THE PROBLEM OF WORSHIP

Think ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (25) ◽  
pp. 101-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott F. Aikin
Keyword(s):  
Central Importance ◽  
Traditional Theism ◽  
The World ◽  
Argument From Evil

Theism is a cluster of views. The first of which is that God exists. Others are that God has all the relevant omni-attributes, that He created the world, and that He communicates with and performs miracles on behalf of humans. There is one additional view that is often overlooked. It is that humans are obligated to worship God. Importantly, this issue of worship is of central importance to traditional theism. And it extends into pagan thought that predates Christianity. Take, for example Epicurus' deployment of the argument from evil: If god is willing to prevent evil, then he is not omnipotent. If he is able but unwilling, then he is malevolent. If he is able and willing, from whence comes evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him god?

The Argument from Evil

1969 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Richman
Keyword(s):  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Natural Religion ◽  
Traditional Theism ◽  
Traditional Problem ◽  
The World ◽  
Argument From Evil ◽  
First Time

The traditional problem of evil is set forth, by no means for the first time, in Part X of Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion in these familiar words: ‘Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? whence then is evil?’ This formulation of the problem of evil obviously suggests an argument to the effect that the existence of evil in the world demonstrates that God does not exist. The purpose of this paper is to examine this argument, with a view to showing that while it is not a conclusive argument, it is much stronger than some apologists for traditional theism allow.

Christianity in the Twentieth Century

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Stanley
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Regional Survey ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Different Parts

This book charts the transformation of one of the world's great religions during an age marked by world wars, genocide, nationalism, decolonization, and powerful ideological currents, many of them hostile to Christianity. The book traces how Christianity evolved from a religion defined by the culture and politics of Europe to the expanding polycentric and multicultural faith it is today—one whose growing popular support is strongest in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, China, and other parts of Asia. The book sheds critical light on themes of central importance for understanding the global contours of modern Christianity, illustrating each one with contrasting case studies, usually taken from different parts of the world. Unlike other books on world Christianity, this one is not a regional survey or chronological narrative, nor does it focus on theology or ecclesiastical institutions. The book provides a history of Christianity as a popular faith experienced and lived by its adherents, telling a compelling and multifaceted story of Christendom's fortunes in Europe, North America, and across the rest of the globe. It demonstrates how Christianity has had less to fear from the onslaughts of secularism than from the readiness of Christians themselves to accommodate their faith to ideologies that privilege racial identity or radical individualism.

Theism, Evil and the Onus of Proof – Reply to F. J. Fitzpatrick

1983 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
David O' Connor
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Theism ◽  
Moral Perfection ◽  
The World

The theism which I consider in this paper is one which affirms each of the three following propositions: ‘God exists’, ‘Omnipotence, omniscience and moral perfection are all defining traits of God’ and ‘Evil exists in the world’. I will not be concerned at all with any variety of theism which might deny the truth of any of the foregoing propositions. Broadly put, my concern, therefore, is with orthodox, traditional theism.

Does This Bring Us Back to God?

2021 ◽  
pp. 181-192
Author(s):  
Bruce Ledewitz
Keyword(s):  
Causal Structure ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Final Conclusion ◽  
Process Thought ◽  
Traditional Theism ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Ex Nihilo ◽  
The Universe

The book returns to the question of God within the world of the yes. The reader is given tools to continue the investigation, but no final conclusion is reached on the question of God. David Griffin’s process thought is naturalistic and panentheistic. This view of God shares attributes of traditional theism. But in process thought, God does not create ex nihilo, does not coerce, and remains within the causal structure of nature. Griffin argues that God is a necessary feature of process thought and its endorsement of enduring meaning. Donald Sherburne offers a different view, called “Whitehead Without God.” The book concludes that process thought without God can still renew public life. It remains for us in the future to investigate the mystery of holiness in the universe.

scholarly journals Sarvāstivāda Buddhist Theories of Temporality and the Pātañjala Yoga Theory of Transformation (pariṇāma)

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 963-1003
Author(s):  
Philipp A. Maas
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Characteristic ◽  
The Other ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Pure Consciousness ◽  
Philosophical Debate ◽  
Philosophical Orientation ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ontological Entity ◽  
The One

AbstractThis article discusses a peculiar Sā$$\dot {\text{n}}$$ n ˙ khya-Yoga theory of transformation (pariṇāma) that the author of the Pātañjalayogaśāstra created by drawing upon Sarvāstivāda Buddhist theories of temporality. In developing his theory, Patañjali adaptively reused the wording in which the Sarvāstivāda theories were formulated, the specific objections against these theories, and their refutations to win the philosophical debate about temporality against Sarvāstivāda Buddhism. Patañjali’s approach towards the Sarvāstivāda Buddhist theories was possible, even though his system of Yoga is based on an ontology that differs considerably from that of Sarvāstivāda Buddhism because both systems share the philosophical view that time is not a separate ontological entity in itself. Time is a concept deduced from change in the empirical world. This agreement results from the common philosophical orientation of Sarvāstivāda Buddhism and Yoga, which takes the phenomenon of experience as the basis of philosophical enquiry into the structure of the world. The intention that guided Patañjali’s adaptive reuse was twofold. On the one hand, he aimed at winning the debate with Sarvāstivāda Buddhism about how the problem of temporality can be solved. He thus integrated four mutually exclusive theories on temporality into a single theory of transformation of properties (dharma) involving a second-level and a third-level theory on the transformation of the temporal characteristic mark (lakṣaṇa) and on the transformation of states (avasthā), respectively. On the other hand, Patañjali intended to achieve philosophical clarification regarding the question of how exactly properties relate to their underlying substrate in the process of transformation of the three constituents or forces (guṇa) sattva, rajas and tamas of matter (pradhāna) that account for all phenomena of the world except pure consciousness (puruṣa). Patañjali’s theory of transformation is thus of central importance for his Sā$$\dot {\text{n}}$$ n ˙ khya ontology, according to which the world consists of 25 categories or constituents (tattva), i.e., of primal matter (prakṛti) and its transformations and pure consciousness.

The Argument from Non-belief

1993 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore M. Drange
Keyword(s):  
The World ◽  
Argument From Evil

Attempts have been made to prove God's non-existence. Often this takes the form of an appeal to the so-called Argument from Evil: if God were to exist, then he would not permit as much suffering in the world as there actually is. Hence the fact that there is so much suffering constitutes evidence for God's non-existence. In this essay I propose a variation which I shall call ‘The Argument from Non-belief’. Its basic idea is that if God were to exist, then he would not permit as much non-belief in the world as there actually is. Hence the fact that there is so much non-belief constitutes evidence for God's non-existence.

The Space between Us: Opening Remarks on the Concept of Dwelling

10.1068/d365t ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Martin Heidegger ◽  
Emmanuel Levinas ◽  
Critical Appraisal ◽  
The Other ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Double Reading ◽  
The World ◽  
At Home

Somewhat surprisingly the concept of dwelling remains largely unconsidered within contemporary geographical thought. Despite signs of a renewed interest in the term it remains all but bereft of a sustained critical appraisal and as a consequence firmly tied to the name and writing of Martin Heidegger. The aim of this paper is to begin to open the concept up beyond this attachment and to provide a rationale for its reassessment. Through a double reading of dwelling, once via Heidegger and again via Emmanuel Levinas, I offer a twofold consideration of how the concept can be assembled, orientated, and organised. Where Heidegger organises and articulates the concept around an enclosed figure being-at-home-in-the-world for Levinas dwelling gains its significance from a constitutive openness to the incoming of the other. These are two accounts, then, which differ radically in their apprehension of the concept and in the unfolding of its implications but which agree on the central importance of the concept in the determination, figuring, and phrasing of subjectivity, sociality, and signification. Ultimately, what emerges from these opening remarks is a depiction of two attempts to make thought respond to and reckon with the event of space: two attempts to bring to thought the space between us.

Does the Universe Exist Because It Ought To? A Critique of Extreme Axiarchism

Dialogue ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 651-658
Author(s):  
Roland Puccetti
Keyword(s):  
The Sun ◽  
Traditional Theism ◽  
The World ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Universe

If axiarchism is the theory that the world is ruled by value, extreme axiarchism is the theory that some set of ethical needs is itself creatively powerful (Mackie 1982). Both views go back to Plato's claim in The Republic that the Form of the Good gives us knowledge and creative energy on analogy with the sun giving us vision without itself acting in the world. Insofar as this way of thinking obviates the need for a creative God, extreme axiarchism is a rival to traditional theism; if there is a God he was called into existence by virtue of his ethical requiredness.

scholarly journals The Ebstorf Map: tradition and contents of a medieval picture of the world

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Pischke
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World ◽  
The Middle Ages

Abstract. The Ebstorf Map (Wilke, 2001; Kugler, 2007; Wolf, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009a, b), the largest medieval map of the world whose original has been lost, is not only a geographical map. In the Middle Ages, a map contained mystic, historical and religious motifs. Of central importance is Jesus Christ, who, in the Ebstorf Map, is part of the earth. The Ebstorf Map contains the knowledge of the time of its creation; it can be used for example as an atlas, as a chronicle of the world, or as an illustrated Bible.

scholarly journals Religion without Belief and Community in Africa

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermen Kroesbergen
Keyword(s):  
Central Importance ◽  
African Religion ◽  
The World ◽  
Truth Claims ◽  
Vertical Relationship ◽  
Grassroots Level ◽  
What Matters

Religion in Africa is in many respects becoming religion without belief and community again, I will argue in this article. Europeans arriving in Africa did not recognize African religion, because Africans did not have the kind of belief and community characteristic of European concepts of religion. Pentecostalization brings back this African concept of religion without worship groups defined by an adherence to a particular picture of the world, and I will show what this means at grassroots level. What matters in this concept of religion is whether something works rather than some implied truth-claims about the world. Instead of forming groups, Neo-Pentecostal ministries are more often organized around the vertical relationship between the man/woman of God and his/her client. The Pentecostalization of Christianity in Africa has led to a form of religion in which beliefs and community are not of central importance.

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