This dissertation critically reconsiders the dichotomy drawn in modern philosophy between faith and reason, especially as formalized by the German Idealists. The latter, I suggest, continue to influence how the philosophy of religion is conceived and what it is considered to be capable of accomplishing. Though originally used to reconcile religious faith with the philosophical reason that had animated forceful skepticism, this dichotomy also underscores a tension between the conceptualization of a rational public good and private religious values within pluralistic societies. I focus on the efforts of Kant, Hegel, and F.W.J. Schelling to develop a philosophy of religion that distinguished philosophical reason and religious faith as distinct sources of theory while nevertheless establishing meaningful dialogue between each. The first chapter surveys Kant's and Hegel's philosophy of religion and argues that they struggled to maintain the otherness of religious faith relative to philosophical interpretation. The subsequent chapters each focus on a period of Schelling's intellectual development — his early criticisms of Kant, his mature rejection of German Idealism's subjective metaphysics, and his late philosophy of religion — as he developed an alternative philosophical approach to religion. This provides a means of exploring the challenges that a philosophy of religion must navigate to move beyond the problematic opposition of faith and reason. I conclude by considering the university as a promising context for reformulating this problematic dichotomy central to the philosophy of religion. The professional division of faculties embodies the abstract delineation of faith and reason and indicates the social and political dimension of such academic efforts. I argue that Schelling's contributions to the philosophy of religion point to the idea of the university as a vital framework for both reconsidering the opposition of faith and reason and moving beyond this schema in order to conceptualize effectively the contemporary conflicts between rational and religious authority within pluralistic societies.

The word "faith" is probably one of the most ambiguous words in the English language. It is used in different ways by different people at any given time to mean any number of feelings, actions or emotions. For some, faith is synonymous with religion, for others it represents belief and yet others use it to mean loyalty. Faith must have a meaning that is distinctly its own. Yet what is that meaning? Is there a way of defining faith that is understandable to all people? This paper strives to provide such a definition. In order to achieve this goal, the conceptions of faith as they are explained separately by Paul Tillich, John Hick and Robert Solomon are analyzed and combined with one another in order to formulate a universally applicable working definition of "faith". This paper seeks to provide readers with an understanding of what faith is, what it is not and how it functions in their lives and the lives of their fellow man. This is done in the hope of bringing about a recognition that faith is an active process employed by -all--people regardless of what their faith is directed toward. With this definition of "faith'', perhaps new and clearer lines of communication between the secular and spiritual communities can be opened.

<p>This essay aims to investigate how students in upper secondary school perceive the subject religion A. The study is both qualitative and quantitative and I will use a survey to investigate the perception of religion among students both vocationally oriented and theory oriented. I will use questions concerning religious background and perception on the subject in relation to the curriculum but also try to investigate whether there are differences on perception between the vocational and theory orientation. The theoretical approach is mainly based on the curriculum concerning religion A but former research is also used such as books written by Sven G Hartman (2000), Ulf Sjödin (1995), Ove Larsson (1991), Elsie Davidsson (1989) and Anders Törnwall (1988). The result in the study is that students for the most part perceive the subject religion A as something positive and the background has a connection to their present perception. Family, school and society play an important role when it comes to students’ perception regarding religion A, often through media which affects and contributesto a more secular attitude. Curriculum goals and objectives cohere fairly well with the students' perception on the subject and a majority of the asked students feel that education on religion contributes to a more open, tolerant and understanding society where peopleunderstand, accept and respect each other's similarities and differences in a better way.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Graduate School, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

This essay aims to investigate how students in upper secondary school perceive the subject religion A. The study is both qualitative and quantitative and I will use a survey to investigate the perception of religion among students both vocationally oriented and theory oriented. I will use questions concerning religious background and perception on the subject in relation to the curriculum but also try to investigate whether there are differences on perception between the vocational and theory orientation. The theoretical approach is mainly based on the curriculum concerning religion A but former research is also used such as books written by Sven G Hartman (2000), Ulf Sjödin (1995), Ove Larsson (1991), Elsie Davidsson (1989) and Anders Törnwall (1988). The result in the study is that students for the most part perceive the subject religion A as something positive and the background has a connection to their present perception. Family, school and society play an important role when it comes to students’ perception regarding religion A, often through media which affects and contributesto a more secular attitude. Curriculum goals and objectives cohere fairly well with the students' perception on the subject and a majority of the asked students feel that education on religion contributes to a more open, tolerant and understanding society where peopleunderstand, accept and respect each other's similarities and differences in a better way.

This thesis engages in an interpretative debate over Kant’s general aims in the first Critique. I argue that a defense of the rational legitimacy of religious faith is at the very center of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. Moreover, I argue that Kant’s defense of faith is inextricably bound up with his views on the legitimacy of science. On my account, Kant’s Critique not only demonstrates that science is fully consistent with religious faith, but also that science, when properly understood, actually favors religious belief over non-belief.

No description available.

This study explores how successful Alvin Plantinga is in his contention that belief in God can be obtained and maintained in a basic way that attains and retains rationality for reflective persons. Plantinga indeed calls into question any confident presumption that theistic belief is epistemically irresponsible. He not only seriously challenges the necessity for propositional evidence to be available for such belief to be justified, he also supplies significant support for the conclusion that it remains legitimate even if it faces a preponderance of contrary considerations. However, Plantinga does not convincingly demonstrate that basic theistic belief merits privileged status by virtue of a character sufficiently analogous to paradigmatic perceptual, memory and ascriptive beliefs. Nor does he adequately argue its independence from the bearing of evidentialist concerns, especially regarding its background moorings. He needs to do more work to show the full warrant for theistic belief.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2007. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2989.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, 1998. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-124).