JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL THEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Year:2005 | Volume:7 | Issue:1 (25)|Papers Count:7

This article deals with the relationship between 'Modernity' and the 'study of religion'. To explain this, it first presents the concept of 'religion' in the new 'study of religion'; next it discusses the claim of the study of religion being scientific; then the paper speaks of the researches on the kind of language and the history of religion in the scientific study of religion. Furthermore, it alludes to the distinction between the new study of religion and what is called Kalam and theological studies in the course of theology.    

On the basis of their philosophical arguments, some philosophers, on the one hand, came to believe the eternity of the world; at the same time, they believe that the prophets have affirmed the creation of the world in their teachings. On the other hand, some famous thinkers, including Algazel, had objections to the abovementioned philosophers and excommunicated them. However, Averroes, a philosopher of Cordova, defended the philosophers and presented answers to his objections. Yet some thinkers were not able to understand different aspects of Averroes' viewpoint and accused him of self-contradiction. The present essay attempts to explain his viewpoint on this problem and sets forth the how of his gathering Shari'ah and wisdom, without which he remains unknowable.      

Representing epistemological, ontological, and theistic presuppositions and principles of Bonaventure's theology, the present essay deals with his explanation of the extroversive way of knowing God and two higher ways, i.e., the knowledge of God "through His signs" and "in His signs" described in his The Mind's Road to God.      

Among the most complex philosophical issues is the value of knowledge, which detennines the destiny of many other philosophical problems. In this regard, there are some serious questions such as, how much is the validity of human beings' knowledge, how and in what is the veridicality of knowledge? Among the contemporary philosophers, 'Alaimah Tabataba'i has examined this important with further scrutiny and presented valuable discussions; referring all the acquired knowledge to the presential knowledge and considering the presential knowledge as basic, he firstly adopted a new approach in this domain and secondly attained an explanation of the errors of the senses. The present essay, analyzing Allamah Tabatabai's viewpoint on the value of knowledge, and emphasizing a number of its features, is going to present a more coherent assertion of it, possessing the least difficulties in regard to the veridicality of knowledge.  

Mullā Sadrā appeared in the philosophical field when the prevalent philosophical questions were principality of existence and principality of quiddity. Although he first held the theory of principality of quiddity, later in a cognitional rotation he accepted the theory of principality of existence. Such a rotation gradually causes a wide revolution in the realm of philosophy, and consequently it yields principles such as unity of existence, analogicity of existence, and intensification of existence. He propounds external objectivity of existence, knowledge, beauty and other qualities of perfection as his philosophical principles. Thus, due to Mullā Sadrā 's basic principles, we can attain to principles such as principality of beauty, unity of beauty, analogicity of beauty, and intensification of beauty.      

Some great Islamic theologians, among whom is Sayyed Morteza, believe that when someone really becomes faithful, it is impossible for him/her to reject his/her religious beliefs. To prove their theory, the theologians have appealed to some rational and traditional proofs. Presenting these proofs, this essay criticizes them and shows that none of them can prove the above-mentioned theory; besides, the Koranic verses and the Hadiths explicitly emphasize the occurrence of apostasy.      

The history of religious and rational thought has entertained many ideas concerning the arguments for the existence of God. Among the arguments advanced, there have been three kinds of arguments known as: teleological, ontological and cosmological arguments; and Alvin Plantinga can be named as a great figure who has added to these three kinds the forth. Indeed, his endeavors are to be esteemed as a new argument for the existence of God. The argument is by the name of "epistemological argument of proper function for the existence of God". This essay, considering Plantinga' s view on epistemology of beliefs, is to show the reader the premises of the argument and to assay its efficiency. The author holds that the argument in question, although is seriously dependent on the "theory of proper function" of warrant, is a new way in establishing the existence of God and can be considered as good path, upon which a rational believer can rely