Major Answers to Philosophy of Religion Questions - Assignment Example

It is extremely difficult to precisely define religion because there are several counterexamples posed. Diverse authors have provided various features of religion in their definitions. The feature of religion to express the complete reality of goodness in all aspects of living has been proposed by F.H. Bradley. On the other hand, C.P. Tiele has explained religion as the pure and authentic reverent disposition which is present in the mind frame and known as piety.

The working definition is that religion is constituted by a set of beliefs, actions, and experiences, both personal and corporate, organized around a concept of an Ultimate Reality.

Their definition is not satisfactory because a given religion, with its preferred attitudes and emotions, its prescribed rituals, its important stories and myths, and its recommended way of life can never be fully understood.

Beliefs are truth claims or statements which are accepted to be true. In a particular sense, all religions have their bases in beliefs. The five basic areas of beliefs are as follows:
- Humans find themselves in a predicament.
- Humans need a way to resolve the predicament.
- There is an existence of a transcendent being that assists humans or is the very objective of existence.
- This “something” can be approached or known in a particular manner.
- Something must be done by humans to achieve liberation or salvation.

Philosophy of religion is the attempt to analyze and critically evaluate religious beliefs. This is mainly because philosophy is the study of beliefs and religious philosophy tries to evaluate the diverse beliefs on which religions are based. Religious philosophers try to seek answers to religious beliefs in determining whether they are consistent and coherent. Critical questions are raised as to whether religious beliefs are plausible, probable, meaningful, and true. The twentieth century witnessed the advent of religious philosophers to be influenced by analogy. Thus, religious philosophy may also be referred to in the study trying to analyze and clarify significant arguments and concepts.

The issue in the discussion of “the God of the philosophers” and “the God of faith” is that rigorous intellectual investigation has nothing to offer to devout faith.

The unreflective persons are those who have not made a serious attempt to reflect on the grounds of opinions. On the other hand, reflective persons are those who responsibly look at all relevant arguments, clarify key ideas, and carefully trace the implications of beliefs.

The three points of a philosopher of religion are to try and think critically about the issues related to the theistic concept of God, respect serious and responsible thought despite the outcome, and respecting the rational process demands that the points recognize the stance of philosophers of religion on significant issues.

A “person-relative view of proof” means that the argument should be sound with accurate premises and a valid conclusion should be drawn from the premises. A person should know the argument to be sound for it to function as proof. The role of proof helps in extending knowledge and this means that one must be readily aware of the premises rather than the conclusion and the person for whom it is a proof must know the truth of the premises without inferring them from the conclusion.