Probing the mind of God: divine beliefs and credences

Although much has been written about divine knowledge, and some on divine beliefs, virtually nothing has been written about divine credences. In this article we comparatively assess four views on divine credences: (1) God has only beliefs, not credences; (2) God has both beliefs and credences; (3) God has only credences, not beliefs; and (4) God has neither credences nor beliefs, only knowledge. We weigh the costs and benefits of these four views and draw connections to current discussions in philosophical theology.

Polemics on Concepts of Evil and Divine Providence in Jewish Medieval Philosophy: Cases of Gersonides and Crescas

This paper is devoted to the analysis and to the comparison of concepts on theodicy and on the nature of evil that was developed by two medieval Jewish philosophers. They are Levi ben Gershom (Gersonides or Ralbag, 1288-1344) and Hasdai Crescas (1340-1410/12). The sources of the analysis are the third chapter of the fourth book of the “Wars of the Lord” (1329) by Gersonides and the second chapter of the second book of the “Light of the Lord” (1410) by Crescas. Both philosophers assert that evil essentially cannot come from God. The causes of evil are the sinfulness of human beings, or the celestial bodies, or the breaking of the connection between human and God. The problem of evil and injustice in this world are closely related for Gersonides and Crescas to other problems, such as divine knowledge of future events, free will, reasons for reward and punishment. Gersonides and Crescas differ considerably on these issues. Gersonides demonstrates that God is not an essential source of evil. He proceeded to build on this statement with the fallacy of the opinion that divine providence extends to individuals. After all, said Gersonides, retribution would make God a source of evil. And in this case, righteous men would always be rewarded, and sinners would always be punished for their sins. But obviously this is not the case. Crescas, in contrast to Gersonides, claims that God knows individuals. This does not prevent him from agreeing with Ralbagh that God is not the source of evil. According to Crescas, any punishment or suffering (even for the righteous) always leads to good. It is obvious therefore that Crescas adheres to a more traditional position, trying, inter alia, to bring his thoughts as close as possible to the ideas expressed in the Torah. Gersonides adheres to a position close to the ideas of Maimonides. Gersonides, in the author’s opinion, created a philosophical concept that is more consistent in comparison with Crescas’ conception, however more distant from the Jewish teaching.

Marcionites, Early Christians, and Knowledge of God

The Marcionite movement of the mid 2nd century rejected the Old Testament God, claiming that he was separate from the God of Christ. The Marcionite movement posed difficult questions about prophecy: what it was, who had access to it, and what we could know from it. Particularly, the Marcionites questioned the long distant past of the Israelite prophets, throwing doubt on their legitimacy and on whether they could be relied on as sources of true divine knowledge. But they also prompted discussions on a number of related theological issues: in particular, what does it mean to know God and Christ? What does it mean to know the world through prophecy? And what can we say about God in a world in which scripture is not the basis of sound knowledge? This chapter tracks these two closely related strands, examining Marcionite theological views and how they fit into the broader picture of pagan Greek and early Christian epistemology. It provides the context in which to understand Origen’s anti-Marcionite writings and his epistemology, both issues of prime importance for understanding his view of prophecy.

U-7 Research And Analytical Study of Naqshbandiya Mujaddidiya Method

Various elders have determined the various ways to attain nearness to God and knowledge of God through their experiences. They are called methods. In this way, innumerable ways to reach Allah Almighty are revealed. But the Almighty has, through His knowledge, devoted himself to following the religion of Islam, the path chosen by the Holy Prophets, the truthful and the martyrs, the righteous. Therefore, the millions of saints and the great mystics have taken the various paths of divine knowledge. They seem to be separate. But they all have the same destination. Whichever path the seeker takes, one day he will reach his destination. The goal is to bring everyone closer to God.

Drawing ethical mentation in Islamic banks; addressing operational lines heterogeneity with special reference to Al-Ghazali’s ethical philosophy

Purpose This study aims to examine the decision-making behaviour of Islamic banking practitioners of the United Arab Emirates with special reference to the operational line heterogeneity by employing factors that are religious in nature such as intellect, satanic force and divine knowledge as encapsulated in al-Ghazali’s ethical philosophy. Design/methodology/approach A total of 337 samples were collected from the Islamic banking practitioners in the United Arab Emirates using a purposive sampling technique, and the empirical analysis was conducted with the measures of model fit and bootstrapping technique using Partial least square Structural equation modelling and multi-group analysis. Findings The empirical findings reveal that the dedicated use of intellect in making decisions related to ethical issues where desires and emotions tend to overwhelm reason and human choices. While divine knowledge is found ineffective guidance of the intellect, the element of satanic force is found significantly impacting decision-making. As the lack of religious consciousness is evident among respondents, higher exposure to operational risk is expected. These findings were found identical across the Islamic banking practitioners in different lines of operations. Research limitations/implications The span of the study is limited to a single country. Future studies are recommended to replicate the study to more markets where the share of Islamic finance is significant. Practical implications Findings of the study highly suggest respective authorities of Islamic financial institutions to intensify the capacity-building programs on the foundation of faith which includes Islamic thought and worldview, to enhance the corporate ethical decision-making. Moreover, equal importance should be given to all the banking practitioners regardless of line of business operations. Originality/value With undue emphasis is given to the juristic (fiqh) aspects of Shariah compliance in the Islamic banking and finance industry, less has been attempted to explore its ethical dimension (akhlaq) in the compliance parameters that leave a relatively large gap to address prevailing unethical practices in Islamic finance institutions. Findings from this study can be useful as a warning to the Islamic banking firms to enhance the sense of God-fearing and improve existing measures in the organisation in mitigating operational risks that may arise from people or system and consequently ensure the smooth governance of the Islamic banks.