A Concise Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Religion.
Gillis, Chester
A CONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. By Anthony C.
Thiselton. Grand Rapids.: Baker Academic, 2002. Pp. viii + 344. $24.99.
Thiselton has produced a useful, affordable, and succinct work.
Neophytes will benefit from precise definitions of difficult
philosophical concepts, and undergraduate and graduate students
concentrating in philosophy or religion will find the brief accounts of
concepts, philosophical schools, and figures helpful. The beginner,
however, may need to read several entries in order to understand a
single entry, since the descriptions and definitions often allude to other concepts or figures (each conveniently cued by capital letters).
The more than 300 entries range from a few paragraphs to a few pages.
Heavily weighted toward philosophy's encounter with Christianity,
T.'s work also includes some entries arising from Hinduism,
Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam. The book covers classical formulations,
medieval notions, and contributions from the modern and postmodern
periods.
Producing such a work requires significant breadth, which T.
demonstrates. It also requires the ability to select and interpret which
philosophical theories and writings to highlight. (T. is an authority on
hermeneutics.) Generally, the major contributions are well covered. In
at least one case--the entry on John Hick--T. chooses to concentrate on
Hick's theodicy as his major work while largely ignoring his
original and controversial work on pluralism. But this is the nature of
selection. T. competently and wisely rehearses the reception of major
philosophers' ideas and sometimes sides with a particular
interpretation. Again, this is the author's prerogative, but naive
readers should be forewarned that even encyclopedists rightfully have
their own take on history and ideas.
Those looking for a concise, yet sophisticated, treatment of issues
and figures in the philosophy of religion should place this volume on a
readily accessible shelf.
CHESTER GILLIS
Georgetown University, Washington
