Philosophy of Religion

Description

Is there any basis in reality for a religious experience? Is there any basis in reason for belief in God? Is it even possible to speak meaningfully of a transcendent being? And how does one account for evil? The authors answer these questions, representing the four most important issues in the philosophy of religion, in a comprehensive way and "form the perspective of classical theism." They support this position with in-depth argumentation, taking into account both classical and contemporary writers. With its well-outlined text, 'Philosophy of Religion' is "user friendly." An introduction, chapter summaries, a glossary, indexes, and bibliography contribute to this end. In this second edition, the authors have not only updated the text and bibliography, but also refined some of the arguments, "scaled down and evened out" the vocabulary, and added several pedagogical aids. The first edition, written by Norman L. Geisler alone, appeared in 1974. Dr. Norman Geisler is author or coauthor of some fifty books and hundreds of articles. He has taught at the university and graduate level for nearly forty years and has spoken or debated in all fifty states and in twenty-five countries. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Loyola University and served as Chancellor of Veritas Evangelical Seminary, in Murrieta, CA. Winfried Corduan, Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Taylor University, is the author of 'Handmaid to Theology: An Essay in Philosophical Prolegomena'. Preface / 9 Part 1 God and Experience 1 The Nature of Religious Experience / 13 2 The Characteristics of Religious Experience / 28 3 The Dimensions of Religious Experience / 40 4 Testing the Reality of Religious Experience / 62 Part 2 God and Reason 5 The Function of Theistic Proofs / 79 6 Teleological and Moral Arguments / 94 7 Ontological Arguments / 123 8 Cosmological Arguments / 150 9 The Cosmological Argument Reevaluated / 175 Part 3 God and Language 10 The Problem of Religious Language / 211 11 Negative Religious Language / 232 12 Positive Language About God / 252 13 Model Religious Language / 272 Part 4 God and Evil 14 The Nature of the Problem of Evil / 295 15 The Metaphysical Problem of Evil / 318 16 The Moral Problem of Evil / 333 17 The Physical Problem of Evil / 364 Bibliography / 386 Index of Names / 395 Index of Subjects / 399