“WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE TO HAVE TO START A RELIGION?”

1. What makes your religion different than all the other religions?
2. What would it matter if your religion didn’t exist at all?

WHAT IS “THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION”?

• Metaphysics (reality)
• Ontology (being, origins)
• Axiology (ethics)
• Apistemology (knowledge)

“PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION” DEPENDS ON ASSUMPTIONS

Assumptions – everyone begins somewhere. People live based on ideas they may not believe.

“PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION” = WORLDVIEW

Worldview is a basis for trust dependent upon content, credibility, commitment

We believe these worldviews either consciously or unconsciously

Worldview Qs:
- Real?
- God?
- Human?
- Purpose?
- History?
- Knowledge?
- Ethics?
- Afterlife?

Two Kinds of People: Essential ideas to address – (1) Transcendence (2) Immanence

Described as Different (not ‘better’), Distinctive (not ‘alternative’), Exclusive (not ‘pluralistic’)

ONE EXAMPLE OF A “PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION” – ONTOLOGY (BEING, ORIGINS)

Supernaturalism v Naturalism; Order v Chaos; Study/Knowledge/Discovery v. Dictated Results

SO WHAT? WHO CARES? WHY STUDY “PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION?”

What are the results of such a view of origins? What are the implications for how I live my worldview?

1. Identity
2. Science
3. “Should”
4. Abolitionism
5. Justice
6. Socio-economic class
7. Human Rights
8. Anti-Human Trafficking
9. Kindness
10. Horror Movies