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Religion and Philosophy
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- GenresPhilosophy
236 pages, Paperback
First published August 8, 2015
About the author
R.G. Collingwood
73 books93 followersRobin George Collingwood was an English philosopher and historian. Collingwood was a fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, for some 15 years until becoming the Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 3, 2016
Review title: The cost and reward for rigorous logic
R. G. Collingwood is a powerful thinker. There are no big words or statements made for show or shock in this book, just rigorous logic and powerful thinking leading to simple and simply profound statements. The only shock is to our "more modern" minds when he has cleared away our false assumptions and easy solutions to arrive at simple truth.
While the title of this book starts with religion, his argument starts with philosophy. His intent is not to prove or justify any specific religion or theology but to present clear thinking on what religion is, what philosophy is, and show how the two are related: "To do a thing, and to understand what one is doing and how one does it, seem to be different things;.... To be conscious of God is religion, to analyze that consciousness is the philosophy of religion." (P. 15). He also isn't attempting a comprehensive survey of philosophical method here. In fact he says philosophy has no method, a statement he must have realized then (in 1916 when this was originally published) didn't have the sound of truth to it, and which he corrected in 1933's An Essay on Philosophical Method where he worked out his abstractions of rigorous logic to a higher level.
Collingwood progresses next to establish that "...all true life is religion. We cannot distinguish three kinds of life, the thinking life, the active life, and the religious lode that unites the two." (p. 35) Religion is both philosophical and historical. It is not mythical: "if the life of Jesus is a myth, it is... preposterous to ask a man to imitate it." (p. 52) Progressing deeper, theology must begin with the proof that the particular God of the theology exists; the question" Does God exist?" is identical to 'What is he like?"--and providing that description is what theology is and does! (p. 62-63). So Collingwood will examine three central issues of theology:
1. Material and materialism (God in the real world)
2. Personality and will (God in the individual)
3. Evil (God as omnipotent, holy, and creator)
On materialism, Collingwood suggests as a possible solution for the problems of materialism that "the world while fully material [is] a conscious will or society of wills, and that its changes [are] not caused but chosen." (p. 95). He suggests future paths that modern physics would take, but can only conclude then that "The realisation of this higher materialism must wait till physics has advanced to a fuller conception of the nature of matter." I think he would be intensely interested, but not completely surprised, and perhaps a touch proud of suggesting a century in advance some of the bizzare findings of modern physics, such as "spooky action at a distance".
The conclusion of Collingwood's discussion of evil: "We asked, why does God permit evil? He does not permit it. His omniscience is not restricted by it. He conquers it. But there is only one way in which it can be conquered: Not by the sinner's destruction, which would mean the triumph of evil over good, but by his repentance." (p. 144): a perfect segue "from metaphysics to theology", the title of Part III, where Collingwood will consider the philosophical possibility of redemption--man in relation to God (is man divine as a whole, or can one man be wholly man and wholly God?) and God in relation to man (can a God-man provide redemption for all men?)
Redemption rests neither on the false endpoints of punishment and forgiveness, but depends on the Holy God's grace and the fallen man's response : ". . . unless the grace of God awakes a response in the will of man there is no true atonement" (p. 182), a simple and profound resolution of the dilemma of predestination and free will. Both these statements are true: grace can not force me to change, and I am not capable of saving myself.
Progressing from the profound to the sublime, Collingwood proceeds, as always, in inexorable and airtight logic to examine then how any miracle, including this miracle of God's redemptive intervention in the world, can exist. And as usual, he logically demolishes the simplest assumptions of scientist and theologian alike. The reward for requiring rigorous and logically dense definition is simple (not simplistic) resolution of the false dialectic between the two (the reader will notice by now Collingwood is no fan of the either/or of typical dualism or dialectic thinking). He shows that miracles are neither rare nor abnormal actions of God disrupting the natural order, but "true or good or beautiful" acts of God in nature. Consider healing: "But are we really prepared to maintain that healing done by non-medical means is miraculous, as distinguished from medical healing which is not?. . . Every cure is equally a miracle, and every doctor (like every other active and creative mind) a miracle-worker. . . " (p. 210-211)
Collingwood is a philosopher not a theologian, a professor not a preacher, a thinker not a shouter. His writing requires close attention, but his arguments are specific and direct, not esoteric and convoluted, so an interested reader will find their attention rewarded with Collingwood's powerful and simple truths. And now that Collingwood has put them on paper, this classic is required reading for any reader serious about their religion or their philosophy.
R. G. Collingwood is a powerful thinker. There are no big words or statements made for show or shock in this book, just rigorous logic and powerful thinking leading to simple and simply profound statements. The only shock is to our "more modern" minds when he has cleared away our false assumptions and easy solutions to arrive at simple truth.
While the title of this book starts with religion, his argument starts with philosophy. His intent is not to prove or justify any specific religion or theology but to present clear thinking on what religion is, what philosophy is, and show how the two are related: "To do a thing, and to understand what one is doing and how one does it, seem to be different things;.... To be conscious of God is religion, to analyze that consciousness is the philosophy of religion." (P. 15). He also isn't attempting a comprehensive survey of philosophical method here. In fact he says philosophy has no method, a statement he must have realized then (in 1916 when this was originally published) didn't have the sound of truth to it, and which he corrected in 1933's An Essay on Philosophical Method where he worked out his abstractions of rigorous logic to a higher level.
Collingwood progresses next to establish that "...all true life is religion. We cannot distinguish three kinds of life, the thinking life, the active life, and the religious lode that unites the two." (p. 35) Religion is both philosophical and historical. It is not mythical: "if the life of Jesus is a myth, it is... preposterous to ask a man to imitate it." (p. 52) Progressing deeper, theology must begin with the proof that the particular God of the theology exists; the question" Does God exist?" is identical to 'What is he like?"--and providing that description is what theology is and does! (p. 62-63). So Collingwood will examine three central issues of theology:
1. Material and materialism (God in the real world)
2. Personality and will (God in the individual)
3. Evil (God as omnipotent, holy, and creator)
On materialism, Collingwood suggests as a possible solution for the problems of materialism that "the world while fully material [is] a conscious will or society of wills, and that its changes [are] not caused but chosen." (p. 95). He suggests future paths that modern physics would take, but can only conclude then that "The realisation of this higher materialism must wait till physics has advanced to a fuller conception of the nature of matter." I think he would be intensely interested, but not completely surprised, and perhaps a touch proud of suggesting a century in advance some of the bizzare findings of modern physics, such as "spooky action at a distance".
The conclusion of Collingwood's discussion of evil: "We asked, why does God permit evil? He does not permit it. His omniscience is not restricted by it. He conquers it. But there is only one way in which it can be conquered: Not by the sinner's destruction, which would mean the triumph of evil over good, but by his repentance." (p. 144): a perfect segue "from metaphysics to theology", the title of Part III, where Collingwood will consider the philosophical possibility of redemption--man in relation to God (is man divine as a whole, or can one man be wholly man and wholly God?) and God in relation to man (can a God-man provide redemption for all men?)
Redemption rests neither on the false endpoints of punishment and forgiveness, but depends on the Holy God's grace and the fallen man's response : ". . . unless the grace of God awakes a response in the will of man there is no true atonement" (p. 182), a simple and profound resolution of the dilemma of predestination and free will. Both these statements are true: grace can not force me to change, and I am not capable of saving myself.
Progressing from the profound to the sublime, Collingwood proceeds, as always, in inexorable and airtight logic to examine then how any miracle, including this miracle of God's redemptive intervention in the world, can exist. And as usual, he logically demolishes the simplest assumptions of scientist and theologian alike. The reward for requiring rigorous and logically dense definition is simple (not simplistic) resolution of the false dialectic between the two (the reader will notice by now Collingwood is no fan of the either/or of typical dualism or dialectic thinking). He shows that miracles are neither rare nor abnormal actions of God disrupting the natural order, but "true or good or beautiful" acts of God in nature. Consider healing: "But are we really prepared to maintain that healing done by non-medical means is miraculous, as distinguished from medical healing which is not?. . . Every cure is equally a miracle, and every doctor (like every other active and creative mind) a miracle-worker. . . " (p. 210-211)
Collingwood is a philosopher not a theologian, a professor not a preacher, a thinker not a shouter. His writing requires close attention, but his arguments are specific and direct, not esoteric and convoluted, so an interested reader will find their attention rewarded with Collingwood's powerful and simple truths. And now that Collingwood has put them on paper, this classic is required reading for any reader serious about their religion or their philosophy.
September 23, 2019
A decent philosophical analysis of what (the Christian) religion is and what this entails in practice. A good introduction with some deep insights however because of the academic nature of the writer too minimalistic in its approach.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews