SUMMARY OF PROVIDENTISSIMUS DEUS, ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE.

EXAMINATION PREPPARATION FOR PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

1.      Briefly explain the following expressions: a) Concept of God (b) concept of Evil (c) Religion (d) Philosophy of Religion (e) Relation between Philosophy-Religion-Culture (f) Mysterium Tremendium et Fascinosum

(a)CONCEPT OF GOD                                                            

God in religion, is a term for the Supreme Being, the One, the Absolute and infinitely perfect spirit who is the creator of all. He is almighty, eternal, beyond measure, incomprehensible and unchangeable.  The discussion, “God” refers to God of traditional theism. Theism from the Greek word theos which mean “god”.  Thus, theism is the belief in one transcendent, absolute and necessary being, the condition and ultimate cause of everything. In its loosest sense, theism is simply the belief in God or gods. This includes:

Monotheism (the belief in one God) - this emerged in the religion of the Hebrews, whose one God, Yaweh, is a personal being with whom Hebrews established a covenant. The Catholic Christian concept of God is based on doctrines of the divine nature of Jesus Christ and Trinity of 3 persons in one God. Another monotheistic religion is Islam- who worships Allah.

 Polytheism- the belief in many gods

Pantheism – the belief that God is everything.

(b) CONCEPTT OF EVIL

Concept of evil: evil in the broad sense tends to be the sort of evil referenced in theological contexts, such as in discussions of the problem of evil. The problem of evil is the problem of accounting for evil in a world created by an all-powerfull, all-knowing, all-good God. The problem of evil can be divided into five. Logical problem, evidential problem, theodicy, the hiddenness of God, karma and reincarnation.

·         For the logical problem of evil, it is asserted that the two claims 1. An omnipotent and omnibenevolent God exists, and 2. Evil exists are logically incompatible since evil exists, God (understood as being omnipotent and omnibenevolent) must not exist. This argument has been rebutted: God created free agents who are capable of moral good and moral evil, and that God could use evil to achieve some good.

·         Evidential problems (William Rowe), an omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent being would prevent the existence of evil, since amounts of evil seem to exist, then God probably does not exist. It was rebutted (skeptical theism- Stephen wykstra)- because of human cognitive limitations are unable to judge as improbable the claim that there are various goods secured by God’s allowing evil in the world.

·         Theodicy: attempts to vindicate God by providing a plausible explanation for evil, God, an omnipotent and benevolence being will prevent evil unless there is a good reason or sets of reasons for not doing so. There is evil in the world, therefore God must have a good reason for not preventing evil. It is in this traditioin that evil is seen as (metaphysical) privation of good. For Augustine, God is perfect in goodness and in his creation, but evil entered creation through the wrongfull use of free will. For john Hick (in his “soul-making” theodicy), God created the world as a good place, but no paradise for developing morally and spiritually mature beings. One objection to the soul-making theodicy is that there are many evils in the world that have nothing to do with character development.

·         The hiddenness of God: if God exists, God does not make his existence sufficiently clear and available. That is, if God exists as a perfect, loving, benevolence being, then God would desire the best for his creatures. Obj: why would God remain hidden and elusive, especially when we would benefit from being aware of God? Thus, the hiddenness of God provides evidence that God does not in fact exist.

·         Karma and reincarnation: sometimes referred to as the law of karma which involves causal connections linking what an individual does to what happens to them. It is infact the idea that one reaps of the good and back consequences of his or her action, either in this life or another life. karma and reincarnation seem to offer a better account of evil and suffering than does theism for eg. It seems unfair that one child is born healthy into a wealthy family, whereas another child is born sickly into a poor family if there is a personal, creator God who brought these two persons into the world, God seems to be unloving and unjust. But if the two children are reaping the consequences of acts they performed n previous lives, this seems to provide a justification for their inequalities for they reap what they sow.

RELIGION: Religion came from the latin words: “re-ligare to tie, re-legere to read; re-elegere to chose or elect, religionem – respect for what is sacred, reverence for the gods. There is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. It may however be defined as a cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, world views, texts, sanctified places, that claims to relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements. Religion is the set of beliefs, feelings, dogmas and practices that define the relations between human being and sacred or divinity. A given religion is defined by specific elements of a community of believers: dogmas, sacred books, rites, worship, sacrament, moral prescription, interdicts, and organization. The majority of religions have developed starting from a revelation based on the exemplary history of a nation, of a prophet or a wise man who taught an ideal of life.

According to the Webster new collegiate dictionary, religion is a virtue by which we recognize a supremely influential being to whom one owns worship and obedience in every sphere of life. the concept of religion was formed in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, despite the fact that ancient sacred text- bible, Quran and others did not have a word or even a concept of religion in the original languages. The modern concept of religion, as an abstract that entails distinct set of beliefs or doctrines is a recent invent in the English language. It was in the 19^th century that the terms- Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism and world religious first emerged. Alfred whitehead posits in his book “religion in the making” that religion has a system of general truths which have effect of transforming character when they are sincerely held and vividly apprehended. This is why the philosopher, Ephrem Badou described religion as the food for the journey.

A religion may be defined with its three great characteristics:

• Believes and religious practices
• The religious feeling i.e. faith
• Unity in a community of those who share the same faith: the Church. It is what differentiates religion from magic.

(d) PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION:

Etymological Understanding of Philosophy: From its etymological understanding, philosophy is a derivation of two Greek words, philos which means ‘to love’ and Sophia which means ‘wisdom’. Philosophy from its etymology simply means love of wisdom. Philosophy as love of wisdom is geared towards proper understanding of human experiences and the world. Philosophy is a product of human reason in search of the “ultimate” knowledge in the natural level, with regard to both theoretical and practical questions. Therefore, Philosophy of religion is the philosophical study of the meaning and nature of religion. It includes the analyses of religious concepts, beliefs, terms, arguments and practices of adherents. It is the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions. The philosophy of religion differs from religious philosophy in that it seeks to discuss questions regarding the nature of religion as a whole, rather than examining the problems brought forth by a particular belief system. It is designed such that it can be carried out dispassionately by those who identify as believers and non-believers. The philosopher William L. Rave characterized the philosophy of religion as the critical examination of basic religious beliefs and concepts. It covers alternative beliefs about god, the varieties of religious experiences, the interplay between science and religion, the nature and scope of good and evil, and religious treatments of birth, history and death. However, the term “philosophy of religion” did not come into general use in the west until the 19^th century, and most pre-modern and early modern philosophical works included a mixture of religious themes and non-religious philosophical question. There are a number of themes that fall under the domain of philosophy of religion, some of which include:

·         Language and belief

·         Religious diversity

·         Concept of God

·         Arguments for and against the existence of God

·         Problems of evil and suffering

·         miracles

(e) RELATION BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION AND CULTURE: Philosophy is a product of human reason in search of the ultimate knowledge in the natural level, with regard to both theoretical and practical questions. religion is defined by specific elements of a community of believers: dogmas, sacred books, rites, worship, sacrament, moral prescription, interdicts, and organization. Culture is the sum total of the beliefs and practice of a community of people in a given society. Hence, philosophy-eyes to scrutinize, religion- foot for the journey, culture- land to stay. Religion is a manifestation of culture, and culture is the sum total of the people’s beliefs and practices. Culture can influence peoples religious beliefs and practices. A person born in iran most likely will be a Muslim instead of Christian. Hence, culture and religion can reinforce each other in subtle ways. Culture is the link between philosophy and religion. It determines a lot about religion. These 3 dimensions or aspects of life give sense and direction to existence. Since life gets meaning with religion; religion cannot exist without being situated to a particular culture; this is why philosophy is needed to check  mate the excesses of religion. ( to checkmate dogmatism, extremism and fundamentalism). No wonder Brian Davies described philosophy of religion as philosophizing with religion. Philosophy of religion is a rational enquiry into the nature and claims of religion.

 (f)  Mysterium Tremndium Et Fascinosum: This is a Latin expression which means: the mystery of that which terrifies and fascinates (humanity). It is a reference to the transcendent reality, the supreme being. It is transcendence. It is the core or center of religion. The mystery of that which terrifies and fascinates humanity. It is the ultimate reason for religion. This is because what fascinates us shapes us. In its way of terrifying and fascinating us, the supreme, transcendent being seduces us, and because we are seduced, we worship. Without being seduced (terrified and fascinated) one cannot truly worship in this way, the mysterium tremendum et fascinosum is the condition, foundation and first principle of religion.