Philosophy Of Religion Research Articles

God and Ethics

This unique and rich volume is the culmination of a Special Issue of Religions with a focus on “God and Ethics”, a topic both rich with historical significance and of special contemporary importance in light of the recent resurgence of interest in this branch of natural and philosophical theology, philosophy of religion, and religious epistemology [...]

Eros Crucified: Death, Desire, and the Divine in Psychoanalysis and Philosophy of Religion

Eros Crucified: Death, Desire, and the Divine in Psychoanalysis and Philosophy of Religion

Counting hiddenness: cognitive science and the distribution of belief in God

AbstractEstablishing the distribution of belief in something, especially something that spans cultures and times, requires close attention to empirical evidence and to certain inadequacies in our concept of belief. Arguments from divine hiddenness have quickly become one of the most important argument types in the philosophy of religion. These arguments and responses to them typically rely on robust but relatively undefended empirical commitments as to the distribution of belief in God. This article synthesizes results from psychology, anthropology, and the cognitive science of religion to show that the distribution of belief in God is much more messy and much more philosophically interesting than is currently appreciated. I then derive some implications for how one might reconceive the hiddenness debate in light of these findings.

God and suffering in Africa: An exploration in natural theology and philosophy of religion

God and suffering in Africa: An exploration in natural theology and philosophy of religion

God Has Something to Prove: Vindication in Biblical Theology

God has something to prove to humans, but they typically overlook this. They often ask what they can prove about God, but they rarely ask what God aims to prove to or about them. This striking omission calls for correction, for the sake of responsible inquiry about God. The correction offered here will explain that the answer to the question of what God aims to prove determines the answer to the question of what humans are able to prove about God. The needed correction will arise in the light of a recurring but underappreciated biblical theme about what God proves, or vindicates, in the presence of human distrust, avoidance, and alienation toward God. God aims to prove that God alone is perfectly righteous but nonetheless can justify initially resistant people who cooperate in a re-creative process. The process is that of making them worthy of God and God's good news of unmerited divine approval for humans. This perspective has been widely neglected by theologians, biblical interpreters, and philosophers of religion. Restoring attention to it will help to make some sense of God's ways in the world, thereby adding credibility to those ways and to faith in God. (The article uses the term “proof” in a familiar sense of “confirmation,” in a way that does not require the kind of deductive inference found in mathematical or logical proof.)

What is the GCPR?

The Conversation puts an ear to current discussion in the field. With scholars reevaluating the legacy of every facet of Religious Studies, the team at the Bulletin thought to check in with what is happening in the world of philosophy. In so doing, we learned about an exciting endeavor known as Global Critical Philosophy of Religion. Philosophers Nathan Loewen University of Alabama), Tim Knepper (Drake University), and Gereon Kopf (Luther College) were kind enough to answer our questions about GCPR.

L’allegoria svelata: elementi misteriosofici ed esegesi Porfiriana nell’Antro delle ninfe

AbstractCover and uncover: is the attempt to unveil and reveal the hidden meaning of the mysteries a paradox (Porph. Antr. 4. 16–17)? The present contribution aims at exploring Porphyry's interest in the commentary Περὶ τοῦ ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ τῶν νυμφῶν ἄντρου (Cave of the Nymphs) for the allegorical interpretation of images, symbols and terms variously linked with the Mysteries and encapsulating truths on the nature of the divine, the soul and ultimately the cosmos. More specifically, attention will be drawn mostly (but not only) on features connected with Orphism, here defined and understood as a form of ‘mysteriosophy’. The scope of this analysis falls within the study of Porphyry's use of allegorical exegesis but also within the broader discussion of different forms of philosophical religion in Late Antiquity, underscoring the complex but fruitful relationship between theology, philosophy and the Mysteries.

Rephrasing William Blake’s Concept of God and Philosophy of Religion: A Critique from the Humanist Perspective

William Blake, a poet of vision, depicts God in human form and expounds religion on the tenet of aesthetic humanism. Humans are imaged as God in their moral, spiritual and intellectual nature. God’s powerful goodness comprises Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love expressed through humans. He identifies God with Man. Humans symbolize the world of opposites. The lamb represents human innocence and the tiger, violent and terrifying forces. The two represent the duality of human nature and the contrary states of human soul. Human experience embodied in the tiger corrupts and destroys human experience. His concept of God is based on humanism as reflected in “The Image”. Blake affirms his humanistic philosophy in “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” and believes God being the product of human imagination and resides in all creations of beauty and wisdom. The child or the lamb represents God Who is conceived of as eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient. Blake is opposed to conventional images of God and rejects obedience to the church. He lambasts religion as affecting every aspects of human life. He castigates the church cruelty and its morality and also varied oppressions through the prescriptions of the priests and condemns priests in “The Garden of Love”.

Mehmet S. Aydın's Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of religion is a field that studies religious issues from a philosophical point of view. Mehmet S. Aydın, who wrote the most widely read work in the field of philosophy of religion in Turkey, entitled Philosophy of Religion, has remarkable studies in this field as a thinker trying to reconcile religion and philosophy. According to Aydın, thoughts that can be described as philosophical ones should first of all have the characteristics of "rationality, comprehensiveness, objectivity and consistency". The main aim of a philosopher of religion is to try to show the integrity of knowledge by reconciling the knowledge revealed by religion and science with a philosophical perspective that includes these basic features. According to Aydın, who was influenced by the philosophy of the process, the relationship between God and the Realm is not static. This relationship, which takes its roots from the Qur'an, is in a creative development that evolves towards innovation. Aydın does not intend to establish religion. Aydın is trying to "establish a pure and universal moral religion with liberal and democratic character by purging religion from its historical interpretations", that is, to understand religion from the Qur'an. Unlike Kant's morality of duty, which he was inspired by, Aydın; He says that religion affects every aspect of life. He draws attention to the need to solve the problems of religious life with modern life. In this context, the subject of the research is about Aydın's understanding of philosophy of religion in general and his contributions to the philosophy of religion. Studies that reveal Aydın's ideas in the field of philosophy of religion are rare. This study is important in terms of contributing to the gap in the literature. In the research; Based on Mehmet S. Aydın's various works and other studies on him, it is aimed to reveal Aydın's philosophy of religion understanding by determining Aydın's ideas about philosophy of religion and the basic principles behind these ideas. The theoretical research design, which is included in the qualitative research method, was preferred. While creating the data, Mehmet S. Aydın's Philosophy of Religion, God-World Relationship, Islamic Philosophy Writings were preferred as the main source and various studies in the literature were also used. Based on these works, the document analysis method was preferred in order to extract the ideas and terminology of the thinker about the philosophy of religion and to classify them in a problem-oriented manner. In conclusion; What the philosopher of religion basically wants to do is to establish a bridge between the field of theology and the field of social sciences, to allow information exchange, as well as to try to show the integrity of knowledge by reconciling the information revealed by religion and science. Aydın, who thinks that religion is related to every aspect of life; He states that "it is not necessary to deny one's own religious and moral values, and their own historical values ​​in order to become this or that intellectual". This will be achieved by learning and adopting religious and cultural values, and most importantly, by putting them into practice. Aydın's main goal was the idea of ​​bringing the "man of the Qur'an", that is, the true pious, back on the stage of life in his individual and social self.

İlahiyat Alanında Yurt Dışında Lisans ve Lisansüstü Eğitim: Ürdün Örneği

During the 20th century, several Muslim countries made attempts to create modern educational institutions, switch to the university system, and adapt the traditional Islamic Studies to the new system. Various countries have implemented similar initiatives by taking different approaches. The majority of Muslims have prioritized the transmission of Islamic scientific knowledge to succeeding generations and the tackling of social issues. Examining Islamic studies and theological education systems which carried out in other countries gives us an opportunity to discover different answers to the same dilemmas. Jordan is one of the countries where Islamic theological education has been given at the universities founded in the last century. In this paper, after a brief information about switching the university system at the Arap world, we introduced the long-established Universities in Jordan and Faculties of Sharia (al-Sharee’a) and Islamic Studies which are similar to the Faculties of Theology/Islamic Sciences in Turkey. We gave detailed information about the goals of these faculties, their missions, and curricula; and made a comparison with similar educational institutions in our country in terms of their programs and curricula. Unlike the Faculties of Theology/Islamic Sciences in our country, the aforementioned faculties in Jordan carry out multi-program education. These faculties have Usūlu al-Dīn departments that offer standard Islamic sciences education in the center, but the programs of the faculties are not limited to this. In addition to the Usūl al-Dīn program, there are other programs conducted jointly with other faculties. These include the Fiqh and Qadā' (Fiqh and Judiciary) program in partnership with the Faculties of Law, the Islamic Banking program in partnership with the Faculties of Economics, and the al-Dirasāt al-Islamiyya fi'l-Asri al-Mu'āsir (Islamic Studies in the Contemporary Era) program, which offers education in a foreign language. The fact that the program of Islamic Economics and Finance, Islamic Insurance, and similar programs, which have recently started to provide education at the graduate level in Turkey, have been carried out in Jordan for more than ten years at both undergraduate and graduate levels is important in terms of sharing experiences. Moreover, the Fiqh and Qadâ' program, whose graduates can work in the Sharia courts, stands out in the context of the relationship between Islamic sciences and society. In addition, the departments of Usūlu'd-Din and Dawah, which are among the programs carried out in the faculties of Sharia, have similarities and differences with the programs of the Faculties of Theology / Islamic Sciences and Religious Higher Specialization and Training Centers in our country. In this context, it has been determined that Theology/Islamic Sciences education in Jordan is deficient in terms of Religious Sciences (Sociology of Religion, Psychology of Religion, Philosophy of Religion, etc.), and this situation has been examined in our study as an issue that deserves criticism. This study, it is aimed to inform those concerned about the developments in other countries with Muslim societies in order to break down some prejudices, then to create the right interaction and to benefit from it.

Platon’un Phaidon Diyaloğunda Uyum Argümanı ve Elemeci Materyalist Zihin Felsefesi

The subject of this paper is to examine ‘the harmony argument’, which is considered as a materialist understanding of soul in Plato's Phaedo (86a-94e), and to evaluate the 'eliminative materialism', which is a materialist philosophy of mind in the contemporary period. To do this, first of all, the main points of the harmony argument will be examined. The harmony argument is provided by Simmias in the dialogue. The harmony argument is advanced by Simmias in the dialogue. According to him, the harmony in the sound of a tuned lyre is something invisible and immaterial, just like the soul, while the strings of the lyre are corporeal, composite. However, when the corporeal string disappears, the harmony also disappears. Why not consider the same for the soul and the body? When we look at the contemporary philosophy of mind, it can be said that especially materialist philosophies of mind are in demand and that they reduce the mind to the brain, just as harmony is reduced to string in the example of the lyre above. Eliminative materialism, which is discussed in this paper, is at the far end of this issue and states that the mind is completely the brain and that the mind can be eliminated. If we consider the argument of harmony with the claims of eliminative materialism, according to them, there is nothing but sound and string, and movements in sound and string are called harmony in an unscientific way. Since there is no such thing as harmony, this concept will disappear as science progresses about the lyre and its strings. Philosophy of mind is a very current and important sub-field of philosophy as a field of study, considering topics such as artificial intelligence in the contemporary period. It can be thought that the philosophy of religion, in which subjects such as metaphysics and spirit are studied, can point to important places in this field, especially when it is considered that science is handled with a materialist way today. This paper, it is aimed to compare the harmony argument in the Phaidon dialogue, which is one of the most basic texts on the subject that the soul is a substance separate from matter, with the elective materialism, which is one of the contemporary theories, and to present the answers that can be given to materialism in this regard. While doing this, the text of the dialogue was analyzed and examined in a comparative way with contemporary thoughts. As a result, it was seen that three important issues arise in Socrates' answer to the harmony argument. According to Socrates (i) the soul exists before the body, and harmony emerges after the lyre and strings. (ii) The soul is active on the body, it can oppose the body. But harmony is not active on lyre and strings, it can only follow them. (iii) Spirit is simple, there is no such thing as being more or less spirit. But the harmony may be less or more. Considering these claims of Socrates, it has been seen that the second view, which we can call the problem of free will, is an important objection for eliminative materialism. It has hardly dealt with the other two issues above. However, it was concluded that while denying the subjective experiences of human beings, eliminative materialism did not fully base it, and it was criticized on this subject in the philosophy of mind.

Tanrı-Zaman İlişkisi Bağlamında Richard Swinburne’ün Klasik Teizme Eleştirileri ve Zamansal Tanrı Tasavvuru

This study examines Richard Swinburne's thoughts on the relationship between God and time, one of the forefathers of the modern philosophy of religion. I will analyze Swinburne's critiques of classical theism's conception of God acting in the timeless/eternal and possessing the present, and asses to which extent the philosopher's temporal conception of God can overcome classical theism's difficulties. The idea of God being incorporated in time, according to theism, would make God a prisoner of time. God would be constrained by time and the natural laws that govern it, and situating creation under the concept of eternal time, as Swinburne claims, would pose some difficulties for classical theism's assumptions. Swinburne contends that the concept of eternal God as owning the present raises a number of theological-philosophical issues, including human freedom, God's goodness, and how God acts in time. Swinburne finds traditional theism's theories of human will inadequate, claiming that in order to provide for human freedom, God voluntarily intervenes in time and limits his own self-knowledge. Swinburne acknowledges that God must operate in time by claiming that acts connected to the essence of the act occur across in a certain period of time rather than in moments. In other words, contrary to what classical theism argues, God does not act in his eternal present. According to him, God acts through time because acts do not occur in moments but in certain period of time. Examining Swinburne's idea of time and the relationship between God and time within this framework is critical for revealing the challenges caused by the idea of timeless God presented by classical theism. The purpose of this research is to determine which difficulties classical theism and Swinburne's arguments on the relationship between God and time answer and which problems they open up in theological and philosophical dimensions. Another goal of the research is to provide a critical viewpoint on both points of view. Swinburne's The Christian God, The Coherence of Theism, and Space and Time is evaluated in the study using the textual analysis approach and secondary source data. In conclusion, according to Swinburne, classical theism's conception of God is defended as a result of assumptions about certain divine attributes such as immutability, perfection, power, and knowledge. It is also clear that these assumptions raise some theological problems. The idea of God's temporality, on the other hand, was put forward in order to solve some problems regarding human will, God's goodness, and God's agency. As a result, the temporal notion of God solves some of the challenges created by the timeless conception of God in classical theism, yet classical theism has several presuppositions that prevent it from accepting this view. The assumptions that both sides make on certain issues serve as their starting point. Both perspectives' conclusions point to further issues that need to be addressed.

The same content in two different languages? Hegel's conception of religion and philosophy and its critique by D.F. Strauss

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to contribute to debate on Hegel's conception of the relationship between religion and philosophy by proposing that it can be a read as a division of labour between Christian religion and speculative philosophy. This reading allows us to understand better Hegel's idea that religion and philosophy have the same content in two different forms. I distinguish between the institutional and the intrapersonal dimensions of Hegel's claim of a division of labour between religion and philosophy. I then turn to a critique of Hegel's philosophy of religion by showing how David Friedrich Strauss's concluding dissertation from The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined can call our attention to some internal tensions within Hegel's conception. Although Strauss's interpretation does not present an insurmountable objection against Hegel's conception of a division of labour, it can help to illuminate to what extent Hegel oversimplified the practical implications that his conception might have for the priest's attempt to continue his instruction to the members of his community.

ON THE CRISIS OF CULTURE AND MAN IN THE «FAR-FETCHED» TRADITIONALISM OF R.GUENON

The problem of the crisis situation of Western European culture at the beginning of the 19th century became the central problem in the ideological heritage of R. Guenon. In his reflections, the French thinker turns to the consideration of the role and significance of traditions in the life of a person and society. R.Guenon fills the term “tradition” with his semantic load, making this term a key element in his philosophy. The reflexive space of Guénon’s philosophy is the sphere of the philosophy of religion and it is difficult to attribute it to the sphere of religious philosophy. This difficulty lies in the departure of the French thinker from the traditions of the Christian worldview to the ideological foundations of Eastern mysticism, agnosticism and theosophical views. Perhaps it is these preferences of Guénon that lead the researchers of his work to the idea that he is, in a certain sense, the “forerunner” of the postmodern era in Europe. Tradition and the crisis of traditions for the philosopher are considered as the main subject of study. The scale of historical and philosophical analysis is taken by the thinker without embarrassment as wide as possible. Ultimately, the very crisis of culture for Guenon can and must serve as a transition to a new stage in the development of culture. In this new stage, a syncretic creative renewal of world religions on the basis of the Eastern mysteries will take place. The cyclic concept of the author’s history does not retain its traditional connection with the Christian understanding of the future, the loss of the Christian eschatological understanding of man. the Renaissance is declared a break point with the traditional understanding of being. For a philosopher, tradition is not reduced to folk custom. And already at this stage, we are witnessing Guénon’s attempt to give the established philosophical terms their own sound, fitting them to his concept and esoteric context.

The functions of natural theology in Thomas Aquinas: A presumption of atheism?

Abstract Antony Flew argued for a ‘presumption of atheism’ that intended to put the philosophical debate about God under a light which demands setting the meaningfulness and logical coherence of the theistic notion of ‘God’ before any arguments for His existence are suggested. This way of proceeding, discussing divine attributes before considering the arguments for the existence of God, became dominant in analytic philosophy of religion. Flew also stated that Aquinas presented his five ways as an attempt to defeat such a presumption of atheism. However, Aquinas proceeds in the reverse order, beginning with God's existence before discussing the divine attributes. He does so because he believes that natural knowledge of God must be drawn from creatures. Accordingly, from the Thomist perspective, natural theology is necessary not because it provides rational justification for religious belief in God's existence, but rather as a means to fix the referent for the word ‘God’ (semantic function) and provide an intelligible account of the divine nature (hermeneutic function). We should also acknowledge a correlative hermeneutic function of religious faith. Therefore, natural theology should not begin from a presumption of atheism nor proceed in the way suggested by Flew, because its main intention is not strictly apologetical.

Homiletical-liturgical Perspectives on Life in the Anthropocene: The Preeminence of People's Cognition, Weltanschauung, and Homeless Minds

The central theme of this article is the matter of church participants’ engagement in liturgy and how this could enhance their capacity for making moral decisions when it comes to life in the Anthropocene. First, one should acknowledge that liturgists in faith communities have to deal with the notion of people enclaved in the idea of homeless minds. They are exposed to contradictory views on reality. The concept of cognitive dissonance needs to be addressed, and without constructive homiletical-liturgical address of this matter, it will lead to people looking for answers elsewhere. Liturgy inevitably enables participants to see things they do not or may not want to. People want to make sense of life and experiences in daily life, a process well-known as cognition. It should also be acknowledged that without reflection on the functioning of attitudes within Weltanschauung's framework, numerous challenges for any debate on life in the Anthropocene will be experienced. First, this article offers a description of the currently concerning aspects to be found under this rubric. Second, systemizing perspectives based on the philosophy of religion, anthropology, bioethics, and cognitive psychology are examined as centered on the intimate interplay with ethical conduct in viewing the world and liturgy. Finally, the following research question is formulated and briefly discussed: How could a homiletical-liturgical praxeology dealing with the homeless mind enable its participants to cultivate a Weltanschauung committed to a focused interest in the Anthropocene? The methodological approach of Browning has been carefully identified to arrange the research into coherent phases and reflect on the research question.

Der Begriff Ernst. Zur Kritik ironischer Selbstverhältnisse bei Hegel und Kierkegaard

Abstract The article aims at giving an account of and comparing Hegel’s and Kierkegaard’s critique of contemporary culture by focussing on the category of seriousness. Both thinkers diagnose a general tendency of downplaying, in fact, suppressing or even abolishing consciousness of sin and a concomitant disappearance of seriousness in what they consider „the modern age of reflection.“ First, the concept of seriousness is spelled out within their respective philosophies of religion, and this in relation to the reality of sin as a misguided and distorted relationship to God. Second, the idea of seriousness is analysed with special reference to the different forms and stages of spirit (in Hegel), on the one hand, and „dialectical seriousness“ (in Kierkegaard) on the other hand. Third, major similarities and differences in both accounts are pointed out, in order, finally, to draw some, partly critical, consequences regarding current and future Kierkegaard research.

Обзор Международной научно-практической конференции «Современная онтология – XI: онтология и религия» (Санкт-Петербург, Волгоград, 26–30 июня 2023 г.)

The review of the international scientific and practical conference "Modern Ontology – XI: Ontology and Religion", which took place from June 26 to June 30 at the Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation and Volgograd State University, is presented. The speeches of the conference participants were devoted to several significant topics on the stated issues. The first thematic block consisted of theoretical issues of the relationship between ontology and religion. Within the framework of this topic, the plenary report of P.M. Kolychev's "Ontology and religion", in which theology was considered as part of ontology became the key one. The second thematic block included the problems of human existence in the context of religion. Within the framework of this topic, S.B. Tokareva in the plenary report "Ontological consequences of human and angelic freedom: a modal approach" examined the interpretations of the real, possible and necessary, analyzed the ontological consequences of human and angelic freedom. Within the framework of the third thematic block, in which the problems of the relationship between ontology and religion were discussed in a historical and philosophical retrospective, the most interesting was the plenary report of I.I. Evlampiev "The problem of creation and the status of nothing in the metaphysics of mystical Pantheism", which presented an original view on the development of the concepts of creation in the history of Christian thought. The fourth thematic block covered the problems of theory and practice of ontology. Within the framework of the conference, a fruitful discussion was held on the topic "What kind of philosophy do we need?", dedicated to the problems of teaching philosophy for non-philosophical specialties. Most of the participants supported the idea of developing a unified program of a general philosophy course based on the domestic (including Soviet period) experience of teaching this discipline. The following structure of the philosophy course is proposed: 1) ontology; 2) philosophy of natural science; 3) philosophy of socio-anthropological reality; 4) philosophy of religion.

Engaging and developing Ada Agada's philosophy: moral responsibility, creation, and the problem of evil

Abstract In a recent article in Religious Studies, Ada Agada argues that the problem of evil is relevant not only to those who consider God to hold the Omni-properties but also to those who understand God as a limited deity. He rightly points out that the limited-God literature in the African philosophy of religion has neglected to address the problem of evil by too quickly dismissing it. Agada then argues that the reason why the problem of evil is philosophically relevant for the limited-God view is that He, as the creator, has sufficient powers to address evil and, thereby, moral responsibility regarding the evil in the world. In this reply, I uphold that although Agada is correct to affirm that the problem of evil is relevant for the limited-God view, he is mistaken to contend that the reason is that God is the creator. I contest this view and argue that Agada has not given enough reasons to believe that God has moral responsibility over evil in the world. However, I illuminate how Agada can develop this argument in the future.

Philosophy of Religion through Two Lenses: Charles Hartshorne Reads Semen Frank

The article contains a comparative analysis of the thought of Russian émigré philosopher Semen Frank and one of the most prominent representatives of process philosophy and theology Charles Hartshorne. Among the points of convergence, their integral vision of reality was pointed out. Frank’s and Hartshorne’s approaches to the question of cognition of God were considered, with special attention paid to their interpretation of the ontological proof. Hartshorne was familiar with Russian thought and even wrote reviews on Zenkovsky and Lossky’s classic books on the history of Russian philosophy, where he mentioned Frank more than once. One cannot speak of the two thinkers’ influence on each other, but rather of a common philosophical heritage going back to Plato.