Philosophy of Religion: A Reader and Guide

by William Lane Craig, Timothy O'Connor

This important new volume is a combined anthology and guide intended for use as a textbook in courses on the philosophy of religion. It aims to bring to the student the very best current work on important topics in the field.             The anthology is comprised of six sections, each of which opens with a substantive introductory essay followed by a selection of influential writings by prominent philosophers of ·         Religious Epistemology deals with the rationality of theism and theistic beliefs. ·         Existence of God presents the cosmological, teleological, axiological, noölogical, and ontological arguments for the existence of God. ·         Coherence of Theism covers the divine attributes of necessity, eternity, omnipotence, omniscience, and goodness. ·         Problem of Evil treats both the internal and external challenge posed by evil to theistic belief. ·         Soul and Immortality explores the substantiality and immateriality of the soul and implications for life after the death of the body. ·         Christian Theology handles problems posed by the Trinity, incarnation, atonement, damnation, and prayer. Philosophy of Religion provides an ideal resource for studying the central questions raised by religious belief.

Genres: Philosophy, Religion, Theology, Nonfiction

634 pages, Hardcover

First published November 20, 2001

About the author

William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. He and his wife Jan have two grown children.

At the age of sixteen as a junior in high school, he first heard the message of the Christian gospel and yielded his life to Christ. Dr. Craig pursued his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College (B.A. 1971) and graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. 1974; M.A. 1975), the University of Birmingham (England) (Ph.D. 1977), and the University of Munich (Germany) (D.Theol. 1984). From 1980-86 he taught Philosophy of Religion at Trinity, during which time he and Jan started their family. In 1987 they moved to Brussels, Belgium, where Dr. Craig pursued research at the University of Louvain until assuming his position at Talbot in 1994.

He has authored or edited over thirty books, including The Kalam Cosmological Argument; Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus; Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom; Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology; and God, Time and Eternity, as well as over a hundred articles in professional journals of philosophy and theology, including The Journal of Philosophy, New Testament Studies, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy, and British Journal for Philosophy of Science.

Reviews

[Jonathan]

Actually have read various papers within the scope of this philosophy reader. Interaction with this book gives the believer a good handle on arguments for and against various positions.

[Jeffrey]

An introduction in to the philosophy of religion: the existence of God and non-existence of God, the nature of God, and Christianity's claims and problems.

[Daniel]

Not as broad ranging in topics as the Quinn anthology but there is much more depth here.