BEYOND THEOLOGY by Alan Watts

I love anything by Alan Watts. He is so witty and good with words, which means he can deploy his formidable intelligence to make deep religious and spiritual concepts comprehensible and even fun to learn about. Beyond Theology was first published in 1964 and it’s fascinating to read Watts – who used to be an Episcopal chaplain – analyse and critique Christianity, especially when he is more closely associated now with eastern belief systems like Zen and Taoism. Christianity is something that many of us now are turning away from but of course there is value there and maybe it takes a “philosophical jester” like Alan Watts to show us what we can learn from it. As ever, his intention is for us to see beyond the external trappings of the Christian church and find the beauty and sacredness on the other side.

256pp, 202 x 134 mm, Paperback, 2022