SWINBURNE:FAITH & REASON 2E PAPER

by Richard Swinburne

Richard Swinburne presents a new edition of one of his classic works on philosophical theology. Faith and Reason is a self-standing examination of the implications for religious faith of Swinburne's famous arguments about the coherence of theism and the existence of God. Swinburne analyzes the purposes of practicing a religion, and argues that religious faith requires belief that a particular creed provides the rationale for supposing that these purposes will be achieved. While maintaining the same structure and conclusions as the original, this second edition has been substantially rewritten, both in order to relate its ideas more closely to those of classical theologians and philosophers and to respond to more recent views.

Genres: Philosophy, Religion, Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, Atheism

278 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 1984

About the author

Richard G. Swinburne is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Over the last 50 years Swinburne has been a very influential proponent of natural theology, that is, philosophical arguments for the existence of God. His philosophical contributions are primarily in philosophy of religion and philosophy of science. He aroused much discussion with his early work in the philosophy of religion, a trilogy of books consisting of The Coherence of Theism, The Existence of God, and Faith and Reason.

Reviews

[David Perde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swinburne's book Faith and Reason presents a compelling argument as to how one can attain a rational belief and how this process can entail the acquisition of rational religion beliefs.

The first part of the book treats the topic of epistemology, about how precisely a person can acquire a belief. Swinburne's point of view is that beliefs are involuntarily possessed. In regards to rational and religious beliefs alike Swinburne assess that they are acquired in a rather subjective manner. For example if a person from an underdeveloped country wishes to see if following the Christian way is rational and true, he will not be able to acces the information and resources that a person from a developed country has acces to, and subsequently the two investigations will yield diffrent results. To that end, in Swinburne's mind, the investigations regading the validity of the belief in question are in both cases rational, given the fact that both of them have had the desire of investigating their belief, even if at different degrees.

The second part of the book focuses more on the topic of faith. Swinburne displays two types of faith. First, the Thomistic faith which derives from Thomas Aquinas, a faith that Swinburne views as supporting the existence of God and His deeds through the principles of natural theology, so mostly theoretical knowledge about God. The second type mentioned is the Lutheran faith which he views as combining the theoretical knowledge and a certain degree of trust in God. From this point onwards, Swinburne examines the Christian creed and the main principles behind Judaism, Islamism and Buddhism. Also in this latter part of the book Swinburne purports that the three main reasons for following a religious way are: to render proper worship to God or gods, to attain one's own salvation and to aid others in attaining their salvation.

Overall, Swinburne's book is helpful to bridge the gap between religion and rationality, but there is some criticism warranted for a particular point of view whether intentional or unintentional. I feel compelled to say that Swinburne's view on Christianity (in this book) is rather a platonized version of the religion in question, given the overemphasis on the matter of salvation. Swinburne sometimes gives the impression of contending that the Christian's ultimate goal is to attain salvation, meaning to get to Heaven. He does indeed speak at times of Heaven as the communion and union with God but too little and at same time he paints a botched picture of Christianity, with a God who had to resort to a plan B and send His created beings someplace else, thus envisioning Christianity as a religion of escapism, but certainly not to the same degree as Buddhism.

[Ben Holloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good example of a philosopher exploring his intuitions. A fine work if a little dense at times. The more I read Swinburne, the more I appreciate his careful surefooted style leaving few stones unturned on the way.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intermediate: third work in the trilogy. Here the definition of faith and practice are discussed. My favorite of the three works.

[Annie]

John Mark Reynolds recommendation