Philosophy of Religion
The historical development of religion has taken many turns, ingesting the new ideas of each major philosopher as he questions the ideas put forth by the man or era before him. In this constant questioning and development of ideas, the trend has changed from theism and faith to more rational religious exploration. Although many people currently believe that God, as assigned by Saint Augustine, exists, most modern philosophy takes one of two approaches outside of that realm. Some deny the existence of God and call for the name to be used only to discuss the phenomenon of the historical belief in God (Frost 126). Others redefine the term God so that it no longer takes on the meaning it did during earlier religious times. Instead, it becomes a name for the forces explained by scientists (Frost 126). The slow progression toward these more rational modern beliefs is the product of thousands of years of philosophic debate. As a result, the dependence on faith and God apparent in early religions can be recognized as slowing receding into a dependence on science, reason, and rational explanation. In the earliest civilizations, people applied purely mythical answers to the important questions that needed answers. Ancient Egyptia
Later Greek thinkers, including Philo and his contemporaries, began focusing mainly on the conception of God (Frost 107). For example, the existence of God was not often touched on, though God's nature and substance were. To do so would be to answer a very old question, one that has obviously commanded the thoughts of deep thinking individuals since the history of human thought. This illumination, however, is used more heavily in science than in philosophy. Greek philosophy began questioning theism and, indeed, all assumed thought, around the time of Xenophanes in the sixth century B. Second, Hume pointed out the illogical basis of certainty of causation, whereby individuals come to form beliefs based on the idea that all events have causes (Robinson and Groves 69). Individuals accepted that there were multiple Gods, each responsible for certain aspects of life. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle each had major roles in the further development of reason and thought in philosophy. However, Descartes came to different conclusions than Hobbes in the ideas behind the universe, God, and other philosophical ideas. Like Hobbes, Descartes (1596-1650 A. Later Empiricist John Locke (1632-1704 A. The only case where God is not involved, according to Augustine, is in actions made through evil.
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