Coming Back to Earth
Discussion Questions

Chapter 14 — handout

1. Why is it both incorrect and dangerous to see ourselves as separate from nature?
2. How, according to Geering, did ancient humans first arrive at the idea of gods and spirits?
3. What great conceptual shift initiated the banishment of these beings from our world?
4. What caused this revolution in thought?
5. How did the resulting dualistic universe of monotheism differ from the ancient worldview?
6. What are the characteristics of the modern worldview that began about 1500 to replace the classical theism of the Judeo-Christian tradition?
7. In your own words explain Popper’s concept of three worlds.
8. To what does this book’s title, Coming Back to Earth, refer?
9. Can you accept the paradox of “a pragmatic mysticism”? What view is Geering attempting to promote by adopting it?