Philosophy of Religion Selected Readings

Incorporating twelve new readings, Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, Fifth Edition, presents eighty-two selections grouped into fourteen thematic sections, providing instructors with great flexibility in organizing their courses. While it deals primarily with the Western and analytic traditions in philosophy, the book also incorporates readings representing continental, Asian, and Islamic perspectives. The selections are enhanced by substantial section introductions, study questions, suggested readings, and an extensive glossary at the end of the book. The fifth edition includes a new section, "Atheism and Nonreligious Approaches to Religion," featuring work by Paul Draper, Ludwig Feuerbach, Michael Martin, Michael Peterson, and Michael Ruse. Seven other additional selections appear throughout the text.

An excellent stand-alone text for courses in the philosophy of religion, Philosophy of Religion, Fifth Edition, is also a perfect companion to the editors' textbook, Reason and Religious Belief, Fifth Edition (OUP, 2012), as the two books share the same topical organization.

Package Philosophy of Religion, Fifth Edition, with Reason and Religious Belief, Fifth Edition, and save your students 20% (package ISBN 978-0-19-935952-3). To order, please contact your Oxford sales representative or call 800.280.0280.

Michael Peterson is Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Asbury Theological Seminary.

William Hasker is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Huntington University.

Bruce Reichenbach is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Augsburg College.

David Basinger is Professor of Philosophy & Ethics at Roberts Wesleyan College.

*=New to this Edition
Preface
INTRODUCTION: Exploring the Philosophy of Religion
PART ONE: THE NATURE OF RELIGION
An Evolutionary Account of Religion, Daniel C. Dennett
Buddhist Nonrealism, Buddha
A Defense of Religious Realism, Roger Trigg
The Meaning of Religious Beliefs Is in Their Use, D. Z. Phillips
PART TWO: RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
Religious Experiences, St. Teresa of Jesus
Religious Experience as Feelings Forming the Root of Religion, William James
Religious Experience as Perception of God, William P. Alston
Religious Experiences as Interpretative Accounts, Wayne Proudfoot
Critique of Religious Experience, Michael Martin
A Phenomenological Account of Religious Experience, Merold Westphal
* Religious Experience Brings about Awakening, Hakuun Yasutani Roshi
PART THREE: FAITH AND REASON
The Harmony of Reason and Revelation, Thomas Aquinas
The Wager, Blaise Pascal
The Ethics of Belief, William Clifford
The Will to Believe, William James
Truth Is Subjectivity, Søren Kierkegaard
Critical Dialog in Philosophy of Religion, C. Stephen Evans
PART FOUR: ARGUMENTS ABOUT GOD'S EXISTENCE
The Classical Ontological Argument, St. Anselm
Critique of Anselm's Argument, Gaunilo
A Contemporary Modal Version of the Ontological Argument, Alvin Plantinga
The Classical Cosmological Argument, Thomas Aquinas
The Cosmological Argument from Contingency, Bruce R. Reichenbach
The Kalam Cosmological Argument, William Lane Craig
Critique of the Cosmological Argument, J. L. Mackie
The Analogical Teleological Argument, William Paley
Critique of the Analogical Teleological Argument, David Hume
* The Anthropic Teleological Argument, Robin Collins
* A Moral Argument for God's Existence, C.S. Lewis
PART FIVE: KNOWING GOD WITHOUT ARGUMENTS
The Reformed Objection to Natural Theology, Alvin Plantinga
Experience, Proper Basicality, and Belief in God, Robert Pargetter
The Case of the Intellectually Sophisticated Theist, William Hasker
PART SIX: THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES
God's Necessary Existence, John Hick
Negative Theology, Moses Maimonides
God Is Omnipotent, Thomas Aquinas
Some Puzzles Concerning Omnipotence, George I. Mavrodes
Divine Omniscience and Voluntary Action, Nelson Pike
God Is Timeless, Boethius
God Is Everlasting, Nicholas Wolterstorff
Atman Is Brahman, The Upanishads
PART SEVEN: DIVINE ACTION
Providence: Risky or Risk-Free?, Paul Helm
Middle Knowledge and Classical Christian Thought, David Basinger
An Objection to Middle Knowledge, Robert Merrihew Adams
The Vulnerability of God, J. R. Lucas
God Is Creative-Responsive Love, John B. Cobb and David Ray Griffin
PART EIGHT: THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
Evil Makes a Strong Case against God's Existence, David Hume
Best of All Possible Worlds Theodicy, Gottfried Leibniz
Evil and Omnipotence, J. L. Mackie
The Free Will Defense, Alvin Plantinga
Soul-Making Theodicy, John Hick
The Evidential Argument from Evil, William Rowe
Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God, Marilyn McCord Adams
* Evil and Suffering in Islam, Mohammed Ghaly
* PART NINE: ATHEISM AND NONRELIGIOUS APPROACHES TO RELIGION
* God Is a Projection of Human Nature, Ludwig Feuerbach
* Conflicts between the Divine Attributes, Michael Martin
* Pain, Pleasure, and the Evidence for Atheism, Paul Draper
* The Naturalist Challenge to Religion, Michael Ruse
* The Encounter between Atheistic Naturalism and Christian Theism, Michael Peterson
PART TEN: MIRACLES
Is it Possible to Know that Jesus Was Raised from the Dead?, Stephen T. Davis
The Evidence for Miracles Is Weak, David Hume
Miracles and Testimony, J. L. Mackie
Miracles and Historical Evidence, Richard Swinburne
PART ELEVEN: LIFE AFTER DEATH
The Soul Survives and Functions after Death, H. H. Price
The Soul Needs a Brain to Continue to Function, Richard Swinburne
Problems with Accounts of Life after Death, Linda Badham
Resurrection of the Person, John Hick
The Buddhist View of Rebirth, Anonymous
A Hindu View of Rebirth, Sri Aurobindo
PART TWELVE: RELIGION AND SCIENCE
Two Separate Domains, Stephen Jay Gould
Science Discredits Religion, Richard Dawkins
Reinstating Design within Science, William Dembski
At the Mercy of Chance?, Phillip Kitcher
* Naturalism and Science Are Incompatible, Alvin Plantinga
The Universe as Creation, John Polkinghorne
PART THIRTEEN: RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
Buddhism and Other Religions, Dalai Lama
The Universality and Uniqueness of Religious Doctrines, Paul Griffiths
Religious Inclusivism, Karl Rahner
Religious Pluralism, John Hick
PART FOURTEEN: RELIGION AND MORALITY
* The Relation of Good to the Divine Will, Plato
Which God Ought We to Obey?, Alasdair MacIntyre
Ethics and Natural Law, Thomas Aquinas
* A Confucian View of Morality, Mengzi (Mencius)
Ethics without Religion, Jean-Paul Sartre
Glossary