Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of religion is one of the most multifaceted subject which is vast and deep. This article shares some insights on philosophy and religion and the relationship between the two.

Religion is an important part of one's life. For some, their religion is their life. Most of the rich cultures all around the world have their roots in the respective religions. In simple words, religion is nothing but the way of life. And so, philosophy of religion is about studying life. Philosophy of religion includes philosophical study of religious doctrines, religious scriptures, religious stories, religious beliefs and practices, religious history, and religious arguments, etc. that determine and influence the way we live. Philosophical study is conducted in a reasoned and disciplined manner where every aspect of religion is tested for its trueness. Philosophy of religion is about a quest for understanding the justifications behind the faith in god and religion.

What is Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of religion is essentially a metaphysical study that is conducted to understand the concept of God. It also studies and analyzes various grounds that people have offered to justify believing in God. Many people confuse philosophy of religion with religious philosophy or theology. Theology is defensive in nature and is committed to defend a particular religion, having a firm belief on every aspect of that religion. Whereas, philosophy of religion is the scientific investigation of a religion. For example, theology considers religious scriptures as supreme and authoritative but in philosophy of religion such scriptures are the objects of study and investigation. Its ultimate aim is to examine religious claims to establish rational explanations, if any.

Given below are some of the primary and perennial questions and areas that are studied in the philosophy of religion:
God: myth or reality?
Argument on God's gender: what is God like?
What does God mean to human beings?
Who is the creator of this word?
Are religious beliefs reasonable?
What is the aim of world religions?
What is the nature of religious language and experiences?
What is the value of religious belief, faith and practices?
Why praise God?
How big is your God?
Is evil a part of God?
Why does evil exist?
Where is God when I suffer?
Can God forgive everything?
Is God inside your heart?
Perspectives on Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of religion can be studied from different perspectives by different people. For example, atheist philosophy of religion is different from theist philosophy. Since, atheists do not believe in God, they don't believe that religion is created by God. They study religions as phenomena created by human beings. They tend to focus more on religion as a man-made belief system and study the ethics, principles, morals, and identity of a particular religion and people following it. They often neglect the role of religion, what religion is, and how reasonable it is, etc. But, an atheist who is non judgmental, unbiased, and who is concerned about philosophy and religion can study the philosophy of religion well.

Theist tend to study religion as it is. In fact, theist perspective on religion cannot be coined as philosophy of religion, as mentioned before, it is religious philosophy that glorifies a particular religion. According to theism, God does exists and hence the world is created by God and every human being is born for a purpose. It tend to restrict human freedom but at the same time it affirms our values. Theist do not agree to the atheist perspective because if the man has come from dust and is going to return to the soil then in what sense he is important. Well, both the perspectives are essentially contrasting in nature.

The crux of philosophy of religion is that it tries to find out the links between faiths and reasons. Our beliefs, faiths, disbelief, are nothing but the way we live our life and philosophy of religion is nothing but finding out the rationals behind them.