The Philosophy of Religion Reader [Paperback]

Chad Meister (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415408911 | ISBN-13: 978-0415408912 | Publication Date: November 4, 2007 | Edition: New Ed

Reflecting current trends and research interests in the field - including the growing interest in religious diversity and global philosophy of religion - this broad and up to date introduction explores key writings from both the Western theistic tradition and from non-Western, non-theistic sources.

The nine sections cover:

• Religious Diversity
• The Nature and Attributes of God
• Arguments for and Against the Existence of God
• Science
• Faith and Miracles
• The Self and Human Condition
• Religious Experience
• The Problem of Evil and Suffering
• Death and the Afterlife.

With section introductions, discusssion questions, extensive bibliographies and a supporting website featuring additional material, it is the ideal reference tool to help clarify important points and reinforce understanding.

 

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chad Meister is Director of Philosophy at Bethel College, USA. He has written and edited a number of books in philosophy of Religion including The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Religion, co-edited with Paul Copan (2007).

Product Details

• Paperback: 736 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; New Ed edition (November 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415408911
• ISBN-13: 978-0415408912
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #731,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chad Meister is professor of philosophy at Bethel College in Indiana, USA. He has published 15 books, including Evil: A Guide for the Perplexed, Christian Thought: A Historical Introduction, and The Oxford Handbook of Religious Diversity. He is also general editor, with Paul Moser, of the new book series entitled Cambridge Studies in Religion, Philosophy, and Society.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, comprehensive, a diversity of views, old and new, January 26, 2010

By 

Philosopher - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Philosophy of Religion Reader (Paperback)

This books contains a large number of selections, sixty-three in all, that are an even mixture of very long essays, shorter essays the length of a typical journal article, and even shorter but sufficient essays that are compare with a shorter journal article. The printing of the book (particularly the page and type size, which make the works easily readable) enables long essays to be included that would have taken up 40 journal pages, but are here printed in 20 easily read pages. The diversity of size is matched by the diversity of topics, religious traditions, and the diversity of authors, ranging from the very well known to lesser known, contemporary to ancient, and from Western to Eastern. There are essays by Plantinga, Rowe, Craig, Collins, Copan, Swinburne, Anselm, Boethius, Aquinas, Augustine, Avicenna, Maimonides, Nagarguna, Ramanuajuna and many others. The older essays, and the contemporary ones, make this book the one to take to a desert island, if one could only take one philosophy of religion book.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just as great as the book, August 14, 2011

By 

R. Howard (Conyers, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Philosophy of Religion Reader (Paperback)

This companion reader is able to stand alone, but the most value you can get from it is with the book also written by Chad Meister. My advice is to buy both!

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A poorly edited text, June 26, 2009

By 

Carl G. Anderson "CGA" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Philosophy of Religion Reader (Paperback)

This text was chosen for an undergraduate course in the philosophy of religion. The text was very poorly organized: nearly all readings were very short (3-5 page) excerpts from much longer, more intricate texts. The book does nothing for the expert, misleads the advanced student, and provides little interest even for the absolute novice.

While many of the texts that the readings are derived from are important and exciting, the fact the that text is simply a series of overly-short, poorly organized excerpts is really quite disappointing. While the compiled primary sources of even a third of the material here would have been a great resource, even a reader like this could be improved. The reader is divided by theme, with little focus or obvious intent. The text simply drifts from one vague subject to another.

Further, the commentary was downright silly, the editor chose to remove footnotes from the pieces he excerpted, and the piece was ultimately not 'user-friendly'.