Reading List
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
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Alston, William P. Perceiving God: The Epistemology of Religious Experience. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992.
Alston taught at Syracuse and is one of the most important living philosophers of religion. This book is a philosophical examination of what it means to "experience God." Alston is interested in whether or not and how such an experience provides "information" about God and whether this information constitutes knowledge. Though this volume will require some extra effort, it is a most rewarding read.
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Anselm. Proslogion (1078). Trans. M. J. Charlesworth. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1965.
St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) is one of the greatest of the medieval philosophers. The Proslogion (together with A Reply on Behalf of the Fool by Gaunilo and The Reply to Gaunilo) constitute the primary texts of the ontological argument for the existence of God. This argument affirms that one can know that God exists because God is "that being than which none greater can be conceived."
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Augustine, Aurelius. The Confessions. Trans. R.S. Pine-Coffin. London: Penguin Books, 1961.
St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430) was not only an important theologian but also one of the most important philosophers in Western history. This autobiographical book recounts his intellectual and spiritual journey to maturity. It is important for philosophy because Augustine's thoughts on the nature of God, the character of the human self, freedom and determinism, and the meaning of the world are formative for much of Western intellectual development.
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Ayer, A.J. Language, Truth, and Logic. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1952.
A.J. Ayer (1910-1989) was one of the most vocal spokespersons for the philosophical movement known as Logical Positivism, and this little book is perhaps its most articulate and persuasive defense. This text has almost become synonymous with the Verification Criterion of Meaning.
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Beaty, Michael, ed. Christian Theism and the Problems of Philosophy. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1991.
This collection of essays addresses problems associated with theism and its relationship to three areas of philosophical interest: epistemology, metaphysics, and moral theory. Contributors include Alvin Plantinga, William Alston, Phillip Quinn, Eleonore Stump, and others. This excellent collection includes Plantinga's now famous "Advice to Christian Philosophers."
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Bellah, Robert N., et al. Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. New York: Harper and Row, 1985
A 1985 bestseller, Habits of the Heart is an investigation into how various American communities preserve and create morally coherent lives. Crucial to this understanding are not only the ways in which citizens involve themselves and retreat from "public life" but also the various religious and cultural resources American citizens use for making sense out of their lives.
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Burrell, David. Knowing the Unknowable God: Ibn-Sina, Maimonides, and Aquinas. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1986.
In this small but tightly argued volume, Burrell examines the contributions of three great medieval thinkers from three religious traditions: Ibn-Sina (Islam), Maimonides (Judaism) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Christianity). Burrell argues that the confessional affirmations of the traditions make possible thought and discourse about the essence and existence of God. As such, thought about God is always confessionally particular, never philosophically generic.
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Davis, Stephen T. Risen Indeed: Making Sense of the Resurrection. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.
Steve Davis is a philosopher of religion at Claremont McKenna College. This book is an in-depth philosophical examination of the the issues surrounding the claim that Jesus of Nazareth was resurrected. Davis examines the concepts of miracle and history as well as physicalism, duplication, and identity theory. Davis argues that belief in the resurrection is rational on historical, philosophical, and theological grounds.
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Dewey, John. A Common Faith. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1934.
John Dewey (1859-1952) was perhaps the greatest distinctively American philosopher. In this volume, Dewey attempts to reconceive the nature of religious faith with an eye toward overcoming the dogmatism and supernaturalism associated with traditional religion.
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Evans, C. Stephen, and Merold Westphal, eds. Christian Perspectives on Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.
This volume contains a collection of excellent essays by some of the leading philosophers of religion on the question of the nature of "religious knowledge." In addition to essays by the editors, William Alston, Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, William Hasker, and others contribute to this volume.
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Feuerbach, Ludwig. The Essence of Christianity. Trans. George Eliot. New York: Harper, 1957.
Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) was one of the most important German philosophers of the nineteenth century. Marx and Freud rely directly on his thinking. In this volume, Feuerbach articulates the persuasive "projection argument" against the validity of Christianity. This particular edition of the Essence contains an introductory essay by Karl Barth and a forward by H. Richard Niebuhr.
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Hester, Marcus, ed. Faith, Reason, and Skepticism. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992.
This small book is a collection of four essays on faith and reason: "Knowledge of God" by William Alston, "Rationality and Religious Commitment" by Robert Audi, "Parity is not enough," by Terence Penelhum, and "Fideism, Quietism, and Unbelief: Skepticism for and against Religion in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries," by Richard Popkin. This is an excellent collection of essays on faith and reason.
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Hick, John. Disputed Questions in Theology and the Philosophy of Religion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
John Hick is an important theologian and philosopher of religion and has been a leading spokesman for progressive and ecumenical theology. This collection of essays addresses themes which have been significant to Hick throughout his distinguished career: epistemology, Christology, Buddhism, religious pluralism, and the possibility of life after death.
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Hoitenga, Dewey, J., Jr. Faith and Reason from Plato to Plantinga: An Introduction to Reformed Epistemology. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991.
Hoitenga traces the historical development of belief on the question of the nature of faith and reason from Plato through St. Augustine and John Calvin to Alvin Plantinga. The book concludes with a defense of "Reformed Epistemology"--the notion that belief in God is properly basic and therefore does not require an evidentialist foundationalism.
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Hume, David. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1776). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co.
In this text, the Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-1776) demonstrates that all arguments which attempt to establish that God exists or prove anything substantive about God's nature fail. Hume is especially concerned with overcoming the teleological argument. This is a classic text in the history of philosophy of religion.
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Hume, David. Of Miracles (1748). LaSalle, Illinois: Open Court, 1985.
In this witty and controversial book, Hume argues against the reality of miracles and their foundation for religious systems. More importantly, Hume articulates the modern method of critical evaluation of historical records.
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James, William. Varieties of Religious Experience (1902). New York: NAL Penguin, 1958.
William James (1842-1910), the famous American psychologist and pragmatist philosopher, appreciately approaches the subject of religion from the perspective of the scientist and the philosopher. As the title suggests, this volume contains the records, the descriptions, and the evaluations of a great many different religious experiences. This work is a classic in the fields of philosophical psychology and the psychology of religion.
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Kierkegaard, Søren. Fear and Trembling. Trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983.
Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a Danish philosopher and theologian and is usually considered to be the "Father of Existentialism." Fear and Trembling is S.K.'s persuasive examination of the paradox of faith and the differences between the ethical life and the religious life.
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Kierkegaard, Søren. Practice in Christianity. Trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.
Kierkegaard called this book an "introduction of Christianity into Christendom." Writing to readers who had "become Christians without knowing it," he challenges the status quo Christianity of his day by re-describing the authentic Christian life.
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Kierkegaard, Søren. Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing (1843). Trans. Douglas Sterre. New York: Harper and Row, 1938.
Written as the first of the Edifying Discourses, in this volume, Kierkegaard addresses "the solitary individual," human desire and volition, "double-mindedness," and the eternal Good. For those interested in the philosophical aspects of spirituality, this book is recommended.
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Lundin, Roger. The Culture of Interpretation: Christian Faith and the Postmodern World. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.
Lundin teaches English at Wheaton College. This volume addresses the connection between philosophy and literary theory on the subject of religious faith. There are chapters devoted toward Emerson, Hawthorne, Marx, Deconstruction, and Postmodernity (among others). Lundin is an excellent writer, and this volume is highly recommended for those with literary as well as philosophical interests.
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MacIntyre, Alasdair. Three Rival Versions of Moral Inquiry: Encyclopaedia, Geneology, and Tradition. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1990.
This volume contains the 1988 Gifford Lectures. MacIntyre proposes a typology of three fundamentally different approaches to "moral enquiry" (broadly defined as education toward and investigation from the good life). His three categories are encyclopaedia (objective, acontextual investigation), tradition (enquiry emerging from a community of discourse), and genealogy (enquiry based on suspicion).
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Marion, Jean-Luc. God without Being: Hors-Texte. Trans. Thomas A. Carlson. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Marion is a Catholic philosopher and theologian at the University of Paris. This volume is an exciting and provocative contribution to the discussion of the nature and concept of God. Marion, relying on the insights of Kierkegaard, Levinas, Barth, Derrida, and many others, is intent on unmasking the conceptual idols which we sometimes create (and then worship) when thinking about God.
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Morris, Thomas V. The Logic of God Incarnate. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986.
This book is a philosophical examination of the logical problems associated with the claim that Jesus of Nazareth was one and the same person as God the Son the Second Person of the divine Trinity. Though not a difficult book, one must have a good background in logic to appreciate fully the persuasiveness of this volume.
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Morris, Thomas V. Making Sense of it All: Pascal and the Meaning of Life. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992.
In this volume, Morris uses the French philosopher Blaise Pascal and his book, PensŽes, as a guide to an examination of some of the pressing questions of human existence. There are provocative and insightful assessments of faith, the good life, and Pascal's famous wager. This is an extraordinarily readable and helpful book.
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Mouw, Richard J. The God Who Commands: A Study in Divine Command Ethics. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1990.
This volume contains an articulate defense of ethics as conceived on the basis of a "divine command." Of particular interest is Mouw's engagement with narrative and virtue ethic traditions on the basis of his own Dutch Neo-Calvinist perspective and tradition. This text is quite engaging and will serve as an excellent introduction to one dimension of ethical theory.
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Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ and Culture. New York: Harper and Row, 1951.
H. Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962) was an American moral philosopher and theologian. This book is a modern classic. Niebuhr attempts to explain the five different ways society and the church have sought to understand its religious experience and confession of faith in Jesus Christ. NiebuhrÕs defense of ÒChrist as transformer of cultureÓ is frequently seen as the quintessential statement of modern liberalism.
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Niebuhr, H. Richard. The Responsible Self. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1963.
Niebuhr addresses the questions of ethics and moral philosophy. He seeks to develop a consistent ethic by examining the significance of personal responsibility and authentic selfhood. Like Aristotle, Niebuhr believes that the key to a moral life is to be found within the character of the individual.
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Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Anti-Christ. Trans. Walter Kaufmann. London: Viking Penguin, 1954.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German existentialist philosopher, was one of the most vocal critics of traditional morality and religious beliefs. This small book is one of his most stringent critiques of Christianity. Nietzsche is generally well disposed toward Jesus of Nazareth (though Nietzsche thought Jesus was terribly naive) but he has nothing but harsh criticism for St. Paul and the early (and modern) Christian church.
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Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Trans. Walter Kaufmann. London: Viking Penguin, 1954.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is truly one of the most brilliant and bizarre books ever published. The book is an account of the wandering prophet Zarathustra--his encounters, his speeches, his dreams. Written mostly in narrative form, the text contains almost all of Nietzsche's major "doctrines:" eternal recurrence, the overman, the "death of God," etc.
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Pascal, Blaise. Pensées. Trans. A. J. Krailsheimer. London: Penguin Books, 1966.
Blaise Pascal's (1623-1662) Penseés ("Thoughts") is an insightful philosophical examination and defense of Christian faith. This volume contains Pascal's famous "wager" and his persuasive assessment of human frailty and weakness. Written in aphorisms, this book is as enjoyable as it is compelling.
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Plantinga, Alvin, and Nicholas Wolterstorff, eds. Faith and Rationality: Reason and Belief in God. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983.
This collection of essays inaugurated the "Reformed Epistemology" project. Adherents of Reformed Epistemology argue that belief in God is rational because it is properly basic and therefore does not need the type of evidence which has been traditionally construed as necessary to prove its veracity. Contributors to this volume include Plantinga, Wolterstorff, George Mavrodes, George Marsden, and others. This is an important book in contemporary philosophy of religion.
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Russell, Bertrand. Why I am Not a Christian, and Other Essays on Religion and related Subjects. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was one of the most important analytic and moral philosophers of the twentieth century. Russell was highly critical of traditional morality and religious beliefs, and this small volume contains some of his most succinct and polemical essays on the subject of religious belief.
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Stump, Eleonore, and Thomas Flint, eds. Hermes and Athena: Biblical Exegesis and Philosophical Theology. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1993.
This book is a collection of essays addressing the questions which arise from a consideration of the relationship between philosophy and biblical studies. The contributors are both Biblical exegetes and philosophers, and they examine the methods, assumptions, and goals of hermeneutics, as well as biblical morality, Christology, and the nature of miracles. These essays and their responses are quite passionate.
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Thistleton, Anthony C. Interpreting God and the Postmodern Self: On Meaning, Manipulation, and Promise. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.
Thistleton is professor of Christian theology at the University of Nottingham in England. This volume contains an assessment of postmodern literature on God, human meaning, and the understanding of selfhood. Thistle attempts to produce a critically appreciative response to postmodernity.
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Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Trans. Talcott Parsons. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1921.
Max Weber (1864-1920) was an important German philosopher and sociologist. In this volume, Weber explores the connections which exist between the rise of capitalism and the work ethic which is embodied in Calvinistic theology. Weber believes that the Protestant idea of a non-religious calling (or "vocation") made the early expansion of capitalism possible.
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Westphal, Merold. Suspicion and Faith: Religious Uses of Modern Atheism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.
Westphal teaches philosophy at Fordham University. In this book, he proposes to read Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche "for Lent." Westphal believes that there is a parallell between the critique of religion offered by these thinkers and the critique of religion found in the Bible. To that extent, Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche can contribute to the development of mature Christian faith and authentic spirituality.
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Wittgenstein, Ludwig. On Certainty (1951). Ed. G. E. M. Anscombe and G. H. von Wright.. Trans. Denis Paul and G. E. M. Anscombe. New York: Harper and Row, 1972.
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. This small book is a provocative collection of aphorisms
on knowledge and certainty (or the lack thereof) written during the last couple of years of his life.
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Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Divine Discourse: Philosophical Reflections on the claim that God Speaks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Nicholas Wolterstorff is a philosopher of religion at Yale University. In this volume he distinguishes divine speech from divine revelation and addresses the philosophical questions inherent in the notion that God speaks.
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Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Reason within the Limits of Religion Alone. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984.
This small but important book explores the relationship between faith and reason and examines possible limits of Reason with regard to religious questions and belief. Wolterstorff's interesting notion of "control beliefs" is discussed in this volume.
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Wuthnow, Robert. Rediscovering the Sacred: Perspectives on Religion in Contemporary Society. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992.
Wuthnow teaches at Princeton and is one of the leading sociologists of religion in the United States. This volume is Wuthnow's contribution to the assessments of religion which are being (and have been) made by social theorists or philosophical sociologists. Wuthnow addresses the thought of Peter Berger, Robert Bellah, Clifford Geertz, JŸrgen Habermas, and Max Weber (among others).