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Moore−Bruder: Philosophy:The Power of Ideas, SixthEditionIII. Philosophy of Religion:Reason and Faith13. Philosophy and Beliefin God

Part Three

Philosophy of Religion:Reason and Faith

Moore−Bruder: Philosophy:The Power of Ideas, SixthEditionIII. Philosophy of Religion:Reason and Faith13. Philosophy and Beliefin God

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13

Philosophy and Belief in God

It is morally necessary to assume the existence of God.—Immanuel KantGod is dead.—Friedrich Nietzsche

W

hat is the difference between a theologian and a philosopher of religion?Let’s back up about four steps and get a running start at the question.If you subscribe to a religion, and the opinion polls say you most likely do, thenyou also accept certain purely philosophical doctrines. For example, if you believein a nonmaterial God, then you believe that not all that exists is material, and thatmeans you accept a metaphysics of immaterialism. If you believe that you shouldlove your neighbor because God said you should, then you are taking sides in thedebate among ethical philosophers concerning ethical naturalism. You have com-mitted yourself to a stand against naturalism.Your religious beliefs commit you as well to certain epistemological principles.A lot of people who make no claim to have seen, felt, tasted, smelled, or heard Godstill say they know that God exists. So they must maintain that humans can haveknowledge not gained through sense experience. To maintain this is to take sidesin an important epistemological issue, as you know from PartOne.These and many other metaphysical, ethical, and epistemological points of view and principles are assumed by, and incorporated in, religion, and it is the busi-ness of the philosophy of religion to understand and rationally evaluate them.Of course,

theology

also seeks clear understanding and rational evaluationof the doctrines and principles found in religion, including those that are meta-physical, ethical, and epistemological. But, for the most part, theologians start frompremises and assumptions that are themselves religious tenets. The philosopher of religion, in contrast, does not make religious assumptions in trying to understandand evaluate religious beliefs.The religions of the world differ in their tenets, of course. Therefore, a philoso-pher of religion usually focuses on the beliefs of a speciﬁc religion or religious tra-dition, and in fact it is the beliefs of the Judaeo-Christian religious tradition that

Moore−Bruder: Philosophy:The Power of Ideas, SixthEditionIII. Philosophy of Religion:Reason and Faith13. Philosophy and Beliefin God

have received the most discussion by Western philosophers. Philosophers of reli-gion may focus on the beliefs of a speciﬁc religion, but they will not proceed in theirinquiries from the

assumption

that these beliefs are true, even though they may infact accept them as a personal matter.What are some of the metaphysical, ethical, and epistemological beliefs of the Judaeo-Christian tradition that philosophers have sought to understand and evalu-ate? Many of these beliefs have to do with

God:

that he exists, that he is good, thathe created the universe and is the source of all that is real, that he is a personal de-ity, that he is a transcendent deity, and so forth. Many have to do with

humans:

thathumans were created in the image of God, that they have free will, that they canhave knowledge of God’s will, that the human soul is immortal, and so on. Otherbeliefs have to do with

features of the universe:

for example, that there are miracles,that there is supernatural reality, that there is pain and suffering (a fact thought torequire reconciliation with the belief in a good and all-powerful God). And still oth-ers have to do with

language:

that religious language is intelligible and meaningful,that religious utterances are (or are not) factual assertions or are (or are not) meta-phorical or analogical, that terminology used in descriptions of God means thesame (or does not mean the same) as when it is used in descriptions of other things.This is a long list of issues. To simplify things, we will concentrate here on thephilosophical consideration of the Christian belief in the existence of God. Let’sbegin with two Christian greats, St. Anselm and St. Aquinas.

TWO CHRISTIAN GREATS

Other chapters have begun with discussions of ancient Greek philosophers, and wecould have begun this chapter, too, with the ancient Greeks. Many modern reli-gious beliefs contain ideas that were discussed by, and in some cases originatedwith, the Greeks. But we have narrowed the focus here to the philosophical con-sideration of the Judaeo-Christian belief in God’s existence, and it is appropriate tobegin with the man who was abbot of Bec and, later, archbishop of Canterbury.

Anselm

St. Anselm

(c. 1033–1109) was among the ﬁrst to evaluate the belief in the Chris-tian God from a purely philosophical perspective, that is, from a perspective thatdoes not make religious assumptions from the outset. Nonetheless, Anselm never

Chapter 13

•Philosophy and Belief in God

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An old saying goes that the difference between ametaphysician and a theologian is this: The meta-physician looks in a dark room for a black cat that isnot there. The theologian looks in the same placefor the same thing.And ﬁnds it.

The Black Cat

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