Philosophy of Religion

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Get your books from Amazon - you get a discount; I get a royalty!

 
 

For AS and A2 level students, outline notes are available from my lectures on the following topics:   

 

The Cosmological Arguments Augustine and the Problem of Evil The Goodness of God in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition Revelation through ScriptureMiracles - for AS level

The Religious Language Game Parapsychology and the debate about life after death Religious Experience.

 

 

Latest...

The Boltonian blog (http://boltonian.edublogs.org ) reproduces an article by Dr Gerard Hughes on Dawkins' criticism of religion - valuable for anyone who is into the Philosophy of Religion: 

http://boltonian.edublogs.org/2008/03/08/a-jesuit-perspective-of-richard-dawkins/

 

For a critical look at religious experience, Stephen Law's blog has some interesting and clearly argued items during March 08. Log on to

http://stephenlaw.blogspot.com/

 

Dave Webster, who runs the Religion, Philosophy and Ethics course at the

University of Gloucestershire, has a blog with an interesting range of entries and links.

Take a look at www.r-p-e.blogspot.com

 

There have recently been a whole range of books attacking the basis of religion, or presenting it as a natural phenomenon (on the assumption that most religious believers would not accept it as such). Three of them - God is not Great by Christopher Hitchins, Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell and The End of Faith by Sam Harris all appear in the top 10 titles for Philosophy.

 

For those who want to get something of a balance on Dawkins' approach in The God Delusion (which is little more than crude, old-fashioned polemic) and might try the Alister McGrath book The Dawkins Delusion - for my comments on these, click here.

 

 

 

Those who are equally dissatisfied with militant atheism on one side and naive  fundamentalism on the other would do well to read..

Science, Religion and the Meaning of Life by Mark Vernon.

Blending clear argument with personal reflections, it offers a defence of agnosticism, from one who has moved from belief in God, through atheism to a position of positively embracing a level of uncertainty.

'Encouraging us to widen our imagination and to open our lives to a sense of wonder, Mark Vernon is convinced, in the tradition of Socrates, that we achieve this by avoiding the certainties of faith and the rigidities of atheism. Believers and non-believers will find this a richly rewarding read.'  John Gladwin, Bishop of Chelmsford.

 

And if you enjoy this book, why not take a look at his website and blog:  www.philosophyoffriendship.com

 

 All material © Mel Thompson unless otherwise attributed