- [UNTITLED]
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Historical Reflections on Religious Diversity
- A Religious Studies Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Philosophical Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Sociological Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- Pluralism and Relativism
- Religious Exclusivism
- The Diversity of Religious Experience
- Interreligious Dialogue
- The Religious Alien
- Religious Diversity and a Global Ethic
- Theology amid Religious Diversity
- Religious Diversity, Evil, and a Variety of Theodicies
- Religion and Revelation
- Religious Diversity and Globalization
- Religious Demographics and the New Diversity
- New Religious Movements in Global Perspective
- Race, Ethnicity, and Religion
- Religious Diversity, Secularization, and Postmodernity
- Multiple Modernities and Religion
- Religious Violence and Peace
- Religious Diversity in Public Education
- Religious Diversity and Religious Environmentalism
- A Hindu Perspective
- A Buddhist Perspective
- An African Religions Perspective
- A Chinese Religions Perspective
- A Jewish Perspective
- A Christian Perspective
- An Islamic Perspective
- A Feminist Perspective
- A Continental Perspective
- A Naturalistic Perspective
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
The fact of religious diversity provides problems for a variety of approaches to the study of religion. In the philosophical study of religion, there are at least four main areas in which issues are raised by the fact of religious diversity: the epistemology of religious belief, the production of theories of religion, reflection on concepts of God and the Ultimate, and discussion of the relationship between religion and the human good. For the purposes of this article, J. L. Schellenberg's definition of religion in terms of “ultimism” is considered. There are at least four responses to the epistemological problems arising out of religious diversity that are worth discussing: apologetic investment, atheism, agnosticism, and anti-evidentialism. The epistemological reflections on religious diversity are thus vital to the interpretation of religion. There are three main types of theory of religion that arise from or bear upon the fact of religious diversity: naturalism, confessionalism, and pluralism.
Keywords: God, the Ultimate, epistemology, religion, religious belief, human good, naturalism, confessionalism, pluralism, atheism
Peter Byrne, Kent State University at Trumbull
Access to the complete content on Oxford Handbooks Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription.
Please subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.
For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us.
- [UNTITLED]
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Historical Reflections on Religious Diversity
- A Religious Studies Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Philosophical Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Sociological Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- Pluralism and Relativism
- Religious Exclusivism
- The Diversity of Religious Experience
- Interreligious Dialogue
- The Religious Alien
- Religious Diversity and a Global Ethic
- Theology amid Religious Diversity
- Religious Diversity, Evil, and a Variety of Theodicies
- Religion and Revelation
- Religious Diversity and Globalization
- Religious Demographics and the New Diversity
- New Religious Movements in Global Perspective
- Race, Ethnicity, and Religion
- Religious Diversity, Secularization, and Postmodernity
- Multiple Modernities and Religion
- Religious Violence and Peace
- Religious Diversity in Public Education
- Religious Diversity and Religious Environmentalism
- A Hindu Perspective
- A Buddhist Perspective
- An African Religions Perspective
- A Chinese Religions Perspective
- A Jewish Perspective
- A Christian Perspective
- An Islamic Perspective
- A Feminist Perspective
- A Continental Perspective
- A Naturalistic Perspective
- Index