Religious Mystery and Rational Reflection: Excursions in the Phenomenology and Philosophy of Religion

by Louis Dupré

How should philosophy approach what by definition surpasses its competence? Can it do more than describe the religious experience without discussing its object? Can religion make genuine truth claims — especially when so much suffering and evil in the world seem to go against them?

These are some of the basic questions raised in the first part of this collection of essays by Louis Dupré. A philosophical analysis of faith must take account of the unique system of symbols in which it expresses its belief, rituals, and modes of worship. The justification of religious symbols has become a particular problem in an age that tends to separate the objective from the subjective, interpreting the former literally and denying objective reality to the latter. In essays on von Balthasar's theory of religious form and on the nature of ritual, Dupré attempts to restore the original meaning of religious symbols, while integrating them with the modern emphasis on human creativity.

Only after having secured the intrinsically symbolic nature of the religious act can philosophy discuss the religious experience without running the risk of ending in pure subjectivism. The third part of this work is devoted to the mystical experience as well as to the low-key religious experience characteristic of believers living an a secular culture. In the light of a negative theology (in which this entire work was written), the two appear to have surprisingly much in common.

156 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1997

About the author

Louis Dupre is a Catholic phenomenologist and religious philosopher. He was the T. Lawrason Riggs Professor in Yale University's religious studies department from 1973 to 1998, after which he became Professor Emeritus.[1] His work generally attempts to tie the modern age more closely to medieval and classical thought, finding precursors to Enlightenment and Reformation events that were naively viewed as revolutions. His well known works include "Passage to Modernity" and "The Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations of Modern Culture."