Philosophy of Religion in a Global Perspective

This anthology on philosophy of religion is unique in that it reflects the multicultural and global realities of religious pluralism. In addition to readings dealing with Judeo Christianity, Kessler includes Native American, African, Hindu, Islamic, Confucian, and Taoist thought. Feminist, African-American, atheist, and Latin American viewpoints are also included.

Preface

xi

(4)

Introduction: What Is Philosophy of Religion?

xv

Chapter 1 What Is Religion?

1

(43)

Introduction

1

(1)

1.1 The Nature of Religion

2

(9)

Ninian Smart

1.2 Religion as a Cultural System

11

(9)

Clifford Geertz

1.3 The Search for Family Resemblances of Religion

20

(4)

Rem B. Edwards

1.4 The Meaning and End of Religion

24

(10)

Wilfred Cantwell Smith

1.5 What is Religion?

34

(10)

Keiji Nishitani

Chapter 2 Diverse Views of Ultimate Reality

44

(52)

Introduction

44

(2)

2.1 The Tao

46

(4)

Lao-tzu

2.2 Non-Dualism

50

(12)

Shankara

2.3 The Nature of God

62

(7)

Avicenna

2.4 Emptiness and God

69

(12)

John B. Cobb, Jr.

2.5 The Female Nature of God

81

(6)

Rosemary Radford Reuther

2.6 Is the Concept of Ultimate Reality Coherent?

87

(9)

William J. Wainwright

Chapter 3 Can We Prove That Some Kind of Ultimate Reality Exists?

96

(54)

Introduction

69

(1)

3.1 The Seven Ways

97

(5)

Udayana

3.2 The Five Ways

102

(3)

St. Thomas Aquinas

3.3 The Cosmological Argument

105

(9)

William Rowe

3.4 A Buddhist Critique

114

(8)

Gunapala Dharmasiri

3.5 The Teleological Argument

122

(8)

David Hume

3.6 Whence This Consciousness?

130

(7)

Sir Autobindo

3.7 The Ontological Argument

137

(3)

St. Anselm

Gaunilo

3.8 Problems and Possibilities for the Ontological Argument

140

(10)

Yeager Hudson

Chapter 4 Religious Experience: What Is It and What Does It Prove?

150

(60)

Introduction

150

(2)

4.1 The Experiential Dimension

152

(10)

Ninian Smart

4.2 Black Elk's Vision

162

(8)

Black Elk

4.3 I and Thou

170

(6)

Martin Buber

4.4 Satori

176

(6)

D.T. Suzuki

4.5 Perceiving God

182

(10)

William P. Alston

Terence Penelhum

4.6 Feminists, Philosophiers, and Mystics

192

(18)

Grace M. Jantzen

Chapter 5 Why Do Suffering and Evil Occur?

210

(59)

Introduction

210

(1)

5.1 Night

211

(6)

Elie Wiesel

5.2 Does Evil Stem from Society or from Human Nature?

217

(7)

Human Nature Is Good

219

(2)

Mencius

Hsun-tzu

Human Nature Is Evil

221

(3)

5.3 Evil and Omnipotence

224

(9)

J.L. Mackie

5.4 The Free-Will Explanation

233

(5)

Kwame Gyekye

5.5 Atheism and Evil

238

(8)

William Rowe

5.6 Karma and the Problem of Evil

246

(9)

Bruce Reichenbach

5.7 Theological Explanations

255

(14)

Robert Nozick

Chapter 6 How Are Religion and Morality Related?

269

(57)

Introduction

269

(1)

6.1 Analects

270

(6)

Confucius

6.2 Master and Slave Morality

276

(4)

Friedrich Nietzsche

6.3 A Modified Divine Command Theory

280

(15)

Robert Merrihew Adams

6.4 An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity

295

(9)

Cornel West

6.5 Popular Religion and Liberation

304

(7)

Michael R. Candelaria

6.6 Religion and Women's Human Rights

311

(15)

Martha C. Nussbaum

Chapter 7 Are We Immortal?

326

(47)

Introduction

326

(2)

7.1 Death and Immortality in African Religions

328

(9)

Kofi Asare Opoku

7.2 Jewish Views of the Afterlife

337

(5)

Maurice Lamm

7.3 Human Destiny: Immortality and Resurrection

342

(9)

John Hick

7.4 The Immortality of the Soul

351

(7)

Jacques Maritain

7.5 The Problem of Rebirth

358

(6)

Sri Aurobindo

The Reincarnating Soul

360

(4)

7.6 A Naturalistic Case for Extinction

364

(9)

Linda Badham

Chapter 8 What Is the Meaning of Religious Language?

373

(55)

Introduction

373

(1)

8.1 The Nature of Religious Language

374

(9)

Paul Tillich

8.2 Does God-Talk Make Sense?

383

(7)

Antony Flew

R.M. Hare

Basil Mitchell

8.3 The Origins of the Question

390

(9)

Thomas P. Kasulis

8.4 Symbols All Around

399

(5)

John Fire

Lame Deer

8.5 Metaphorical Theology

404

(24)

Sallie McFague

Chapter 9 Do Faith and Reason Conflict?

428

(55)

Introduction

428

(3)

9.1 On the Harmony between Faith and Reason

431

(10)

Averroes

9.2 A Wager

441

(3)

Blaise Pascal

9.3 The Ethics of Belief

444

(4)

William K. Clifford

9.4 The Will to Believe

448

(8)

William James

9.5 Is Belief in God Rational?

456

(9)

Alvin Plantinga

9.6 Intellect and Intuition

465

(5)

Radhakrishnan

9.7 Kierkegaard on Rationality

470

(13)

Marilyn Gaye Piety

Chapter 10 Humanism, Science, and Miracles

483

(46)

Introduction

483

(1)

10.1 God Is a Projection

484

(8)

Ludwig Feuerbach

10.2 Religion Is an Opiate

492

(4)

Karl Marx

10.3 The Scientific Spirit and Method in Chinese Philosophy

496

(8)

Hu Shih

10.4 Religion and Science in the Global Age

504

(5)

Masao Abe

10.5 Of Miracles

509

(7)

David Hume

10.6 Miracles

516

(13)

Richard Swinburne

Chapter 11 Are All Religions True?

529

Introduction

529

(1)

11.1 Four Attitudes

530

(5)

Raimundo Panikkar

11.2 Conflicting Truth Claims

535

(11)

John Hick

11.3 Religious Pluralism and Advaita Vedanta

546

(8)

Arvind Sharma

11.4 The Transcendent Unity of Religions

554

(7)

Frithjof Schuon

11.5 Whose Objectivity? Which Neutrality?

561

(12)

Gavin D'Costa

11.6 A Problem for Radical Pluralism

573

Purusottama Bilimoria

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Philosophy of Religion in a Global Perspective

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