Rescuing Religion from Faith

Abstract

This chapter argues for a broader and more inclusive approach to philosophy of religion. Philosophy of religion has traditionally derived its topics and its concept of religion from Christianity, with the result that this subfield is mainly an evaluation of the elements of Christian faith, and often dominated by Christian apologetics. A broader concept of religion, which takes into account Asian traditions as well as new religious movements, would not be confined to Christian theism. It would also not assume that the task of the philosophy of religion is exclusively to examine what “religion” holds by faith, as if faith, as a special mode of belief, necessarily defines the category of religion. Such a notion of the philosophy of religion, the chapter argues, is both descriptively and normatively inadequate. It is culturally parochial, and fails to offer much needed philosophical guidance in an age of religious questioning and uncertainty.