DECK E — Philosophy of Religion (PoR) (copy)

Philosophy of Religion

Rational reflection on religion. |

Critical, outsider’s analysis of religious beliefs, practices, and language.

Natural Theology

Knowledge of God by reason.

Theology based on observation and logic, independent of revelation.

Sacred Theology

Knowledge by revelation.

Theology grounded in divine revelation (Scripture, tradition).

Theodicy

Problem of evil.

Reconciliation of God’s omnipotence/omnibenevolence with existence of evil.

Religious Epistemology

Justification of belief.

Asks whether religious claims are rational and justified.

Religious Language

Meaning of religious talk.

Analyzes logical character of theological statements (e.g., analogy, symbol, metaphor).

Religious Experience

How experience becomes religious.

Describes religious phenomena from the perspective of lived experience.

Faith Seeking Understanding (Fides quaerens intellectum)

Anselm’s motto.

Faith is primary, but reason deepens comprehension.

Ontological Argument (Anselm)

God as “that than which nothing greater can be conceived.”

Existence of God deduced from concept of God itself.

Five Ways (Aquinas)

Proofs for God.

Motion, causality, contingency, degrees of perfection, teleology.

Ralph Cudworth

Early PoR.

Distinguished philosophy of religion from theology in 17th century.

Hegel (Lectures on PoR)

Religion as Spirit.

Saw religions as historical manifestations of Absolute Spirit.

Mystics

• Also called saints

• Religious believers who  make  certain claims that are not accepted by the standard of established religions yet provide its pivotal development.

Philosophy,Theology, Natural Theology, Philosophy of Religion

The historical evolution of the term philosophy of religion.

• Classical: ____

• Medieval: ____

• Modern: ____

• Early Contemporary: ____

Philosophical Theology

The study about the coherence in the descriptions of God’s nature

Theodicy, Philosophical Theology, Religious Epistemology, Religious Language, Religious Experience

The 5 main areas of inquiry of Philosophy of religion