Introduction to Philosophy of Religion

Description

Using various and competing religious sensibilities, Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion helps students work through the traditional material and their own religious questions. Cover Title Dedication Copyright Contents Preface About the Author Introduction: Philosophy and Religion Chapter 1 Religions of the World Hinduism Buddhism Judaism Christianity Islam Other Religious Forms Chapter 2 Proving God's Existence The Main Argument for God's Existence The Ontological Argument Criticisms of the Ontological Argument The Cosmological Argument Criticisms of the Cosmological Argument The Teleological Argument Criticisms of the Teleological Argument Summing Up and Going Further Questions for Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Religious Faith and Proving God's Existence Two Questions about Proving God's Existence The Relevance for Faith of the Arguments for God's Existence Summing Up and Going Further Questions for Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Is Religious Belief Reasonable? Faith and Reason Blaise Pascal and the Reasonableness of Faith Criticisms of Pascal's Account William James and the Right to Believe Criticisms of James's Account Contemporary Concerns about "Evidentialism" Alvin Plantinga and the Rationality of Religious Belief Criticisms of Plantinga's Account William Alston and the Reliability of Religious Belief Formation Criticisms of Alston's Account Summing Up and Going Further Questions for Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Religious Discovery: Is the Discovery of God Possible? Religious Experience and Discovery Kinds of Discoveries The Religious Sensibility of the Psalms Why Doesn't Everyone Realize God's Presence? Is a Realization-Discovery of God's Presence Possible? Criticisms of This Account Summing Up and Going Further Questions for Chapter 5 Chapter 6 The Religious Problem of Evil Problems of Evil The Personal Nature of the Religious Problem of Evil The Religious Problem of Evil and Faith in God Evil and God's Goodness and Power Moral Evil and Natural Evil Some Religious Answers The Free Will Theodicy Criticisms of The Free Will Theodicy The Best of All Possible Worlds Theodicy Criticisms of the Best of All Possible Worlds Theodicy The Irenaean Theodicy Criticisms of The Irenaean Theodicy When the Religious Problem of Evil Is Not a Problem Back to the Practical Problem of Evil Summing Up and Going Further Questions for Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Miracles Miracles in Religious Traditions Intervention Miracles Contingency Miracles Natural Miracles Summing Up and Going Further Questions for Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Religion and Morality Two Preliminary Questions How Close Is Religious Morality to Secular or Nonreligious Morality? Is Religious Morality the Same from Religion to Religion? The Question of the Relationship between Religion and Morality: Three Views Morality Independent of Religion Critical Examination of the First View Divine Command Morality Critical Examination of Divine Command Morality Divine Action as the Foundation of Morality The Natural Law Form of the Third View Critical Examination of the Third View in its Natural Law Form The Relationships Form of the Third View Critical Examination of the Third View in its Relationships Form Summing Up and Going Further Questions for Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Religious Language, Metaphor, and Gender Issues of Religious Language Does Religious Language Have Factual Meaning? Metaphor The Gender Issue How Should God Be Conceived? How Should God Be Imaged? Summing Up and Going Further Questions for Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Religious Realism and the Meaning of God The Issue of Religious Realism and Questions about the Meaning of God The Perspective of Non-realism The Perspective of Realism Critical Examination of Realism and Non-realism Summing Up and Going Further Questions for Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Religious Plurality: The Mutual-Opposition View, Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism The Undeniable Phenomenon of Religious Plurality The Mutual-Opposition View Exclusivism Critical Examination of Exclusivism Inclusivism Critical Examination of Inclusivism Pluralism Critical Examination of Pluralism Summing Up and Going Further Questions for Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Other Ways of Understanding Religious Plurality The Different Aspects Approach Critical Examination of the Different Aspects Approach The Common Core Approach Critical Examination of the Common Core Approach The Indeterminacy Approach Critical Examination of the Indeterminacy Approach The Relationships Approach Critical Examination of the Relationships Approach Summing Up and Going Further Questions for Chapter 12 Glossary Index