Books in the Cambridge Studies in Religion, Philosophy, and Society series

Is religion natural to human experience, and if so, does this naturalness generate a universal human right to religious freedom? An eminent group of scholars explores all angles of this two-part question and its implications for rethinking the role of religion in public life.

We know that Jesus changed the world, but what do we know about him? This accessible and uniquely comprehensive introduction examines the evidence, the sources and different scholars' views. It argues that we know a surprising amount, and offers a coherent and well-informed picture of Jesus in his context.

A defense of aesthetic personalism that affirms an inclusive God's eye or ideal observer view of goodness and beauty, the reality and integrity of aesthetic experience, and a philosophy of art that sees some works of art as persons or person-like. Includes a practical guide to appreciating religious artwork.

Buddhism Humanism and Religion. Religion, Philosophy of religion, Buddhism, Eastern religions

This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to explore the connections of lived realities - including boredom, trauma, denial of death, and suicidal impulses - to the meaning of life and belief in God. Williams describes both how to acquire meaning and obstacles to its acquisition.

The environmental crisis creates painful emotions and difficult moral dilemmas. This engaging, compassionate, and intellectually rigorous book helps readers think through the value of nature and our treatment of animals, individual responsibility and collective political change, newfound dilemmas of reason, and how to face environmental despair.

Is religion natural to human experience, and if so, does this naturalness generate a universal human right to religious freedom? An eminent group of scholars explores all angles of this two-part question and its implications for rethinking the role of religion in public life.

This book takes a fresh look at the ancient philosophy of Idealism, connects it with findings in modern science, and shows that a combination of good science, good philosophy, and a passion for truth and goodness, can underpin religious faith. It challenges the easy assumptions of materialism and the relativity of truth that undermine both science and religion.

This book will be of special value to students of philosophy, religion, theology, and the arts, especially in courses that aim to relate art and religion. It is accessibly written for use in discussion groups organized by churches, art museums, and the like.

This book provides a comprehensive, state-of-the art assessment of what psychology says about religion and spirituality. It includes different branches of psychology and aspects of religion, and covers key concepts and practical applications. It is suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduates, and those training for religious ministry.

Reason, Revelation, and Devotion will appeal to advanced undergraduates and graduate students in philosophy, theology, or religious studies. The author focuses on important features of reasoning, which have been comparatively neglected by philosophers of religion, so it should be appealing to philosophers of religion as well.

Religious Diversity examines whether believing in a religion's truth increases intolerance and how the existence (and growth) of multiple religions affects political societies.

Ethics and Religion deals with philosophical issues linking these two areas. It develops plausible forms of divine command theory and natural law, and defends belief in God and linking God to morality. The book is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students (including seminarians), teachers, and experts in the field.

Religious belief is not just about abstract intellectual argument; it also impinges on all aspects of human life. John Cottingham's Philosophy of Religion opens up fresh perspectives on the philosophy of religion, arguing that the detached neutrality of much of contemporary philosophizing may be counterproductive - hardening us against the receptivity required for certain kinds of important evidence to become salient. This book covers all the traditional areas of the subject, including the meaning of religious claims, the existence of God and the relation between religion and morality, as well as the role of spiritual praxis and how religious belief affects questions about the meaning of life, human suffering and mortality. While preserving the clarity and rigor that are rightly prized in the analytic tradition, the book also draws on insights from literary and other sources, and aims to engage a wide readership.

Schellenberg's argument is unique in bringing developmental ideas into contact with human religion, which is often treated as exempt from their influence; also radical is the suggestion that much of religion's development has yet to occur and that religion can and should become a human project as monumental as science.

Religion, Philosophy of religion, Theology

Intended for general readers as well as Kierkegaard specialists, this work focuses on the concepts of personality, character, and virtue in Kierkegaard's thought, examining them from the standpoint of what it means to exist religiously as a whole, authentic self or human being in relation to God and other persons.