Synopses & Reviews
The book consists of readings on the central issue in philosophical theology: the existence of God. It may be used alone as a main book or as a complement to works on related issues. It presents the most influential classical and contemporary statements on problems pertaining to a belief in God, including arguments for the existence of God, the nature of faith and reason, the problem of evil, and meaning of religious languages; readings are presented chronologically, allowing for an emphasis on historical continuities and connections.
Table of Contents
Introduction, What's the Problem?
1. Tertullian, Athens or Jerusalem?
2. Clement of Alexandria, Philosophy, the Handmaid of Theology.
3. St. Augustine, Evil, the Absence of God.
4. St. Anselm, Faith Seeking Understanding.
5. St. Thomas Aquinas, Faith, Analogy, and Five Proofs for God.
6. Meister Eckhart, The Mystic Way.
7. John Calvin, The Darkened Intellect.
8. Blaise Pascal, “The Wager,” and Reasons of the Heart.
9. David Hume, Against God and Miracles.
10. William Paley, The Watch-Analogy.
11. Søren Kierkegaard, Truth Is Subjectivity.
12. John Stuart Mill, Evil vs. God.
13. William James, In Justification of Faith.
14. Rudolf Otto, The Experience of the Numinous.
15. A.J. Ayer, Theology as Meaningless.
16. Frederick Copleston and Bertrand Russell, Evidence for God, Pro and Con.
17. Antony Flew, R.M. Hare, and Basil Mitchell, Three Parables on Falsification.
18. Paul Tillich, Faith and Symbols.
19. Norman Malcolm, St. Anselm's Argument Revisited.
20. John Hick, Free-will and Soul-making.
21. Richard Swinburne, God, Science, and Probability.
22. Alvin Plantinga, Is Belief in God “Properly Basic”?
23. Ed. L. Miller, Faith and History.
Bibliographical Note.