Among the early efforts to encourage civility in human behavior were tenets, doctrines of faith-based religions. With faith, as used in this copy, one accepts without question doctrines and tenets of a religion. Later along mankind's path, reason developed as a faculty enabling one to question, to seek truths and to use integrity, ethics and morality to do what is right.As in any path, there are increments of progress, steps, which serve as landmarks along the way. Reason, with rational thinking, got a foothold in the second millennium BCE, beginning a transfer by mankind in using reason rather than faith as a faculty to guide human life. The text describes some of the more progressive, landmark steps by 11 historical figures in the path of mankind illustrating advantages of reason as a faculty to guide one's life. Many instances could mark the beginning of this path, but the one selected for the copy is the story of Abraham. With this person, beginning in Mesopotamia, the path traverses westward to the life of Thomas Paine in Paris, London and Philadelphia.The objective in this copy is to help the reader comprehend these progressive steps in utilizing reason rather than faith as a faculty to guide one's life and to correct intolerance, injustice and other brutishness of humanity. Relevant historical information on the notable humans taking these steps, and on their times, hopefully will provide useful illumination for the steps described. Key Lines from Reviews of Steps, Faith to Reason "White examines how men from Abraham and Seneca to Voltaire and Thomas Paine helped 'establish the use of reason rather than faith as a guide for mankind.'" "...Steps, Faith to Reason is nothing short of the history of Western thought condensed into a single, easily understood volume." [Steps, Faith to Reason]..."represents the author's sober assessment of the intellectual path humanity has taken from theocracy to secularity, from the ubiquity of religion to the use of scientific thought." [Steps, Faith to Reason]..."offers a guide to the ways mankind has used faith and reason as a guiding light over the past four millennia." Paragraph Constructed from Three Reviews by ForeWord Clarion, BlueInk and Kirkus Indie of the Book, Steps, Faith to Reason Fear, with fear of death above all others, was the first mother of the gods. From this line, credited to Lucretius (a Roman philosopher in the century just before Christ), Steps, Faith to Reason provides a very readable history of increments of progress (steps) by mankind in the past four millennia in shifting from faith to reason as the facility to guide one's life. The steps of progress described begin with the Biblical account of Abraham, continuing with descriptions of progress by ten notable philosophers, from Socrates to Thomas Paine. The author, realizing that the choice between these two faculties is for each human, does not deride religious faith. He describes the progress by mankind in preferring rational thought, thereby, facilitating the march of rationalism...utilizing reason as the guide for life.