Books in the Philosophy of Religion series

In this monograph, I argue that Satan was not perceived as a universal malevolent deity, the embodiment of evil, or the "ruler of Pandaemonium" within first century Christian literature or even within second and third century Christian discourses as some scholars have insisted. Instead, for early "Christian" authors, Satan represented a pejorative term used to describe terrestrial, tangible, and concrete social realities, perceived of as adversaries. To reach this conclusion, I explore the narrative character of Satan selectively within the Hebrew Bible, intertestamental literature, Mark, Matthew, Luke, Q, the Book of Revelation, the Nag Hammadi texts, and the Ante-Nicene fathers.I argue that certain scholars' such as Jeffrey Burton Russell, Miguel A. De La Torre, Albert Hernandez, Peter Stanford, Paul Carus, and Gerd Theissen, homogenized reconstructions of the "New Testament Satan" as the universalized incarnation of evil and that God's absolute cosmic enemy is absent from early Christian orthodox literature, such as Mark, Matthew, Luke, Q, the Book of Revelation, and certain writings from the Ante-Nicene Fathers. Using Jonathan Z. Smith's essay Here, There, and Anywhere, I suggest that the cosmic dualist approach to Satan as God's absolute cosmic enemy resulted from the changing social topography of the early fourth century where Christian "insider" and "outsider" adversaries were diminishing. With these threats fading, early Christians universalized a perceived chaotic cosmic enemy, namely Satan, being influenced by the Gnostic demiurge, who disrupts God's terrestrial and cosmic order. Therefore, Satan transitioned from a "here," "insider," and "there," "outsider," threat to a universal "anywhere" threat. This study could be employed as a characterization study, New Testament theory and application for classroom references or research purposes.

The problem of evil has been an extremely active area of study in the philosophy of religion for many years. Until now, most sources have focused on logical, metaphysical, and epistemological issues, leaving moral questions as open territory. James P. Sterba and the contributors to this volume focus on the yet untapped resources of ethical theory. These essays consider topics such as Kantian moral philosophy, Thomistic virtue theory, and the Pauline Principle--the doctrine of double effect, and God's actions in permitting evil. These new reflections shift from assessing the world's particular and particularly horrendous evils to discussion of how ethical theory undergirds the evaluation of the problem of evil. With the resources of ethical theory firmly in hand, this volume provides lively insight into this ageless philosophical issue.

Poised at the intersection of philosophy and religion, these reflections provide a benchmark for renewed consideration of this classic philosophical and religious theme.

A distinctive reading of Kierkegaard's philosophy of religion

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, best known for his involvement in the anti-Nazi resistance, was one of the 20th century's important theologians. His ethics have been a source of guidance and inspiration for men and women in the face of evil. This title presents Bonhoeffer's thought as a model of Christian thinking that can help shape a religious philosophy.

The integrity and relevance of Ricoeur's theology

A sustained and surprising reading finds Nietzsche to have been deeply religious

What did Jesus mean by the expression, the Kingdom of God? As an answer, the author sketches a "phenomenology of the Christ" that explores the unique way Jesus performs phenomenology.

Kierkegaard''s God and the Good Life focuses on faith and love, two central topics in Kierkegaard''s writings, to grapple with complex questions at the intersection of religion and ethics. Here, leading scholars reflect on Kierkegaard''s understanding of God, the religious life, and what it means to exist ethically. The contributors then shift to psychology, hope, knowledge, and the emotions as they offer critical and constructive readings for contemporary philosophical debates in the philosophy of religion, moral philosophy, and epistemology. Together, they show how Kierkegaard continues to be an important resource for understandings of religious existence, public discourse, social life, and how to live virtuously.

Presses contemporary philosophy of religion toward a new modes of thinking about God

Throughout his long and controversial career, Martin Heidegger developed a substantial contribution to the phenomenology of religion. This book examines the key concepts and developmental phases that characterized Heidegger's work. It reveals Heidegger as a realist through careful readings of his views on religious attitudes and activities.

How women balance lives as philosophers, feminists, and members of a religious tradition.

Jacques Derrida and an international group of philosophers of religion discuss Augustine in the light of postmodernism

Offers cogent grounds for taking Kant's religion seriously and defends him against the charges of incoherence. This book incorporates Christian essentials into the confines of reason, and argues that Kant establishes a rational religious faith in accord with religious conviction as it is elaborated in his mature philosophy.

Brings Kierkegaard into conversation with the Catholic tradition

Explores the convergences between postmodern philosophies and religious belief and thought

Manoussakis explores how a relational interpretation of being develops a fuller and more meaningful view of the phenomenology of religious experience beyond metaphysics and onto-theology.

In Aquinas, Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion, Thomas Hibbs recovers the notion of practice to develop a more descriptive account of human action and knowing, grounded in the venerable vocabulary of virtue and vice. Drawing on Aquinas, who believed that all good works originate from virtue, Hibbs postulates how epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, and theology combine into a set of contemporary philosophical practices that remain open to metaphysics. Hibbs brings Aquinas into conversation with analytic and Continental philosophy and suggests how a more nuanced appreciation of his thought enriches contemporary debates. This book offers readers a new appreciation of Aquinas and articulates a metaphysics integrally related to ethical practice.

The work of French philosopher and theologian Jean-Luc Marion has been recognized as among the most suggestive and productive in the philosophy of religion today. This volume provides a comprehensive introduction to Marion's large and conceptually dense corpus. It gives particular attention to Marion's early work on Descartes.

Central, yet previously unexamined, infl uences on Marion's thought

Discusses death and dying in Kierkegaard's work

Offers a bold and original view of what philosophical anthropology might look like

Applying an ever more radical hermeneutics (including Husserlian and Heideggerian phenomenology, Derridian deconstruction, and feminism), John D. Caputo breaks down the name of God in this irrepressible book. Instead of looking at God as merely a name, Caputo views it as an event, or what the name conjures or promises in the future. For Caputo, the event exposes God as weak, unstable, and barely functional. While this view of God flies in the face of most religions and philosophies, it also puts up a serious challenge to fundamental tenets of theology and ontology. Along the way, Caputo's readings of the New Testament, especially of Paul's view of the Kingdom of God, help to support the "e;weak force"e; theory. This penetrating work cuts to the core of issues and questions-What is the nature of God? What is the nature of being? What is the relationship between God and being? What is the meaning of forgiveness, faith, piety, or transcendence?-that define the terrain of contemporary philosophy of religion.

Pushing past the constraints of postmodernism which cast 'reason' and 'religion' in opposition, this title seizes the opportunity to question the authority of 'the modern' and open the limits of possible experience, including the call to religious experience, as a new millennium approaches.

Paul's thought explored by contemporary philosophers

An interpretation of the ethical and religious dimensions of Levinas' thought. Placing Levinas in relation to Hegel and Nietzsche, Husserl and Heidegger, and Derrida and Marion, it develops the religious themes found in Levinas' work and offers a way to think and speak about ethics and morality within the horizons of philosophy of religion.

Is religious conservatism compatible with tolerance and pluralism? Why are religious tolerance and pluralism so difficult to achieve? Why is the often violent fundamentalist backlash against them so potent? This book suggests a way to deal with the intractable problem of religiously motivated and justified violence.

Exploring the first-person narratives of three figures from the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic mystical traditions - St Teresa of Avila, Rabbi Dov Baer, and Ruzbihan Baqli, this title provides a phenomenology of mysticism based in the Abrahamic religious traditions.