Preface
Introduction: Philosophy and Religion
Chapter 1 Religions of the World
Hinduism
Buddhism
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Other Religious Forms
Chapter 2 Proving God's Existence
The Main Argument for God's Existence
The Ontological Argument
Criticisms of the Ontological Argument
The Cosmological Argument
Criticisms of the Cosmological Argument
The Teleological Argument
Criticisms of the Teleological Argument
Summing Up and Going Further
Questions for Chapter 2
Chapter 3 Religious Faith and Proving God's Existence
Two Questions about Proving God's Existence
The Relevance for Faith of the Arguments for God's Existence
Summing Up and Going Further
Questions for Chapter 3
Chapter 4 Is Religious Belief Reasonable?
Faith and Reason
Blaise Pascal and the Reasonableness of Faith
Criticisms of Pascal's Account
William James and the Right to Believe
Criticisms of James's Account
Contemporary Concerns about Evidentialism
Alvin Plantinga and the Rationality of Religious Belief
Criticisms of Plantinga's Account
William Alston and the Reliability of Religious Belief Formation
Criticisms of Alston's Account
Summing Up and Going Further
Questions for Chapter 4
Chapter 5 Religious Discovery: Is the Discovery of God Possible?
Religious Experience and Discovery
Kinds of Discoveries
The Religious Sensibility of the Psalms
Why Doesn't Everyone Realize God's Presence?
Is a Realization-Discovery of God's Presence Possible?
Criticisms of This Account
Summing Up and Going Further
Questions for Chapter 5
Chapter 6 The Religious Problem of Evil
Problems of Evil
The Personal Nature of the Religious Problem of Evil
The Religious Problem of Evil and Faith in God
Evil and God's Goodness and Power Moral Evil and Natural Evil
Some Religious Answers
The Free Will Theodicy
Criticisms of The Free Will Theodicy
The Best of All Possible Worlds Theodicy
Criticisms of the Best of All Possible Worlds Theodicy
The Irenaean Theodicy
Criticisms of The Irenaean Theodicy
When the Religious Problem of Evil Is Not a Problem
Back to the Practical Problem of Evil
Summing Up and Going Further
Questions for Chapter 6
Chapter 7 Miracles
Miracles in Religious Traditions
Intervention Miracles
Contingency Miracles
Natural Miracles
Summing Up and Going Further
Questions for Chapter 7
Chapter 8 Religion and Morality
Two Preliminary Questions
How Close Is Religious Morality to Secular or Nonreligious Morality?
Is Religious Morality the Same from Religion to Religion?
The Question of the Relationship between Religion and Morality: Three Views
Morality Independent of Religion
Critical Examination of the First View
Divine Command Morality
Critical Examination of Divine Command Morality
Divine Action as the Foundation of Morality
The Natural Law Form of the Third View
Critical Examination of the Third View in its Natural Law Form
The Relationships Form of the Third View
Critical Examination of the Third View in its Relationships Form
Summing Up and Going Further
Questions for Chapter 8
Chapter 9 Religious Language, Metaphor, and Gender
Issues of Religious Language
Does Religious Language Have Factual Meaning?
Metaphor
The Gender Issue
How Should God Be Conceived?
How Should God Be Imaged?
Summing Up and Going Further
Questions for Chapter 9
Chapter 10 Religious Realism and the Meaning of God
The Issue of Religious Realism and Questions about the Meaning of God
The Perspective of Non-realism
The Perspective of Realism
Critical Examination of Realism and Non-realism
Summing Up and Going Further
Questions for Chapter 10
Chapter 11 Religious Plurality: The Mutual-Opposition View, Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism
The Undeniable Phenomenon of Religious Plurality
The Mutual-Opposition View
Exclusivism
Critical Examination of Exclusivism
Inclusivism
Critical Examination of Inclusivism
Pluralism
Critical Examination of Pluralism
Summing Up and Going Further
Questions for Chapter 11
Chapter 12 Other Ways of Understanding Religious Plurality
The Different Aspects Approach
Critical Examination of the Different Aspects Approach
The Common Core Approach
Critical Examination of the Common Core Approach
The Indeterminacy Approach
Critical Examination of the Indeterminacy Approach
The Relationships Approach
Critical Examination of the Relationships Approach
Summing Up and Going Further
Questions for Chapter 12
Glossary
Index
