Throughout history we have told ourselves stories to try and make sense of our place in the universe. Richard Holloway takes us on a personal, scientific and philosophical journey to explore what he believes the answers to the biggest of questions are. He examines what we know about the universe into which we are propelled at birth and from which we are expelled at death, the stories we have told about where we come from, and the stories we tell to get through this muddling experience of life. Thought-provoking, revelatory, compassionate and playful, Stories We Tell Ourselves is a personal reckoning with life’s mysteries by one of the most important and beloved thinkers of our time.
Richard Holloway was Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. A former Gresham Professor of Divinity and Chairman of the Joint Board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, he is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Leaving Alexandria won the PEN/Ackerley Prize and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. His most recent book, Waiting for the Last Bus, was a Sunday Times bestseller.
Table of Contents
Prologue ix
Part I It or the Universe or Everything That Is
I Stories About the Universe 3
II Where We Came From 12
Part II Stories We Told Ourselves Before We Knew the Stories Science Told Us about Ourselves
III Why We Are a Problem 39
IV The Creation 56
V The Fall 70
Part III Stories the Mystics Tell
VI Apollo and Dionysus 103
VII Mysticism Without Mushrooms 121
Part IV Suffering: Why It's a Problem for Some but Not for Others
VIII Joan's Problem 149
IX More Reasons Religion Makes Joan's Problem Worse 170
