Abstract
Cognitive Science of Religion and evolutionary approaches in the study of religion have opened the rapidly developing field of naturalistic explanation of religion. Since its inception, this empirically driven project has undergone a slow evolution, giving rise to the view that explaining religion is not a matter of accounting for a single (cognitive or functional) trait, but rather involves explaining a very complex repertoire of patterns of thinking and behavior. In this paper, we would like to provide a philosophical analysis of the highly complex problem of forgiveness from the Christian religious and naturalistic perspectives. Our analysis demonstrates a crucial way to understand the concepts of guilt, forgiveness and reconciliation as discussed in the context of Christian theology. At the same time, we also discuss certain strengths and weaknesses of the naturalistic accounts. Finally, we formulate some suggestions for advancing the science–religion dialogue on the problem of evil.
Highlights
We briefly introduce the main tenets of the two dominant naturalistic approaches to religion: the cognitive approach and the evolutionary approach
Those familiar with the literature on this subject can proceed directly to section three, where we provide a philosophical analysis of the complex problem of forgiveness and of the crucial and the Naturalistic Approach to Religion: A Contextual View of the Problem of Evil
Insofar as forgiveness presupposes love, the absence of either of the desires that constitute love invalidates forgiveness. If this is the case, one may not speak of forgiveness when there is no desire for the good of the one who has committed the wrongdoing, and when the wronged has no desire of being united with the wrongdoer
Summary
Even if it remains uncertain today whether the notions of “self-interest” and “mutual aid” as used to describe the behavior of members of different species are well formulated, it is a fact that the theory of evolution has become a useful tool in explaining the behavior (morality) of our evolutionarily closest relatives, chimpanzees, and of humans (de Waal 2006). It appears that, considering the high complexity of the phenomenon of religion, a naturalistic explanation of the unique functions, components (behaviors, beliefs, values, moods and feelings) and content of religion may be insufficient (Sasa and Roszak 2020). We would like to demonstrate that a purely naturalistic explanation of the Christian religion can be problematic by discussing the complex problem of forgiveness in the context of Christian theology. We briefly introduce the main tenets of the two dominant naturalistic approaches to religion: the cognitive approach and the evolutionary approach Those familiar with the literature on this subject can proceed directly to section three, where we provide a philosophical analysis of the complex problem of forgiveness and of the crucial and the Naturalistic Approach to Religion: A Contextual View of the Problem of Evil. We formulate some suggestions for advancing the science–religion dialogue on the problem of evil
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