PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

Dialogue Education Update 3

THIS CD HAS BEEN PRODUCED FOR TEACHERS TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM. IT IS A

CONDITION OF THE USE OF THIS CD THAT IT BE USED ONLY BY THE PEOPLE FROM
SCHOOLS THAT HAVE PURCHASED THE CD ROM FROM DIALOGUE EDUCATION. (THIS
DOES NOT PROHIBIT ITS USE ON A SCHOOL’S INTRANET).
Contents
 Pages 3 - Video Interview with Daniel Dennett
 Pages 4 to 5 What is Philosophy of Religion?
 Pages 6 to 10 The Task of the Philosopher of Religion
 Page 11 - Other questions in Philosophy of Religion
 Pages 12 to 15 Central questions
 Page 16 - Monotheistic Definitions
 Page 17 - Polytheistic Definitions
 Page 18 - Pantheism and Panantheism
 Pages 20 to 21 - Natural Theology
 Page 23 - Community of inquiry stimulus material
 Page 24 - Bibliography
YOUTUBE Video Religion Vs Atheism -
Daniel Dennett on CCTV "Highlights"
 Click on the
image to the
left. You will
need to be
connected to
the internet to
view this
presentation.
 Enlarge to full
screen
Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy of religion is a
branch of philosophy that is
concerned with the
philosophical study of religion.
Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy of Religion is
sometimes distinguished
from "religious
philosophy“.
Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of religion
has classically been
regarded as a part of
metaphysics.
Philosophy of Religion

However, the
philosophy of religion
has concerned itself with
more than just
metaphysical questions.
 Philosophy of Religion

Objects of religious belief raise

special philosophical problems
and invite us to clarify central
metaphysical concepts.
Philosophy of Religion

A philosopher of
religion is interested in
asking what may be
knowable with regards to
religions' claims.
Philosophy of Religion

A philosopher of
religion asks whether
there are sound reasons
to think that God does or
does not exist.
Philosophy of Religion
There are other questions
studied in the philosophy of
religion. E.g What, if
anything, would give us good
reason to believe that a
miracle has occurred?
Philosophy of Religion

The question "What is

God?" is sometimes
also phrased as "What is the
meaning of the
word God?"
Philosophy of Religion


" What is God?“
 "Man is certainly crazy. He could not make a mite, and he makes
gods by the dozen."

 -Michel De Montaigne
 Philosophy of Religion
Some people believe in
supernatural beings, some
believe there is just one God,
while others believe in many
different deities while
maintaining that all are
manifestations of one God.
Philosophy of Religion
Within these two broad
categories (monotheism and
polytheism) there is a wide
variety of possible beliefs.
Philosophy of Religion
Monotheistic definitions
Augustine
 In Western thought, God is traditionally
described as a being that possesses at least
three necessary properties: omniscience
(all-knowing), omnipotence (all-
powerful), and omnibenevolence
(supremely good).
Philosophy of Religion
Even once the word "God" is
defined in a monotheistic
sense, there are still many
difficult questions to be asked
about what this means.
Philosophy of Religion

Polytheistic definitions
The distinguishing characteristic of
polytheism is its belief in more
than one god(dess).
Philosophy of Religion

Pantheistic definitions
Pantheists assert that God is
itself the natural universe.
Panentheism
Panentheism holds that the
physical universe is part of
God, but that God is more
than this.
Philosophy of Religion
The second question, "Do we have any good reason to think that
God does (or does not) exist?", is equally important in the
philosophy of religion. There are eight main positions with
regard to the existence of God that one might take:
Theism
Pantheism
Panentheism
Deism
Agnosticism
Atheism
Retreism
Polytheism
Philosophy of Religion

Natural theology
The attempt to provide proofs
or arguments for the existence
of God is one aspect of what is
known as natural theology or
the natural theistic project.
Philosophy of Religion
The philosopher Alvin
Plantinga has shifted his
focus to justifying belief in
God through reformed
epistemology.
Philosophy of Religion
According to DZ Phillips, the
question of whether or not God
exists cannot be "objectively"
answered by philosophy.
Community of Inquiry Discussion
 CLICK ON THIS
LINK FOR THE
STIMULUS
MATERIAL FOR A
DISCUSSION ON
BIG BANG
COSMOLOGY AND
THE EXISTENCE OF
GOD. (You might like
to print this material
out and distribute it to
the class.)
Bibliography
 Saint Augustine; The Confessions of Saint Augustine (John K. Ryan translator); Image (1960), ISBN 0-385-02955-1
 Descartes, René; Meditations on First Philosophy; Bobbs-Merril (1960), ISBN 0-672-60191-5
 Barzilai, Gad; Law and Religion; The International Library of Essays in Law and Society; Ashgate (2007),ISBN 978-0-7546-
2494-3
 Durant, Will (& Ariel (uncredited)); The Age of Faith; Simon & Schuster (1980), ISBN 0-671-01200-2.
 Marija Gimbutas 1989. The Language of the Goddess. Thames and Hudson New York
 Gonick, Larry; The Cartoon History of the Universe; Doubleday, vol. 1 (1978) ISBN 0-385-26520-4 vol. II (1994) ISBN#0-
385-42093-5, W. W. Norton, vol. III (2002) ISBN 0-393-05184-6.
 Haisch, Bernard The God Theory: Universes, Zero-point Fields, and What's Behind It All -- discussion of science vs. religion
(Preface), Red Wheel/Weiser, 2006, ISBN 1-57863-374-5
 Lao Tzu; Tao Te Ching (Victor H. Mair translator); Bantam (1998).
 Marx, Karl; "Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right", Deutsch-Französische
Jahrbücher, (1844).
 Saler, Benson; "Conceptualizing Religion: Immanent Anthropologists, Transcendent Natives, and Unbounded Categories"
(1990), ISBN 1-57181-219-9
 The Holy Bible, King James Version; New American Library (1974).
 The Koran; Penguin (2000), ISBN 0-14-044558-7
 Evans, C. Stephen (1985). Philosophy of Religion: Thinking about Faith. InterVarsity Press. pp. 16. ISBN 0877843430. 
 Antony Flew, John Polkinghorne, Keith Ward and Richard Swinburne
 The London Philosophy Study Guide offers many suggestions on what to read, depending on the student's familiarity with the
subject: Philosophy of Religion
 William L. Rowe, William J. Wainwright, Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, Third Ed. (Florida: Harcourt Brace &
Company, 1998)
 Wikipedia-Philosophy of Religion- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_religion