8. The afterlife
Tim Bayne
in Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction
Speculation on the nature of the afterlife is as old as recorded history. Although the doctrine of an afterlife is not found in all religious traditions, where it does, it is typically ...
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3. Arguments for the existence of God
Tim Bayne
in Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction
Is it possible to prove that God exists? There is certainly no shortage of arguments that purport to establish God’s existence, but ‘Arguments for the existence of God’ focuses on three of ...
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2. The concept of God
Tim Bayne
in Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction
Religions differ widely in their conceptions of God’s nature, from God as a unity to God as a triune and God as a supernatural being or the totality of all that there is. ‘The concept of ...
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4. Divine hiddenness and the nature of faith
Tim Bayne
in Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction
Assuming—as theists invariably do—that God wants to be recognized and worshipped, why does God not make Godself manifest? Perhaps God is ‘silent’ because God doesn’t exist. ‘Divine ...
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1. Does God exist?
John Bowker
in God: A Very Short Introduction
‘Does God exist?’ looks at ways in which philosophers and theologians have tried to answer that question in careful and precise language. In contrast, poets and believers use far more ...
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4. Eternity
Peter Adamson
in Philosophy in the Islamic World: A Very Short Introduction
The issue most strongly associated with the history of philosophy in the Islamic world is the eternity of the universe. It features in several key works from the Islamic world—notably ...
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6. Ethics and politics
Peter Adamson
in Philosophy in the Islamic World: A Very Short Introduction
Philosophers of the Islamic world sought to reconcile the religious norms laid down in the religious law with the ethical and political norms established by unaided human reason. In ...
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3. God and being
Peter Adamson
in Philosophy in the Islamic World: A Very Short Introduction
Muslims, like Jews and Christians, recognize no other divinities but the all-powerful Creator of the universe. They adhere to the fundamental belief in God’s oneness, or tawḥīd. The ...
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1. A historical whirlwind tour
Peter Adamson
in Philosophy in the Islamic World: A Very Short Introduction
‘A historical whirlwind tour’ outlines philosophical thinking in the Islamic world, which spread from the Iberian peninsula in the West to the Indian and Chinese borders in the East. It ...
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Introduction
Peter Adamson
in Philosophy in the Islamic World: A Very Short Introduction
The ‘Introduction’ explains that the beginning of philosophy in the Islamic world is seen as lying with a translation movement that began more than 200 years after the age of the Prophet ...
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5. Knowledge
Peter Adamson
in Philosophy in the Islamic World: A Very Short Introduction
Philosophers in the Islamic world tried to explain prophecy in terms of a more general account of human knowledge. To understand the special access to truth granted to the prophet, one ...
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7. On knowing and not knowing God
John Bowker
in God: A Very Short Introduction
How can God be known? ‘On knowing and not knowing God’ proposes that it could only be if God creates the means of that knowing, and of that being known. What are the effects through which ...
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5. The problem of evil
Tim Bayne
in Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction
Evil represents the most serious challenge to belief in God. Philosophers of religion typically distinguish between two versions of the problem of evil: the logical and the evidential ...
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2. Reason and revelation
Peter Adamson
in Philosophy in the Islamic World: A Very Short Introduction
‘Reason and revelation’ points out that in the Islamic world, there was no hard-and-fast distinction between theology, which draws on revelation, and philosophy, which uses only the natural ...
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4. The religions of Abraham: Christian understandings of God
John Bowker
in God: A Very Short Introduction
‘The religions of Abraham: Christian understandings of God’ looks at Christianity beginning with its development from its Jewish Bible roots. Christianity began as one interpretation among ...
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3. The religions of Abraham: Jewish understandings of God
John Bowker
in God: A Very Short Introduction
‘The religions of Abraham: Jewish understandings of God’ looks at Judaism in detail and the foundations in the Biblical period in order to show how the distinctive Jewish understandings of ...
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5. The religions of Abraham: Muslim understandings of God
John Bowker
in God: A Very Short Introduction
‘The religions of Abraham: Muslim understandings of God’ looks at Islam, which began historically with the life and work of Muhammad (570–632). From the Muslim point of view Islam began ...
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6. Religions of India
John Bowker
in God: A Very Short Introduction
‘Religions of India’ shows that Indian understandings and characterisations of God are extremely diverse and are expressed in the vivid proliferation of worship, rituals, meditation, music, ...
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6. The roots of religious belief
Tim Bayne
in Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction
One of the features of human societies is the ubiquity of religious commitment. But why do we find religious ideas compelling? ‘The roots of religious belief’ suggests we need to look ...
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7. Speaking of God
Tim Bayne
in Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction
Language plays many roles in religious thought and practice, but philosophers of religion are most interested in the doctrinal uses of language. ‘Speaking of God’ considers both realism and ...
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