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Angels and Monotheism
By Michael D. Hurley, University of Cambridge
While angels have played a decisive role in all the world's major religions and continue to loom large in the popular religious and creative imagination, modern theology has tended to ignore or trivialize them. The comparatively few scholarly works on angels over the last century have typically interpreted them as mere symbols and metaphors: they are said to offer glimpses not of the divine order, but of human desires, anxieties, and ideologies. Angelology has collapsed into anthropology. By contrast, this polemical book argues for the indispensable importance of studying angels as divinely created beings, for theology at large, and for understanding the defining doctrine of monotheistic religions in particular. Additionally, the book contends that the spirit of modern science did not originate with the so-called Scientific Revolution but was actually inspired centuries earlier by the angelological lucubrations of medieval scholastics.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009374644
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Tags: #Religion #Monotheism #Theology
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The Development of the Concept of Predication in Arabic Philosophy
By Mahmood Zeraatpisheh, University of Birjand
Predication is a central theme in Arabic logic that has undergone significant semantic transformation throughout history. This article explores the evolution of predication's scope and meaning across four successive stages. Rather than pinpointing specific historical moments—given that these transitions lack clearly defined beginnings or endings—the focus is on key propositions that enrich our understanding of predication, drawing on the classifications of thinkers such as Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī (d. 950), Athīr al-Dīn al-Abharī (d. 1262-65), Mullā Ṣadrā (d. 1635), and Muhammad Ḥusayn Ṭabātabāʾī (d. 1981). The transition from the first to the second stage is characterized by the acceptance of natural propositions (ṭabīʿīya), while subsequent stages involve essential primary (dhātī awwalī) and stronger/weaker (ḥaqīqa-raqīqa) propositions. This progression illustrates a shift from expressing the properties of external objects to articulating the properties of concepts, ultimately culminating in the expression of identity between concepts and external entities. The four stages can be summarized as follows: (1) First-order predication; (2) Second-order predication; (3) Second-order identity; (4) First-order identity.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/01445340.2024.2423590
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Tags: #MullaSadra #Arabic #Logic #Gender
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Agnostics’ Well-Being Compared to Believers and Atheists: A Study in Europe’s Religious–Cultural Zones of Christian Heritage
By Moise Karim and Vassilis Saroglou , Université catholique de Louvain
Past research suggests three distinct major trends regarding the links of religion with well-being. First, religious faith contributes to well-being, with believers showing higher well-being than nonbelievers. Alternatively, it is certainty about one’s own worldviews, be they religious or irreligious, that predicts well-being. Finally, secularization moderates the above, making nonbelief normative. We investigated these trends by focusing on agnostics, who, compared to believers and atheists, combine a lack of faith and uncertainty about worldviews and should, thus, be the lowest in well-being. By analyzing European Values Study 2017 data from 29 countries and controlling for personal variables, we found that in countries of Western Christian heritage, be they religious or secularized, agnostics were the least happy compared to believers and atheists. Religionists, compared to atheists, were happier (countries of Protestant heritage) or equally happy (countries of Catholic heritage). In countries of Eastern Orthodox tradition, believers were happier than nonbelievers, agnostics, and atheists alike—but again, agnostics were the lowest in the less religious countries. In sum, uncertainty makes agnostics, consistently across religious cultures, to be the lowest in well-being, whereas the effect of religious faith on well-being varies across cultures.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121502
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Tags: #Religion #Agnosticism #Theism #Sociology
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What Is Salafism? An Intellectual History of Salafī Hermeneutics
By Jaan S. Islam, University of Oxford
This article offers a reconceptualization of the movement that came to be known as Salafism in the twentieth century. Existing theories of Salafism seek to characterize it either as a modern sociological movement or a term denoting (neo-)Ḥanbalite belief. This article argues for a reconceptualization of Salafism as a hermeneutical stance grounded in an explicit affirmation of the text in the absence of a countervailing indication (qarīna). While the abstract noun “Salafism” (salafiyya) is a neologism, it is argued that its antecedents derived from its root word previously denoted a claim space for religious authenticity in the form of the literal interpretation of scripture. An analysis of these related terms from the fourth century AH/tenth century CE onward reveals the use of the concept to denote the literal affirmation, belief, and implementation of Qurʾanic verses and prophetic traditions. Furthermore, an analysis of these terms by contemporary Salafīs shows that they too define Salafism as an affirmation of this hermeneutical stance. This study comprehensively traces the historical usage of the term Salafī and its derivations, which it is argued remains central to understanding contemporary Salafism. The findings of this article also inform debates concerning what constitutes Islamic meaning creation, including Asad’s conception of Islam as a discursive tradition and Shahab Ahmed’s classification of interpretive complexes. It argues that Salafism constitutes a hermeneutical complex that pervades Islamic meaning construction across spatial and temporal boundaries.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1086/731596
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Tags: #Religion #Islam #Epistemology #Hermeneutics
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God and the Problem of Epistemic Defeaters
By Joshua Thurow, University of Texas
Any modern, moderately intellectually mature (MMIM) believer in God faces a variety of epistemic defeaters of their belief in God. Epistemic defeaters challenge the rationality of a belief. After explaining the notion of a defeater and discussing various ways and targets of defeat, this Element categorizes the many defeaters of belief in God into four classes: rebutting, undercutting, base defeaters, and competence defeaters. Then, several general defeaters of theistic belief are examined in some detail: the superfluity argument, the problem of unpossessed evidence, various forms of debunking arguments, and a cumulative case competence defeater. The typical MMIM believer, it is argued, has resources to resist these defeaters, although the cumulative case competence defeater has some force. The strength of its force depends on the strength of grounds for theistic belief and of various defeaters and deflectors for the competence defeater. No easy general defeater of theistic belief is found.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009270649
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Tags: #Religion #Theism #God #Rationality
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Editing and Printing Hadith Literature in Nineteenth-Century India: Aḥmad ʿAlī Sahāranpūrī and the Maṭbaʿ-i Aḥmadī Press
By Muntasir Zaman, Qalam Seminary
From manuscripts to various types of printing, the production of written knowledge has undergone drastic changes since the nineteenth century. What impact did this transitionary period have on hadith manuscripts, which enjoyed a complex textual tradition spanning centuries? Through a case study of the North Indian hadith scholar Aḥmad ʿAlī Sahāranpūrī (d. 1880) and his printing press, Maṭbaʿ-i Aḥmadī, this article contributes to the burgeoning scholarship on early-modern editorial practices. Focusing on the use of lithographic printing in nineteenth-century India, this study examines how Sahāranpūrī employed editorial techniques to print hadith literature that paralleled other prolific printing hubs like Cairo while also preserving the distinctive premodern characteristics of these texts. Moreover, this article will showcase the broader editorial trends in India at the time vis-à-vis hadith literature with a focus on what set Sahāranpūrī’s work apart from that of his fellow Indian editors.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1163/24519197-bja10058
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Tags: #Hadith #Islam #History
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Is Christian Belief Supernatural?
Grace, Nature and the Cognitive Science of Religion
By Stanisław Ruczaj, Jagiellonian University
The Cognitive Science of Religion represents a contemporary attempt at a naturalistic explanation of religion. There is debate as to whether its account of how religious beliefs arise is reconcilable with the religious account, which holds that religious beliefs are caused by God. In my paper, I argue that these two accounts cannot be reconciled when it comes to the specific question of how Christian religious beliefs arise if one accepts an important theological doctrine of the supernaturality of Christian belief. This doctrine implies that there can be no natural explanation for how Christian beliefs arise because they are a gift of divine grace. This leads to a conundrum for Christian theists: they can either reject the CSR account of how their religious beliefs arise, or they can reject the supernaturality of Christian belief. I argue that the latter is preferable. I then draw on the work of the theologian Denis Edwards to illustrate how one can drop this doctrine without abandoning some other fundamental tenets of Christian theology.
Link: https://doi.org/10.14428/thl.v8i1.68683
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Tags: #CSR #Religion #Christianity
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Belief, Doubt, and Faith in Life After Death
By Mark Hocknull, University of Lincoln
This essay distinguishes between propositional belief and faith and considers the relationship between these two forms of belief, arguing that faith is not an entirely separate form of belief from propositional assent and that it does require a minimal cognitive content. The essay then goes on to consider beliefs about, and faith in, life after death and develops a metaphorical account of this faith using an Aristotelian concept of the soul as a form of life together with a theological understanding of the death of Jesus in the New Testament. It is argued that the truth claims of assertions about life after death are beyond evidential support, but there are strong reasons for doubting the literal truth of such assertions. Faith in life after death however can be considered rational and truth-seeking. The essay concludes that semantic agnosticism is the proper attitude towards belief in life after death and justifies this position against two possible objections
Link: https://doi.org/10.14428/thl.v8i1.67393
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Tags: #Faith #Death #Resurrection
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The Relationships Between Jews and Muslims in the Past and Present—Pedagogical Implications from an Islamic Religious Education Perspective in a German Context
By Fahimah Ulfat, University of Tuebingen
This article explores the historical and contemporary relationships between Jews and Muslims, with a focus on the implications for Islamic religious education. It highlights the complexity of Jewish–Muslim relations, characterized by periods of coexistence and conflict. Early Islamic history reveals an inclusive community of believers encompassing pious Jews and Christians, challenging modern perceptions of inherent antagonism. The article examines the evolution of these relationships, noting significant changes influenced by political dynamics. In Germany, political discourses further shape mutual perceptions, often exacerbating tensions between Jewish and Muslim communities. Educationally, the article advocates for addressing distorted perspectives and emphasizes the value of intertextual analysis of the Quran and the Torah.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121470
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Tags: #Islam #Judaism #Quran #Torah #Pedagogy
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Religious education: learning what from studying religions?
By Brendan Carmody, University College London
‘Learning from’ in Religious Education, as a mode of moving towards interdenominational and interfaith learning, has a long and fruitful history. However, It has been criticised for being overly subjective as it mainly encourages learning about oneself. Though this has value, it needs to address better the need to understand rather than simply use the religious tradition that is being studied. It raises the question of the objectivity of ‘Learning from’ religions. It is argued that interpreting the correctness of one’s understanding of a text entails more than ‘learning about’ a religious tradition. It should also include a process of self-reflection to enable a judgement of one’s accuracy in comprehending the text’s grammar as well as its underlying more universal truth. This calls for a movement towards what the philosopher-theologian, Bernard Lonergan, named intellectual conversion, a personal appreciation of what true knowledge entails. It is thus contended that ‘Learning from’ religions needs not only awareness of one’s ‘signals of transcendence’ but also of how they can be developed, in light of what is being presented, leading to an informed and wise choice of worldviews about how one is to live, which is an admirable goal of Religious Education.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2024.2436919
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Tags: #Pedagogy #Religion #ReligiousEducation
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Music and Monotheism
By Gareth F. Wilson, University of Cambridge
What connects the phenomenon of music as an art with the belief in one indivisible God? What has music, a non-linguistic medium, to say about the personal, loving, communicative God of Scripture and the Prophets, or the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, transcendent God of the Philosophers and can it bring these 'concepts of God' together? To answer these questions, this book takes divine Creation as its starting point, that the God of monotheism must be the Creator of all that is. It thus argues that anything which instantiates and facilitates communication within the created realm has been enabled to do so by a God who communicates with His Creation, and who wishes that His Creation be communicative. Indeed, it will argue that the communication allowed by music, and aesthetic experience in general, is the very raison d'être of Abrahamic monotheism and might thus allow an opportunity for dialogue between monotheistic faiths.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009158916
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Tags: #Monotheism #Music #God
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Islam, Causality, and Science
Perspectives on Reconciliation of Islamic Tradition and Modern Science
By Özgür Koca, Bayan Islamic Graduate School
This Element intends to contribute to the debate between Islam and science. It focuses on one of the most challenging issues in the modern discussion on the reconciliation of religious and scientific claims about the world, which is to think about divine causality without undermining the rigor and efficacy of the scientific method. First, the Element examines major Islamic accounts of causality. Then, it provides a brief overview of contemporary debates on the issue and identifies both scientific and theological challenges. It argues that any proposed Islamic account of causality for the task of reconciliation should be able to preserve scientific rigor without imposing a priori limits on scientific research, account for miracles without turning them into science-stoppers or metaphors, secure divine and creaturely freedom, and establish a strong sense of divine presence in the world. Following sections discuss strengths and weaknesses of each account in addressing these challenges.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/muwo.12493
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Tags: #Islam #Science #ConflictThesis #Causality
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Bridging the Mackie–Plantinga Debate on Evil with Ibn Arabi’s Metaphysics
By Elif Nur Balci, Sakarya University
This study examines how Ibn Arabi’s metaphysics can address key challenges in the contemporary philosophical debate on the problem of evil. John Mackie famously argues that the existence of an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God is logically incompatible with the existence of evil, suggesting that theism must relinquish one of these divine attributes to resolve this contradiction. Alvin Plantinga, through his Free Will Defense, demonstrates that no logical contradiction undermines the coherence of the theistic conception of God. Although Mackie concedes this point, he contends that Plantinga’s defense does not sufficiently explain why God permits evil. With the resolution of the logical problem of evil, the evidential problem has gained prominence in the theistic debate, where Plantinga’s defense remains inadequate. While Plantinga invites theists to explore potential theological reasons for God’s allowance of evil, he acknowledges that this approach may not yield strong philosophical results. In contrast, Ibn Arabi’s metaphysical framework offers a more comprehensive solution. By integrating ontology, epistemology, and metaphysics to establish a coherent relationship between God, the universe, and humanity, Ibn Arabi renders Mackie’s logical critique irrelevant. Furthermore, his approach fills the gaps left by Plantinga’s defense, offering a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between God and evil.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121463
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Tags: #God #IbnArabi #Plantinga #PoE
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Divine Contradiction: some snippets
By Jc Beall, University of Notre Dame
Two doctrines (or axioms) of christian theology sharply distinguish christian monotheism from its traditional monotheistic siblings (viz. jewish and islamic monotheism): the incarnation of God and the triunity of God. Both doctrines, as many have long observed, face a conspicuous so-called logical problem – namely, apparent contradiction. How should the strong appearance of such fundamental contradiction be explained? Beall's answer: the incarnation and trinity appear to be contradictory because God is a contradictory being – a being of whom some contradictions are true. The full truth of God is expressed only via contradiction, which is why the fundamental axioms of christian theology have long appeared to be contradictory. Divine Contradiction presents the target contradictory account of the trinity; its predecessor The Contradictory Christ presents the contradictory account of the incarnation.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412524000295
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Tags: #God #Trinity #Jesus #AnalyticalPhilosophy
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Faith and Reality: Marx’s Understanding of an Ontological Argument in Reference to Kant
By Chuantao Feng and Jianmei Li, Luoxue Research Institute of Zhengzhou University
In the Appendix to his dissertation, with respect to Kant, Marx provided an in-depth analysis of the ontological proof of the existence of God. Here, we explore this analysis in detail. Firstly, we argue that “faith” (Glaube) is the foundation of Marx’s interpretation of the ontological proof of God and its difference from that of Kant. On one hand, Marx’s understanding of the ontological argument can be called the “Realization of Belief” (RB). The object of faith is, for the believer, endowed with some kind of real power; that is to say, the object is real for the believer who has faith in it. This line of argument differs from the Kantian Hypostatization of Idea (HI), which attempts to prove the transcendental God as an a priori concept that implies itself as an empirical being or a posteriori phenomenon. On the other hand, “faith” was also the foundation upon which Marx based his interpretation of Kant. Subsequently, in the context of Marx’s dissertation, we clarify the connotations of “reality”, “belief”, and “faith”. “Reality” refers to objects exerting a real force that works on those with faith in their imagination while not necessarily entailing that the imagined object of belief is an empirical one. “Belief” refers either to an opinion (doxa) based on “faith” or to an idea without necessity in the sense of David Hume’s philosophy. As for “faith”, Marx uses this term in the Protestant sense, meaning obedience to the object one believes in, where obedience refers to the absence of self-righteousness. In a state of “faith”, the faithful one possesses “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Finally, on the basis of these two considerations, we reflect on the existing academic interpretations of the theme of this article and highlight some differences between these interpretations and the present article. We show that existing interpretations of Marx’s summary either conflate the two theories of the HI and RB or miss the importance of “faith” in Marx’s arguments. We conclude that Marx, at the time of his dissertation, interpreted the ontological argument by way of the RB, which was based on the concept of “faith”, and that his critical understanding of Kant’s refutation of the ontological proof was founded on the same interpretation.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121427
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Tags: #God #OntologicalArgument #Kant
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Anonymity and Digital Islamic Authority
By Avi Astor, Ghufran Khir-Allah and Rosa Martínez-Cuadros, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Much of the literature on digital religious authority has focused on spiritual “influencers” and the challenges they pose to traditional religious hierarchies and structures of authority. Less attention has been dedicated to religious websites, social media pages, and digital feeds whose popularity and influence do not hinge on the personalistic qualities of their creators. There is a wide assortment of generic religious reference sites that, although developed and managed by largely anonymous webmasters and administrators, command significant audiences and exert substantial influence on religious interpretations and practices. We argue that anonymity affords certain advantages for bolstering visibility and influence that have hitherto received insufficient attention in the literature on religion, authority, and cyberspace. In contrast to spiritual influencers, who draw attention to their personal biographies, credentials, appearances, and connections to enhance their legitimacy and authority, individuals or groups who administer religious reference sites commonly employ alternative strategies that involve concealing personal identities, experiences, and affiliations. Their aim is to come off as neutral, impartial, and free of ideological baggage that might bias their interpretations. This facilitates their efforts to frame the content they share as a form of universal religious truth that transcends ideological and sectarian differences. Our analysis centers on websites and social media pages that provide guidance to Spanish speakers on Islamic theology, jurisprudence, and piety.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121507
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Tags: #Islam #Religion #Ethics
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The Importance of an Interreligious Quranic Hermeneutics for a Gender-Sensitive Reading of the Quran, Using the Example of the Story of the Queen of Sheba
By Dina El Omari, University of Münster
This article explores a novel perspective on the Quran by examining its interreligious and intercultural dimensions, challenging traditional readings that often treat it solely as a religious or historical text. By focusing on the Quran’s engagement with diverse religious traditions, the article highlights how the Quran negotiates and reflects its multicultural context. The analysis centers on the story of the Queen of Sheba, revealing how her portrayal disrupts conventional gender roles and provides a unique lens for understanding the Quran’s treatment of gender and religious diversity. Through a comparative study with Jewish intertexts, the article demonstrates that the Quran not only engages with other religious traditions but also incorporates and positively represents figures from these traditions. This approach offers new insights into how interreligious hermeneutics can enhance our understanding of the Quran’s stance on religious plurality and gender dynamics.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121502
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Tags: #Islam #Exegesis #Hermeneutics #Gender
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Traces of Jewish Piyyut in a Verse by Dhū l-Nūn al-Miṣrī
By Omer Michaelis, Tel Aviv University
The significant impact of Jewish sources on early Muslim theological discourses has been well documented and explored for over a century. However, Jewish piyyut—a mammoth corpus of liturgical texts that circulated extensively among Jews in the Islamicate world—has been notably absent from such comparative, archeological, and genealogical research. In this study, I aim to demonstrate that through a genealogical investigation of a particular motif—the intercession of the four creatures beneath the divine throne on behalf of the entities represented by their names—a doctrinal influence of the Jewish piyyut from the classical period (sixth to eighth centuries) on a verse by Dhū l-Nūn al-Miṣrī (d. 861) can be discerned. The article presents a brief introduction to the long verse, which has been almost entirely overlooked in previous scholarship. To establish the article’s main argument, it then examines the motif in question and analyzes the motif’s earlier appearances in late antique and early medieval Jewish liturgical sources. Finally, this article’s findings suggest the possibility that the influence of the piyyut extends far beyond the specific example under discussion, potentially leaving its mark on a much broader array of early Muslim sources.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1086/731700
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Tags: #Religion #Islam #Judaism #History
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Jewish Concepts of Divine Oneness
A Comparative Introduction
By Job Y. Jindo, Academy for Jewish Religion and New York University
This book offers a selective, typological overview of Jewish perspectives on the belief in God's oneness. To achieve this, the author divides the history of Judaism into four phases - biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern - and presents diverse models for understanding the reality of divine oneness within each phase. These models not only offers insight into different perspectives on the topic but also illuminate diverse layers of polemical discourse in the Jewish tradition, whether internal or in dialogue with other religions and worldviews. In addition, the author invites readers to consider how to think about the plurality of the perspectives at hand, and if and how such meta-reflection can enrich the lives of contemporary readers, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. No prior knowledge of Judaism is necessary.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108946728
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Tags: #Religion #Judaism #God #Monotheism
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The Politics of Monotheism
By Ragnar M. Bergem, MF Norwegian School of Theology
Monotheism, the belief in the One True God, seems to have an ambiguous role in political life: On the one hand, monotheism may foster the inclusion of everybody, regardless of identity or background. On the other, monotheistic religions demand submission to a singular revealed truth, distinguish between faithful and the heretics, and thus seemingly promote an antagonistic and tribalistic politics. What, then, are the political implications of the monotheistic belief in absolute truth? This Element traces the Enlightenment origins of our contemporary debates about monotheism and argues that these debates reflect a deeper Western ambivalence towards religion. It does so while discussing both secular and Christian critics of the politics of monotheism. The Element contends that there is no singular politics of monotheism, and that we can only approach monotheism's political significance if we take seriously the various ways in which truth is represented in political life in monotheistic traditions.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009349260
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Tags: #Religion #Monotheism #Politics
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Ibn ‘Arabī on Divine Atemporality and Temporal Presentism
By Ismail Lala, Gulf University for Science and Technology
Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn ‘Arabī (d. 638/1240) is arguably the most influential philosophical mystic in Islam. He is also a presentist. This paper responds to the arguments of contemporary philosophers, Norman Kretzmann, William Lane Craig, Garrett DeWeese, and Alan Padgett, who argue that divine atemporality and temporal presentism are incompatible, through the temporal ontology of Ibn ‘Arabī. Ibn ‘Arabī asserts that all entities in the universe are loci of manifestation of God’s most beautiful Names. These divine Names constitute sensible reality. The principal response of Ibn ‘Arabī to the arguments of contemporary scholars is that the divine Names as they are manifested in the cosmos cannot be conflated with the divine Names as they are in themselves, which, in turn, cannot be conflated with God in His numinous essence. This allows him to simultaneously maintain the atemporality of God and temporal presentism.
Link: https://doi.org/10.14428/thl.v8i1.69673
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Tags: #IbnArabi #God #Time #Presentism
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Eschatology, the Elimination of Evil, and the Ontology of Time
By Andrew Hollingsworth, Temple Baptist Theological Seminary
Part and parcel of the eschatology of the three Abrahamic faiths is the belief that sin and evil will be eliminated upon the consummation of God’s kingdom on earth. Not only do these beliefs affirm that God will ultimately “deal” with the problem of sin and evil, but that sin and evil will be no more. I refer to this eschatological belief as “the elimination of evil” (EOE). The EOE has important implications for how one understands the ontology of time. In this paper, I contribute to this discussion by arguing that ontologies of time that affirm the concrete existence of past moments are incompatible with the EOE. I also argue that solutions based on theories of hypertime, such as those posited by Tyron Goldschmidt and Samuel Lebens, also fail to solve the problems posed to those ontologies of time affirming the concrete existence of the past. I conclude that the ontology of time that best facilitates the EOE is presentism.
Link: https://doi.org/10.14428/thl.v8i1.74563
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Tags: #God #Time #Eschatology #Evil #Presentism
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An Anselmian Defense of Hell
By T. Parker Haratine, University of South Carolina; Kevin A. Smith, Baylor University
This article constructively retrieves St. Anselm of Canterbury’s theory of retributive justice and provides a defense of what can be called the retributive model of hell. In the first part of this article, we develop the place of retributive punishment in Anselm’s thinking and discuss how and when retributive punishment is a good thing. In the second part, we apply Anselm’s thinking on retributive justice to the problem of hell and provide a defense of how hell, defined as a state of receiving retributive, damnatory, and irreversible punishment, is good. We then address a series of objections. Despite some criticism that both Anselm and the retributive model of hell receive in the contemporary literature, Anselm’s account of retributive justice can make unique and constructive contributions to the contemporary discussion of hell; by retrieving and applying Anselm’s thought to the problem of hell, we intend to kill two birds with one stone.
Link: https://doi.org/10.14428/thl.v8i1.67653
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Tags: #Anselm #Hell #PoE #God
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The role of Islamic education teachers in enhancing higher-order thinking: a systematic review
By Sultan Khalaf G Alotaibi, King Saud University
Teaching strategies used by teachers have a direct impact on how well their students learn high-order thinking skills. The purpose of this study was to summarise prior research on the application of higher-order thinking skills from the perspective of a teacher in Islamic education. The PRISMA guidelines were used to search for the relevant literature on five different databases (Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO, Google Scholar, and Ovid). One thousand one hundred and fifty-eight relevant studies were found in these databases which were screened for duplicates on Endnote software. The result indicated the main challenges that Islamic education teachers encounter while attempting to teach higher-order thinking skills in their classes. Two of these issues are inadequate professional development and the widespread implementation of conventional teacher-centred practices. Though more people are beginning to recognise the value of critical thinking and problem-solving skills development, there is still a lack of consistency and advancement in their application, especially in areas with inadequate institutional support and policy structures.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2024.2436921
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Tags: #Pedagogy #Religion #ReligiousEducation
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Monotheism and Religious Experience
By Mark Owen Webb, Texas Tech University
In the monotheistic traditions, there are people who report having special experiences that justify their monotheistic beliefs. They see, hear, or otherwise experience directly the one true God, ruler of the universe. In order to understand what is going on in these experiences and how we should respond to reports of these experiences, it is important to understand what religious experiences can and can't be, what the claim of monotheism entails, and therefore how what reports of such experiences mean, both for the experiencer and for the recipient of the report.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108955317
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Tags: #Monotheism #Religion #God #Psychology
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God and Happiness
By Matthew Shea, Franciscan University of Steubenville
This Element explores the connection between God and happiness, with happiness understood as a life of well-being or flourishing that goes well for the one living it. It provides a historical and contemporary survey of philosophical questions, theories, and debates about happiness, and it asks how they should be answered and evaluated from a theistic perspective. The central topics it covers are the nature of happiness (what is it?), the content of happiness (what are the constituents of a happy life?), the structure of happiness (is there a hierarchy of goods?), and the possibility of happiness (can we be happy?). It argues that God's existence has significant, positive, and desirable implications for human happiness.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009270182
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Tags: #God #Spirituality #Theism
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Anglo-Muhammadan Uṣūl al-Fiqh?: The Development of Colonial Legal Theory in British India
By Dr. Sohaira Siddiqui, Georgetown University
The jural colonization of Islamic law in India is predominantly read through the translation of key Ḥanafī fiqh texts in the early colonial period and the adjudication of legal cases relying on these texts. Ostensibly missing in this discussion is uṣūl al-fiqh. To what extent were colonial officials concerned with uṣūl al-fiqh? Were there any texts of uṣūl al-fiqh penned under the guise of jural colonization? And if so, what do these texts reveal about the Ḥanafī tradition in the British colonial period? This essay will analyze the first text of uṣūl al-fiqh, The Principles of Muhammadan Jurisprudence, penned in the late 19th century by a prominent Muslim judge, Abdur Rahim (1867-1952). Abdur Rahim's impetus for writing his text was to respond to specific critiques of Islamic law that characterized it as an incoherent legal system that could not generate legal certainty. Through exploring his text, I argue that despite his lack of ostensible madrasa training, Abdur Rahim situates his text within the intellectual development of the Ḥanafī school. However, because his text was intended for the British colonial elite, he minimizes key features of Ḥanafī uṣūl al-fiqh and ultimately produces a text that reflective more of madhhab eclecticism.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/muwo.12493
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Tags: #Islam #Fiqh #IslamicLaw #History
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Divine Contradiction: replies to critics
By Jc Beall, University of Notre Dame
This is a collection of replies to critics of Divine Contradiction, each critic a symposiast in the Religious Studies symposium on said book.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412524000283
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Tags: #God #Trinity #Jesus #AnalyticalPhilosophy
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Averroesian Religious Common Sense Natural Theology as Reflective Knowledge in the Form of Teleological Argument
By Kemal Batak, Sakarya University
In his Middle Commentary on Posterior Analytics, the great Aristotelian Commentator Ibn Rushd defines “knowledge” (scientific knowledge, epistemē, ‘ilm) as one of Aristotle’s five intellectual virtues and the faculty of reason, akin to the other virtues, in an Aristotelian way. Ibn Rushd defends the teleological argument, rooted in Aristotle’s teleological reading of nature, and supports the modal strong epistemic status of this argument, which is part of the concept of knowledge, in his early work (Short Commentary on Metaphysics), middle period work (al-Kashf) and late work (Long Commentary on Metaphysics), all in harmony with each other. Ibn Rushd, constructing the teleological argument based on the definition of knowledge, which fundamentally articulates the necessary or essential qualities inherent in objects in defense of de re modality, takes a step that seems quite radical within the context of the Aristotelian epistemic tradition to which he is affiliated: The teleological argument, strongly associated with the concept of knowledge—one of the five intellectual virtues—is presented as a form of deductive inference accessible not only to philosophers but also to ordinary public. In other words, according to him, the argument is both a philosophical and a religious way. This implies, for instance, that natural theology, typically viewed by Aquinas as an activity reserved for the higher epistemic class with talent and leisure, is seen by Ibn Rushd as a robust epistemic activity accessible to ordinary people. This new element, which can be referred to as common sense natural theology, contends that ordinary public knowledge and philosophers’ knowledge differ in details, such as whether it is a simple or complex deductive inference, while remaining the same in terms of their knowledge status.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121429
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Tags: #God #Teleology #Epistemology #Aristotle #IbnRushd
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Religious Doubts and Emotions Toward God in Adolescents: Relation to Self-Esteem and Meaning in Life
By Alice Kosarkova, Palacky University
Religious doubt (RD) and emotions toward God (EtGs) are areas of religiosity and spirituality that can play a role in the development and well-being of youth. The aim of this study is to investigate whether RD and EtGs are related to self-esteem and meaning in life in adolescents and what factors may be associated with them in a secular setting. A sample of Czech adolescents (n = 984, mean age 16.61, SD 1.21; 28% male) participated in the online survey. We measured RD, EtGs, meaning in life (ML) divided into presence (ML-P) and seeking (ML-S), adolescents’ self-esteem (ASE), faith in the adolescent environment, the perception of religion and church, and religious education (RE). RD and negative EtGs were associated with reduced ML-P. Negative EtGs were associated with a reduction in ASE. However, positive EtGs were associated with an increase in ML-P. Respondents experiencing faith in their environment, having a positive view of church and religion, and enriching RE were more likely to report a decrease in RD and an increase in positive EtGs and vice versa. Our findings suggest that RD and EtGs are related to adolescents’ well-being and point to factors to be adequately addressed to minimize the negative impact of RD and promote positive EtGs.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3366/jqs.2024.0584
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Tags: #God #Religion #Spirituality #Pedagogy
