Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

I like to use the “A Very Short Introduction…” book series whenever I am entering into a new technical field, this saves me from searching out scattered dozens of thick books and then struggling with the individual styles, backgrounds, historical periods, and authority levels of the separate authors.I appreciated the fact that this book includes “References” for each chapter plus an extensive “For Further Reading” section in the back of the book, providing a list of suggested books by opinion leaders in each particular field which can then be used for further research.I would have liked to hear more from Cultural Anthropologists documenting the results of their actual field work prior to interpretation of the data through the eyes of Western philosophy. When studying the behavior or beliefs of a culture different to ours, we have to be very sensitive to our ethnocentric biases, this is very hard to do! We have to be very humble and tentative in our observations when we claim to interpret the beliefs or inner lives of people from other cultures. Religion is a universal, multicultural, multivocal experience, far exceeding the domain of Western Rationalism.The author does a good job of presenting the contributions of the different philosophers, skillfully interpreting their meaning and spelling out and complementing their theories. An informal summary of each chapter is provided at the end of each section. The book goes well beyond being a strict reciting of history, dates, and thinkers. The author presents the thoughts of major thinkers, then expands their meaning and gives examples where appropriate, then follows by presenting any competing concepts. He also expresses his agreements and disagreements based on his personal experience.Throughout the book, there is a presence felt of the teacher as addressing his students face-to-face in class. Difficult material is very skillfully presented. I endorse this book very enthusiastically. I wholeheartedly recommend this book as a compact introduction to the philosophy of religion.

I really have enjoyed this book.

If you like reading 20 words that could have been condensed to 5, then this book is for you. If you like reading a paragraph three times over to understand what you just read, then this book is for you. I love the series, but definitely not this author. Very wordy and confusing. I would not recommend this book.

I realise this is an introductory work, but I have to say that the author skips over the topics without any sustained consideration and that many of the arguments he advances can be challenged with minimal intellectual effort. The chapter on the problem of evil is a good case in point. This has the unfortunate consequence of encouraging readers to believe that no weigthier answers to the questions raised are available and that they can therefore go home and rest having completed their mission.Perhaps reading John Hick ( a philosopher of religion I would say, rather than a theologian as the author avers), Richard Swinburne, Brian Davies, Keith Ward, John Polkinghorne etc etc might dispel this illusion.In all this book demonstrates how very trivial and superficial so-called modern “philosophy” has become. Far from the being the love of wisdom it used to be, it has now become pointless mental acrobatics coupled with narcissistic self-glorification.

Not quite what I was expecting. I was hoping for a more structured set of principles defining the scope and depth of religious philosophy.

Easy to follow and acts as a very good introductory book to the topic. Can be read in less than a day.