Authoritative and accessible, this book is a concise and comprehensive introduction to the philosophy of religion. It shows how philosophers have used the tools of philosophy to examine the validity of religious ideas and values.

Distinguished North American, British, and Australian authors explain how philosophers of the past and present have approached key concepts of religious faith: Does God exist? Can God’s existence be proved? If so, what might God be like? Is there life after death? Is faith in an unseen God rationally tenable at all in a post-Enlightenment, postmodern, scientific age in which different faith traditions coexist and make claims to the ownership of eternal truths?

This book is an essential reader and reference for scholars, teachers, and students of religion and for anyone who seeks to answer key questions challenging the life of faith today.

Brian Davies, OP, is a professor of theology at Fordham University and the author of The Thought of Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 1992).

1. Philosophy and Religion

(a) Ancient and Early Medieval ThinkingGregory Reichberg

(b) From the Thirteenth Century to the Twentieth CenturyJoseph Koterski, SJ

(c) Philosophy, Religion, and Twentieth-Century TheologiansPeter Groves

(d) Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of ReligionGareth Moore, OP, and Brian Davies, OP

(e) Foundationalism and Philosophy of ReligionJohn Greco 2. Arguments for God’s Existence

(a) Cosmological ArgumentsDavid Braine

(b) Ontological ArgumentsPeter van Inwagen

(c) Design ArgumentsMark Wynn

(d)God and Religious ExperienceWilliam Alston 3. The Attributes of God

(a) SimplicityDavid Burrell, CSC

(b) EternalityPaul Helm

(c) OmnipotenceGerard Hughes, SJ

(d) PersonalityCharles Taliaferro

4. Religious LanguageJames Ross 5. Creation, Providence and MiraclesWilliam Lane Craig

6. The Problem of EvilBrian Davies, OP 7. Faith and RevelationJohn Jenkins, CSC

8. Philosophy and ChristianityHugo Meynell

9. Morality and ReligionH.O. Mounce

10. People and Life after DeathHugo Meynell

11. Philosophy and World ReligionsJulius Lipner

12. Science and ReligionDominic Balestra

Further Reading

Index of Names

Index of Subjects