Theology and Religion - Notes and Study Material helpful for quick summary PDF

Preview

Summary

Unit 1-Topic 1Philosophy of ReligionPhilosophy of religion is the philosophical study of the meaning and nature of religion.It includes the analyses of religious concepts, beliefs, terms, arguments, and practices of religious adherents. The scope of much of the work done in philosophy of religion ha...

Description

Unit 1-Topic 1 Philosophy of Religion Philosophy of religion is the philosophical study of the meaning and nature of religion.

It includes the analyses of religious concepts, beliefs, terms, arguments, and practices of religious adherents. The scope of much of the work done in philosophy of religion has been limited to the various theistic religions. More recent work often involves a broader, more global approach, taking into consideration both theistic and non-theistic religious traditions.

The range of those engaged in the field of philosophy of religion is broad and diverse and includes philosophers from the analytic and continental traditions, Eastern and Western thinkers, religious believers and agnostics, skeptics and atheists.

Philosophy of religion draws on all of the major areas of philosophy as well as other relevant fields, including theology, history, sociology, psychology, and the natural sciences. Philosophy of religion is rational thought about religious issues and concerns without a presumption of the existence of a deity or reliance on acts of faith. Philosophers examine the nature of religion and religious beliefs. Philosophers in the West have focused on ideas related to the existence and nature of the deity because that idea is central to the religions of the West. Western Philosophy of Religion has centred on arguments or proofs for the existence of god and explications of apparent inconsistencies in the description of the nature of god. In the last century philosophers around the world have refocused their examinations onto the nature of religious beliefs, religious language and the religious mindset. Indeed, some philosophers have entered into critical reflection and dialogue on the nature or essence of religion itself. This text will approach religion in both the traditional manner and in the more contemporary fashion as well. It will examine the issues related to the existence and nature of the deity and it will consider the nature of religious belief. This study will also take note of the findings of modern and contemporary science in its examination into religious phenomena. in the end it is hoped that awareness of the productions of scientists and philosophers will put the reader in a better position to understand the nature of religion, its essence. Philosophy is about thinking critically about religion in all of its aspects. Thinking critically about religious beliefs might indicate that they are flawed in a number of ways: inconsistent, contradictory, without evidence to support the basic claims This does not mean that philosophy attempts to disprove religious beliefs. Philosophy has come to reveal that religious beliefs are just that beliefs and not empirical claims. Religious language is not ordinary language and certainly not scientific language. Philosophy helps us to understand this. Philosophy of religion is the philosophical

examination of the themes and the concepts that are involved in religious traditions. Philosophy of religion also reflects on matters of religion that are significant within or across religions like, The concept of God or ultimate reality, The significance of life after death,

Immortality of soul, efficacy of prayer, the role of faith and grace, etc. When it comes to the field of philosophy of religion, one would ideally begin with an analysis or definition of religion. But as there is no accepted consensus on what would be sane definition of religion, this poses a challenge for philosophy of religion. Although religion has been described as a body of teaching, prescribed practices about an ultimate sacred reality which involves a relationship of man with that higher reality through a personal connection by means of prayer rituals repentance, etc. Hoverer for the ease of studying philosophy of religion it is also sated that the traditions which are recognized as religion include Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Daoism, and other traditions that are like them. If one looks at the root of what is termed as philosophy of religion then one can see it stretching as far back as the earliest forms of philosophy. From the outset, philosophers in Asia, Europe, North Africa, Middle east have all reflected on Gods, their duties to the divine, nature and origin of the cosmos, afterlife, all constitute a part of philosophy of religion. It is only around the mid-twentieth century that philosophy of religion as a distinct field of philosophy came up, although in the 17th century philosophical movement there were philosophers like Ralph Waldo and Henry More who did introduce some terms in English, and in philosophy, which are frequently used in Philosophy of Religion today. In fact, the Cambridge Platonist as they were known, provided the first English version of the cosmological, ontological and teleological arguments, and reflected on the relationship of faith and reason and also made a case for tolerating different religions. No doubt those philosophers were the first philosophers of religion, yet as a distinct field of philosophy it emerged only in the mid- twentieth century. With contemporary times philosophy of religion has become a vibrant area of philosophy and some of the reasons could be that modernity of the world’s population is either influenced by religion or is part of a religion. When one studies philosophy of religion, one is actually engaging in conversations that impact people across the world. Further philosophy can be used as a tool to study and compare different religious traditions and it can help in playing an important role in helping people to understand and evaluate different religious traditions and their alternatives. Philosophy of religion also raises questions about topics that arouse curiosity in people, be it, The Nature of Reality, The limits of reason, Is our belief in God justified, What is good and evil. Further study in philosophy helps in answering and dealing with issues that arise in philosophy of religion. If one looks at Asian philosophy then, expertise in philosophy of religion helps in answering questions that are relevant within these traditions. Thus, if one looks at philosophy of religion then one can say that as a distinct subset of philosophy, it is concerned with religious issues, without forming any kind of presumption, it basically analyses religious concepts, beliefs and practices, which are found in theistic religions as well as in non-theistic religious traditions. Thus, philosophy of religion draws in all major areas of philosophy in order to present a comprehensive, systematic, critical, analysis of what religions stand for.

THEOLOGY The term theology is derived from the Latin, ‘theologia’ which is a study of God/Gods, which itself is derived from the Greek word Theos (God) and Logos (Reason). Theology originated with the Pre-Socratic philosopher who inspired by the references made by the earlier poets such as Homer regarding the origin and the ultimate nature of the universe. The first great theologian however was Socrates’s student Plato, who used the term theology to indicate that theology was the study of Eternal realities what he called as Forms or Ideas. For Aristotle, Plato’s pupil, theology was the study of the highest form of reality, the first substance, the unmoved mover. If one looks at how theology became a study of the highest form of reality, one has to go back to the times in the Hellenistic period when Christianity emerged in the Roman world. In that world the search for God acquired a kind of urgency because the traditional Pagan religions were inadequate in addressing the issues that people were facing. As a result, philosophical speculation about the ultimate nature of reality, assumed a religious overthrow which came to be regarded as a training for communion with the divine. Theology as a study and an exercise of the human mind, quickly became a part of Greek Christianity and it is still very much a part of eastern orthodox theology. The Christians understood theology as a means to study the divine or nature of the divine as it has been revealed in the bible. The Christian belief is that god revealed himself in the Hebrew bible through the history of chosen people of Israel and later in the New testament through Jesus Christ, the incarnation of the son of God. Thus, theology is basically a philosophically oriented discipline of religious speculation and apologetics that is restricted to Christianity but it can include Islam and Judaism. The main themes of theology include, God, Humanity, The world, Salvation and the study of the Last times. When it comes to analyzing the concept of theology one can trace back that theology had its origins in the tradition of the ancient Greeks, but when it comes to its content and methodology, that developed within Christianity. As a result, theology because of its peculiar Christian profile is not regularly transferable in its narrow sense to any other religion. If one however focuses on the broader themes then theology as a subject matter is important to other religions. As stated, earlier theology is basically an attempt of those who adhere to a particular faith to represent their statements of belief in a consistent manner and to explain those beliefs and how they form the fundamentals of that faith and look at the specific place those beliefs have in that faith. Thus, theology is a spiritual or religious attempt of believers to explain their faith, so it is not neutral. As theology was influenced by the Greek traditions and the Christian traditions applying some of those concepts to other religion becomes a challenge. The reason being Christianity and Greek religion talk about an ultimate reality or god and such a concept may be absent in some of the eastern religions. So far as the development of Christian theology, it was influenced by an unknown writer of the early 6th century whose works circulated under the name of Dionysius his works depict god as revealing himself to the created order through the hierarchy of angels and the church and he went on to make a number of distinctions regarding the nature of theology.

With the development in western theology, sharp distinctions were made between nature and grace, the natural and the supernatural, reason and revelation and slowly theologians became interested in what truths could be established by reason alone. This led to a distinction between natural theology and revealed theology and this distinction led to important differences between Christians on one hand and Jews and Muslims on the other. The reason being natural theology did not accept revelation as Jews and Muslims believe that god had revealed the truth through his chosen messengers. In the 13th century, western theology was characterized by how reason could establish god’s existence and saint Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest theologians put forward five ways by which god’s existence could be established. The century that followed Aquinas continued to carry on with the distinction between natural and revealed theology. However, during Renaissance Reformation and the Enlightenment, Medieval theology did get further fragmented but theologians also acquired certain tools and in the 19th century European colonialism led to the rediscovery, translation and publication of a host of sacred writing from the indigenous culture of Asia and Africa which led to theologians to try and draw connections between those culture and Christianity. Christian theology was not unaffected by the discovery of the eastern cultures but it does get affected by Enlightenment. This led to a fragmentation of protestant theology leading to a separation of biblical theology from dogmatic or systematic theology. As time passed many sub-divisions within theology emerged and the non-academic use of the term came to be known as a religiously painted study of some matter. Thus, theology is a religious attempt of the believers to explain their faith or how they understand their faith. If one looks at the relation of theology to the history of religions then one finds that in the easter traditions the normative element has always been passed on either through revelation, or through a divine teacher or because of a spiritual community. But it must be stated that theologies of the various religions are concerned with religious phenomena. So far as the relationship of theology to philosophy goes, it is more complicated. The reason being, philosophy is a discipline which tries to explain the totality of a being whereas theology is responsible to an authority in other words it is a kind of documentation. Theology uses reason but its critical reflections are based on religious convictions whereas philosophy bases its argument on evidence with which reason is confronted. If one looks at the religious significance of theology then one is making statements about god, relation of god to the world, the purpose of creation and salvation. The theology of every religion tries to explain the totality of that religion and it is theology which acts as a fulcrum around which believers of a particular religion congregate. Theology is supposed to master the material that is provided within any religion, which it has to develop, it has to interpret humanities existence in the world, it has to represent its claim to truth if those truths are challenged by others. Further it has to coordinate the doctrine of creation with the modern natural science related world view. Despite these functions’ theology continues to struggle with its limitations which are some challenge....