Philosophy of Religion: Reason, Faith, and the Divine
What this domain asks
This domain examines arguments for and against the existence of God, the nature of religious language, faith and reason, and the problem of evil. Candidates should know the ontological, cosmological, and teleological arguments, the problem of evil and theodicies, and critiques of religious belief.
Concepts to hold firmly
- Ontological argument (Anselm): God, the greatest conceivable being, must exist, since existence is a perfection.
- Cosmological argument: the universe requires a cause or sufficient reason.
- Teleological argument: apparent design implies a designer.
- Problem of evil: an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God seems incompatible with evil. Theodicies include free will, soul-making, and greater-good responses.
- Faith and reason: fideism (faith independent of reason), natural theology (reason supports faith).
Traps
- Confusing the ontological argument (from the concept of God) with the cosmological (from contingency).
- Treating the problem of evil as a proof of atheism rather than a tension requiring resolution.
- Reading fideism as irrationalism rather than a claim about the limits of reason.
- Assuming religious language is always literal; analogy and metaphor are central.
Rule of thumb
Identify the argument's starting point: from concept (ontological), from existence/contingency (cosmological), or from order/design (teleological). Then check whether the critique targets the premise or the inference.
Worked example
"A critic says: existence is not a predicate that adds to a concept. Which argument is being attacked?" The ontological argument, because it treats existence as a property that perfects a being.