On Systematic Philosophical Theology

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-25
Author(s):  
William Lane Craig ◽  

The disciplines of systematic theology, dogmatic theology, fundamental theology, philosophical theology, and philosophy of religion are characterized and their relations to one another are discussed.

Author(s):  
J. Aaron Simmons

This chapter attempts to outline possible contributions that continental philosophy can make to the epistemology of theology. It begins with an extended engagement with Nicholas Wolterstorff in order to argue that continental philosophy need not be viewed as inherently hostile to philosophical theology. Indeed, there are reasons to think that continental philosophy should be understood as an important resource for philosophical theology and philosophy of religion. With this meta-philosophical framework in place, possible specific ways in which continental philosophy might contribute to discussions concerning the epistemology of theology are then discussed. In particular, the chapter focuses on debates concerning foundationalism, experience, revelation, and realism/anti-realism.


Author(s):  
Eleonore Stump ◽  
Mike Rea

Philosophy of religion comprises philosophical reflection on a wide range of religious and religiously significant phenomena: religious belief, doctrine and practice in general; the phenomenology and cognitive significance of religious experience; the authority and reliability of religious testimony; the significance of religious diversity and disagreement; the relationship between religion (or God, or the gods) and morality; the doctrines, practices and modes of cognition distinctive to particular religious traditions; and so on. It is as old as philosophy itself and has been a standard part of Western philosophy in every period (see Religion, history of philosophy of). Since the latter half of the twentieth century, there has been a great growth of interest in it, and the range of topics that philosophers of religion have considered has expanded considerably. Philosophy of religion is sometimes divided into philosophy of religion proper and philosophical theology. This distinction reflects the unease of an earlier period in analytic philosophy, during which philosophers felt that reflection on religion was philosophically respectable only if it abstracted away from particular religions, focusing on doctrines and problems shared in common by multiple religious traditions. But most philosophers now feel free to examine philosophically any aspect of religion, including the doctrines and practices peculiar to individual religions. Not only are the doctrines and practices of particular religions philosophically interesting in their own right, but also they often raise questions that are helpful for issues in other areas of philosophy. Reflection on the Christian notion of sanctification, for example, sheds light on certain contemporary debates over the nature of freedom of the will (see Sanctification). Likewise, reflection on Buddhist expressions of gratitude toward those who do one harm, or toward those whom one benefits, has been taken to shed light on the proper analysis of gratitude. As a result of the blurring of boundaries between philosophy of religion proper and philosophical theology, philosophy of religion has in recent years taken on an increasingly interdisciplinary character, with work in philosophy of religion engaging to a much greater degree with relevant work in systematic theology, historical theology and cognate areas in the study of other religions. Within the analytic tradition of philosophy, this interdisciplinary shift is perhaps most visible in the rise of ‘analytic theology’ (see Analytic theology).


1996 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Schüssler Fiorenza

When I was completing my book on foundational theology, I presented a paper on the concept of broad reflective equilibrium and foundational theology to a group of colleagues at a conference sponsored by the Association of Theological Schools. This paper summarized the book's concluding section, which dealt with the relationship between contemporary criticisms of foundationalism and a foundational theology employing the method of broad reflective equilibrium. It advanced a systematic and historical argument. Systematically, the section argued that the method of broad reflective equilibrium offered a vision of foundational theology that avoided the pitfalls of foundationalism, overcoming the foundationalism of fundamental theology. It appealed to current discussions about methodology, specifically, the discussions on reflective equilibrium in the philosophy of science and in political ethics. The historical argument appealed to Schleiermacher by relating Schleiermacher's stance on the relationship between systematic and philosophical theology to the conception of a nonfoundationalist foundational theology, employing the method of broad reflective equilibrium.


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