PHILO LONG TEST 1

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Dual Nature of Jesus

The belief that Jesus is both God and Man, a key criterion for determining a Christian denomination.

Trinity

The concept that the God Christians believe in is a trinity, consisting of the Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit.

Religio

Etymologically derived from Latin, meaning "reverence for gods" or "piety," emphasizing the vertical dimension of religion.

Religare

Etymologically from Latin, meaning "to bind together," highlighting the horizontal dimension of religion in connecting individuals.

Spirituality vs Religion

Distinguishing between personalized spirituality and institutionalized religion, emphasizing the continuum between the two.

Mysticism

A non-dogmatic faith in the reality of the Good, often associated with experiences beyond the ordinary.

Family-Resemblance Concept

Ludwig Wittgenstein's idea that concepts like religion are a network of similarities rather than a set of defining characteristics.

Philosophy

The rational investigation of truths and principles concerning being, knowledge, and conduct, encompassing metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.

Gnosis

A special kind of knowledge, often associated with religious insights that are not universally shareable.

Philosophy of Religion

Branch of philosophy which takes the claims of established religions and of religious believers and subjects them to critical scrutiny

Mystery of the Incarnation

Augustine's belief in God's intimate involvement with the world, particularly emphasizing the significance of the Incarnation.

Independence of the Biblical God

The concept that the biblical God is entirely separate from the world and could exist independently even if the world had not been created.

Proslogion

Anselm of Canterbury's work presenting the ontological argument for God's existence and the idea of faith seeking understanding.

Fides quaerens intellectum

The medieval concept of faith seeking understanding, indicating the pursuit of comprehension in theological matters.

Ontological Argument

Anselm's systematic investigation into God's mode of existence rather than a direct proof of God's existence.

Medieval Theology

The belief in God based on divine revelation and the importance of studying philosophy before theology.

Thomas Aquinas

The theologian who integrated ancient philosophy into theology, giving deference to Aristotle but transforming some of his doctrines.

John Duns Scotus

A thinker who combined elements of Augustine, neo-Platonism, and Aristotelianism in his theological views.

Modernity

The shift towards anthropocentrism and the critique of religion by philosophers like Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes.

Main Areas of Inquiry for Philosophy of Religion: Theodicy

philosophical or speculative proofs for the existence of God

• Fides quarens intellectum (Faith seeking understanding)

3 Solas

The core principles of faith in Protestant Reformation - Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, and Sola Gratia.

Hermeneutics

The art of interpretation, as discussed by philosophers like Paul Ricoeur in understanding religious texts and mindsets.

Masters of Suspicion

Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche, who critiqued religion and aimed to flatten the vertical horizon of religious beliefs.

Ludwig Feuerbach

The theologian who viewed religion as self-objectification and projected human hopes and values onto a divine entity.

Karl Marx

Emphasized religion as an ideological construct that persists due to human alienation and the need for escape.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Critiqued religion as a manifestation of ressentiment and advocated for the transvaluation of values towards the Ubermensch.

Sigmund Freud

Viewed religion as a wish-fulfillment illusion stemming from unconscious needs and desires.

Problem of Evil

The philosophical question concerning the existence of evil in a world created by a benevolent God.

Absence of Good

Evil is defined as the lack or absence of goodness rather than a tangible entity.

Deism

Belief in a single God who does not intervene in the universe after its creation.

Natural Evil

Evil resulting from natural disasters or phenomena, such as earthquakes or tsunamis.

Absolute Monism

The belief that God is the sole reality in a world that is less fully real.

Agnosticism

The belief that the truth about God's existence is unknowable, leading to a suspension of judgment on the matter.

Atheism

The explicit denial of the existence of God.

Naturalism

The positive assertion that the natural world exists independently of any supernatural entities.

Theism

Belief in a God who is omnipotent, omniscient, morally perfect, and the creator of the universe.

Omnipotence

God's attribute of being all-powerful within the bounds of logical possibility.

Omniscience

God's attribute of knowing all things.

Aseity

God's self-existence and independence from any external factors for His existence.

Personal God

The belief that God is a personal being who interacts with His creation.

Omnipresence

The belief that God is present everywhere at all times.

Eternal

God exists outside of time and is present in all moments of time simultaneously.

Immutable

God is unchanging and remains consistent throughout eternity.

Theism

The belief in a coherent and logically consistent concept of God, with the burden of proof on those who argue against it.

essentialist tendency in defining religion

It involves identifying a single essence or core feature that all religions supposedly share, often leading to the exclusion of certain traditions without that feature.

"Philosophy" based on its Greek etymology

Philosophy comes from "Philo" (love, friendship) and "Sophia" (wisdom), meaning the love of wisdom.

How does the transition from Medieval Theocentrism to Modern Anthropocentrism impact the study of religion?

It shifts the focus from God and theological concerns to human beings and their capacities, including reason and scientific inquiry.

Natural Theology

Natural Theology attempts to understand the nature of God and the possibility of God's existence through reason and observation, independently of revealed religion.

2 criteria for determining a Christian Denomination

Dual nature of Jesus and The God that we believe in is a trinity

Naturalistic Definition of Religion: Heightened Morality

Immanuel Kant - religion, in a practical sense, can complement and reinforce moral principles.

Iris Murdoch - morality is equal to “identifying with the good”

Naturalistic Definition of Religion: Socio-cultural Reality

Clifford Geertz: religion as a cultural system “of symbols which act to establish powerful, pervasive and long-standing moods and motivations in men.”

Emile Durkheim (“God is society writ large”): religion is the cement of society; “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things i.e. thing set apart and forbidden

Naturalistic Definition of Religion: Personal Piety

Friedrich Schleiermacher: “the essence of religion consists in the feeling of an absolute dependence.”

Julian Huxley: “The essence of religion springs forth from man’s capacity for awe and reverence…the feeling of sacredness

Different Greek words for “Love”

Eros - more passionate love

Philia - friendship

Agape - self-sacrificing love

Truth

Absolute and non-negotiable

Principles

Negotiable and are never absolute

Episteme

Common Knowledge

Philosophy involves:

Senses / sensory experiences - Faculty by which the body perceives external stimulus

Reasons - The intellectual faculty by which we think, understand, and form judgement

Intuition - Intellectual ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning

Imagination - Faculty or action of forming new ideas, images, or concepts of external objects not present to the senses

Principles - Propositions that serve as the foundation for a system of belief, or behavior, or reasoning

Philosophy among Greeks

• Ancient - very subject of Philosophy 

• Medieval - Theology 

  • 2 books theory - you get to know everything (Bible and nature) - Supernatural basis is faith 

• Modern - Natural theology; the basis is reason

Main Areas of Inquiry for Philosophy of Religion: Philosophical Theology

the study of the coherence in the description of God’s nature

• Metaphysical Evil

Main Areas of Inquiry for Philosophy of Religion: Religious Epistemology

inquires into the rational justification of religious beliefs and the strength of evidence that warrant such beliefs

Main Areas of Inquiry for Philosophy of Religion: Religious Language

analysis of the logical character of theological terms

• Sin, grace, redemption

Main Areas of Inquiry for Philosophy of Religion: Religious Experience

philosophical study of how ordinary experience becomes revelatory of the transcendent dimensions of reality

Thinking Religion: Ancient

Classical cosmocentrism

• Cosmos as a threefold unity

• God, Man, Nature are all centered within the cosmos (all elements within a circle)

• Each of them are affected by whatever happens to each other

Thinking Religion: Medieval

Medieval theocentrism

• Man and nature inside a unity while God is outside

• In order to understand man and nature, one must understand God

• Aristotle: There must be an ultimate principle exclamatory to humanity and nature

Thinking Religion: Modern

Modern anthropocentrism

• Dawn of fragmentation 

• God, man, and nature all in separate circles 

• Everything falls within the human person to imagine 

• Everyone is entitled to their own opinions to reality

• Immanuel Kant as a major player in this term as everything to him becomes phenomenon

  what is real (noumenon) and how things appear (phenomenon)

Alexandria

is an early Catechetical school in the Christian church that gave emphasis to both philosophical exploration of Scripture and the contention that the best philosophy is to be found in Scriptures.

Antioch

other early Catechetical school that emphasized a more literal reading of Scripture. Is famous for having been the place where followers of Jesus were first called Christians.

Xenophanes

attacked both the immorality and the anthropomorphism of the poet’s depiction of the gods

Philo

The Jewish philosopher who introduced Greek thought in the reading and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible

ontological argument

Anselm of Canterbury’s demonstration of God’s existence

Etienne Gilson

“the Greeks have gained an indisputably rational theology but they had lost their religion.”