期刊名称：Ars Disputandi: the online journal for philosophy of religion
印刷版ISSN：1566-5399
出版年度：2008
卷号：8
期号：08
出版社：Ars Disputandi
摘要：In 1993, the so-called Christian Philosophers Group, meeting biannually in
Pembroke College, London, decided to become a registered charity under British
Law and to change its name into ‘British Society for Philosophy of Religion.’ The
idea behind the change of name of this group was, that not only Christians engage
in the philosophy of religion, and that those who are not Christians but are
interested in the philosophy of religion should know that they are welcome in the
Society. What this story shows, is that philosophy of religion and Christian philosophy
are closely connected, and that in practice it is often dicult to distinguish
between them. That is confirmed by the fact that the main American society
in the field of philosophy of religion is the Society of Christian Philosophers,
which publishes one of the main journals in the philosophy of religion: Faith and
Philosophy. One would expect, therefore, that when in one series two reference
volumes appear, one on the philosophy of religion and the other on Christian
philosophy, the editors of both volumes explain how these are complementary,
not rivals. In the philosophy A–Z series Patrick Quinn published a Philosophy
of Religion A–Z volume, while Daniel J. Hill and Randal D. Hauser now publish
a Christian Philosophy A-Z volume. Hill & Rauser, however, in no way attempt
to make a proper distinction between the philosophy of religion and Christian
philosophy. Their three-page introduction draws attention to the revival of Christian
philosophy, mentions the names of Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstor
,
William Alston, Richard Swinburne, Brian Leftow and Paul Helm, but does not
discuss the question how to distinguish Christian philosophy from philosophy of
religion. The selection criteria mentioned in the Introduction make that omission
even more strongly felt, since they make clear that not only Christian philosophy
has been included: ‘We have included particular terms, movements, theories and
individuals based on two criteria: either they put forward a distinctively Christian
philosophy or they suggest a distinctively Christian reply’ (10–11). To make
matters even more complex, ‘Christian philosophy’ itself is not a lemma that is
included in this book. ‘Philosophy of religion’ is, but that is defined most unfortunately
as ‘the philosophical analysis of the claims of religion, particularly the
claim that there is a God’ (160). This limitation of the philosophy of religion to
claims, that is to say to propositions, goes against the common understanding of
the subject. As it is most commonly understood, the philosophy of religion also
includes, e.g., the questions of the nature and essence of religion and the analysis of religious experience
