I. THE LEGITIMACY OF PHILOSOPHY IN UNDERSTANDING RELIGION.

 Is it legitimate to study religion according to the principles of philosophy? Is it

legitimate to have a philosophical /rational approach to religion?
Enlightenment= (Illustracion) Aufklarung

- Everything has to be questioned

1. Copernicus, Galileo Galilei

2. Columbus
Secularism
- Religion has no place in the public discourse.

Religious Fundamentalism
- Is the unwavering belief in the infallibility and superiority of religious
teaching. It is the belief of a community in the absolute authority of the
sacred text in its specific religion or faith. (Altemeyer and Hunsberger,
1992, 2004).

1. Yes. Philosophy is absorbed by religion.

Religious Philosophy
– is a philosophical thinking that is influenced or directed as a
consequence to teachings from a particular religion. The ordinary language of
Religious Philosophy was that of scriptures. (For Educational Purposes Only).

Fideism
- from the Latin word, Fides which means faith.
-defined as exclusive or basic reliance upon faith alone, accompanied
by a consequent disparagement of reason and utilized especially in the pursuit
of philosophical or religious truth.
 a fideist is someone who urges reliance on faith rather than reason,
in matters of philosophical and religious.
-Alvin Platinga (Reformed Epistemologist) –
Everything is studied from God’s perspective.
 2. Yes. Religion is absorbed by philosophy.
Philosophical Religion/Rationalism
- the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring
knowledge or, more strongly, that it is the unique to knowledge. (For
Educational Purposes Only).
-Hegel-
-Auguste Comte-
Everything is studied from the perspective of reason.

3. No. They have different fields. There is insuperable distance/distinction between

Philosophy and Religion.
-Averroes- What is true in religion may be wrong to philosophy
-Tertulian- Athens has nothing to do with Jerusalem.

4. Yes. Philosophy and Religion are distinct but they complement.

-John Paul II- “Fides et Ratio”
 If faith is not aided by reason, it becomes superstition.
We always distinguish but never separate.
Life is duality but not dualism
Philosophy without Religion becomes narrow-minded. While,
Theology without Philosophy becomes mute.

II. WHAT RELIGION IS NOT?

A. Some people confused it because of similarities.
Similarities
 A. transcend the phenomenal world
 B. admit the existence of the absolute
- Spinosa
o – The Human Mind is a mode or manifestation of the divine
intellect. When, therefore man’s mind has an idea, it is really God
who has this idea in the human mind. As soon as a mode arises in
the divine attribute of extension, a mode which recognizes or
represents it arises in the divine attribute of thought. (FOR
EDUCAIONAL PURPOSES ONLY).

Body Divine Substance/Attribute Thought or Mind

(Mode of the unique (Mode of divine substance which
divine substance expresses it as “thinking”)
which expresses it
as an extension; “extended”)
 - Hegel- Mind/Idea

Differences
A. Philosophy- doctrine. Naturalism- everything is material
Religion-Salvation - “Suprema Lex salus animalum”
-It is more on event
B. (Origin) Philosophy- wonder, curiosity= desire to know
Religion- desire to be saved, communion with God.
C. (Method) Philosophy- general experience + natural reason
Religion- experience of the Divine
D. (Certainty) Philosophy- Logical- everything is clear; no room for doubt
Religion- ambiguity, darkness, mystery- leap of faith
E. (Language) Philosophy- concepts, definition
Religion- symbol
F. Sociologically Philosophy- Experts- teachers, professors, doctors
Religion- Saints

Believe in order to understand

 Faith is a grace
 Acts of the Apostles 2: 42-44
B. Religion and Ethics
Bertrand Russel
- “Why I’m not a Christian” points out that religion is both harmful and true.
- Fear is the basis of religion/religious dogma. That fear of nature is what
caused the rise of religion----fear of human beings, either as individual or
collective.
- He argued that moral system must not be based on scripture or religion.
- “The universe is just there and that’s it”. (When asked regarding the
existence of the universe). Every effect must have a cause but not
everything must have a cause. (FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES
ONLY).
Ludwig Feuerbach
- “The Essence of Religion” There is no physical god.
- God is only an abstraction/projection of what man wishes for himself in
terms of his characteristics.
- Religion is just an expression of man’s feeling---of frustrations, hurts
therefore he seeks comfort in God Whom he creates. (FOR
EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY).
Immanuel Kant
- God has no place in Pure Reason.
- God is part of ethics.
- “Critique of Pure Reason”
o You can never know something as it is.
Reality
 Noumenal Phenomenal

Real things which can never be experienced Real things which can be experienced
o God exists but He would be noumenal
1. Similarities- Ethics- absolute
Religion- (Ethos) it has also Ethics; beliefs/doctrines= way of life.
2. Differences- End/Role of Ethics: make us more human
End/Role of Religion: make us more divine

Max Scheler

- The goal of ethics is the perfection of man. (To act as human beings not
beasts). The role of ethics is to make us more human.
Why is God not considered as a mother?

- Because it would lead to Pantheism.

-

C. Religion and Art Aesthetics

Art and Religion blend perfectly. Why?
 Because faith cannot be explained therefore, are art is needed. Faith is
portrayed clearly through images, graphics, etc.
 Because many parts of the faith are expressed clearly through symbols.

Similarity- Transcendence

Difference A.-Art- Beauty

-Religion- Sacred

B. -Art- How?
-Religion- What?
D. Magic and Religion
“Hocus Focus” from the Latin words, “Hoc est Corpus Meum” This is My
Body.
Magic- An attempt to submit one’s power to mysterious forces.

Differences
1. Attitude of Man
Magic- control over mysterious forces
Religion- loss of control: we are here to do the will of God
2. In Relation to Society
Magic- Personal
 Religion- Communal or Community
3. Instrument
Magic- Uses word and rituals to make something happen (to
effectuate something
Religion- Uses words and rituals to please God
4. Purpose
Magic- to earn (money)
Religion- to worship God

III. WHAT RELIGION IS?

A. Etymologically: Religion is:
Acc. to Cicero (Roman)- Religio, Relegere (to observe attentively)
Acc. to St. Augustine (Bishop of Hippo)- Re- eligere (to elect again) Man was
separated from God because of sin therefore, we have to be reconnected or re- elected again
back to God.
Acc. to Macrobius- Relinquire (to leave behind) to leave behind old tradition
and adapt the new one.
Others would say- Re-ligare (to tie again)

Real Definition
Religion is essentially the right ordination of man to God.
Ordination from the Latin word “Ordinatio” which means order.
Right Ordination means it entails relationship which is not only Ontological,
but must be personal therefore, a matter of choice. It must also be conscious.

A. Two Levels of Understanding Religion

1. Theoretical Level- study of the concept/understanding of God must be
correct. It has something to do with the academe based of study.
2. Ethico- Operative Level- It has something to do with understanding God in
practice.
*God – as the center of religion.
Religion is not only the initiative of man but, the response of man and
the initiative of God.
Part of religion is to know the true god.
*Man- response/evolution
Religion is only for human beings.
Man has to respond to God who appeared to us in human history
Evolution means it that our belief in the existence of God undergoes
changes in us and in our belief. Whether we are down, excited or bored, we need to be
committed to God.
IV. IS IT REASONABLE TO BELIEVE IN GOD AND RELIGION?
Antithesis: The Problem of Evil
Can evil/suffering co exists with an omnipotent and perfect being?

Antithesis: Can God create another god?

What if the god whom we believe is just another created reality?

Atheism- denies that God exists

Agnosticism- Does not deny that God exists, but His existence can’t be known.

1. Natural Knowledge (Reason)

-God can be known by man through the Natural Truths. This can be shown by looking
at all peoples. There is not a single nation without religion, even the most backward nation.
We see the world as an effect and God as the cause of this effect. (Jose M. de Torre, Christian
Philosophy)
Five Ways of St. Thomas Aquinas
1. Motion
2. Principle of Causality/Activity (cause and effect)
3. Possibility and Necessity
4. Perfection/Beauty
5. Design/Purpose

2. Supernatural Knowledge (Faith)

a. Natural Truths on the existence of God which can be theoretically discovered by

man is extremely impossible in practice without error being mixed with the truth, “corruptio
optimi pessima” which means corruption of the best is the worst. To say that God can be
known by man is one thing, but to say that man can know God perfectly is another thing
(Jose M. de Torre, Christian Philosophy)
b. Knowledge of natural order presupposes knowledge of supernatural order. In order
to facilitate man in learning the truths which are vital in knowing God and himself, there
must be a superior knowledge cable of explaining that which cannot be attained through
natural knowledge. (Jose M. de Torre, Christian Philosophy)

V. WHAT IS A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE?

A. Ways of understanding religious experience.
1. From the extraordinary experiences of the great religious teachers, whose messages
have led to the founding of the major religious traditions.
 -The Buddha’s cousin and companion Ananda, who accompanied him on his travels,
later recited the Buddha’s sermons so that they could be recorded, and was influential in
setting up the Sangha or community of monks.
2. From the great figures within those movements whose experiences are recounted in
the scriptures, and also saints, gurus, holy people and mystics.
-The experience of Saul on the Road to Damascus, when he had a vision of Jesus and
heard his voice, transformed him from one bent on persecuting Christians to a follower of
Christ. As Paul he established churches and his letters, which later became part of the New
Testament, are regularly read in church services.
3. From non-religious people who have mystical or spiritual intimations, often poets,
artists or musicians, who express their feelings in art and creativity.
4. From ordinary people whether who have experiences which they cannot but
interpret as religious.

Religious Experience and Religion

Notably Christian Theologians, Friedrich Schleiermacher and Rudolf Otto reinforced
both personal awareness of and relationship with ultimate reality as part of that which keep
religion alive instead of more emphasis on doctrine.
In 1799 Friedrich Schleiermacher, a Prussian theologian, wrote his influential On
Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers, which was translated from German into English
in 1893. This had the profound effect of stressing the fundamental importance of feeling and
the experience of a personal response to the divine in religion, as opposed to a dry, dogmatic,
doctrinal approach.

Religious Experience vs Ordinary Experience

Our experience is a very essential component of our life. Normally, experience is
associated with space and time. In fact, when we speak up of experience, it has something to
do with Empirical-Sensory (senses).
A. CHARACTERISTICS OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
1. Experience- Object/Material/Physical Sensory
2. Experiential- Non-Sensory/Personal and Immediate or direct/lived experience
Religious Experience (Experiential)
-is a personal immediate knowledge of a transcendent reality: God.

Acc. to Plato, knowledge must have a justified belief.

B. TYPES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
Since we are spirits associated with body, there is no pure religious experience, our
experience depends on culture.

Near East: Judaism, Islam, Buddhism

Prophetic Experience: God is active. (Masculine)
Monotheism (from the Latin word Mono which means single)

Far East: Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism

Mystical Experience: God is passive. (Feminine)
Complex
In Buddhism, Buddha is worshipped as a spirit not as a god.

Our experience of God must have these forms:

 Encounter – I saw
 Vision/Listening- I heard
 Dream- I dreamt
These forms affect the radical part of RE

Since there is no Pure RE, then there must be a culture, ethnic group, religious tradition.

Let’s examine the 500 years of Discovery of America

-Discovery is a colonial mentality therefore, it must be an encounter (encuentro) not
discovery.

Near East: Judaism, Islam, Buddhism

-God is a person, therefore, God is active
- Union of two persons (God and man)
-Historical Experience

Far East: Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism

- Impersonal
-God is more of a state of being like the Nirvana
-There must be an emptying, concentration.
-No desire
-Fusion (becoming one)

The difference between Far East and Near East is arbitrary.

C. THE STRUCTURE OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

I. Intentional Character if RE
Tendere + in (Latin) which means to incline/predispose, tendency
Human Consciousness- intentional dimension
- Our consciousness always involves something.
Ex. I am sad
 - Human Consciousness is not a target of nothing; it has two things, either
being conscious of his inner world or outside of himself.
Nothingness is not the object of knowledge.
- HC always tends to something
That is why RE involves two things: subject and object
Non-believers claim RE just to be a projection.
Karl Marx- Religion is just a result of a disordered society. No factual basis
Dr. Andrew Newberg (Neurotheology)- Religion is just a product of the mind.
- For us, it has an objective dimension because there is an inter-relation
between the subject and the object for the reason that HC does not tend to
nothing.
- RE has an objective dimension.
Proofs of the persons who encountered RE
- God cannot be experienced according to or convenience. Therefore, it is
not within our control which means it is objective.
- Ex. Appearance of Mary at Fatima, Portugal – “I’ve seen a vision of a lady
and tomorrow I will see her again”.
-
II. What are the elements of RE?
Subject- It has something that affects the whole person (mind, will, emotion)
-It has something that affects personally.
Object- Transcendent, Mysterious, Sacred
Ex. St. Paul the Apostle who had the difficulty of describing his
experience of God. RE cannot be manipulated because God comes into our lives if He wants
it, not that we want it.

III. The Essential Dimensions of the Divine and the Religious Attitudes
A. Real
B. Transcendent
- Aside from being real, God is also experienced as something b
eyond our knowledge, our capacity to comprehend. We cannot totally
grasp something infinite with our finite capacity.
C. Mysterious
-God is radically mysterious in His existence, essence, nature, and
actions.
- In fact, it is God who wants to reveal Himself to us because we
cannot bare His experience. We will explode. Let’s examine the fact of
death experience, it difficult for us to bare. How much more with our
experience of God?
-Therefore, God is incomprehensible yet, knowable (apprehensible)
since we can know certain things about Him.
D. Personal Dimension
- We are like God, but He is not like us; Our likeness of Him is just a
semblance. That’s precisely why we pray because God is not a
concept. He is person. “No one prays to a concept”.
D. SPIRITUALITY

I. What is the purpose of studying Spirituality?

The real purpose of the study of the spiritual life is not to produce scholars but to form
holy Christians.

Conclusion:
The Philosophy of Religion is like a response of man to God’s revelation. In
philosophy, we study God in our own perspective, from our own experience (subjective).
While in Theology, we study God as we can know Him (objective).
- Our approach to this course is phenomenological which means back to the
things themselves. The motto of Phenomenologists is analysis and
descriptive. Analysis of experience/living experience.

E. FOUNDERS OF RELIGIONS AND THEIR SPECIFIC TEACHINGS

Many of the great religious traditions were founded on the inspiration of people who
had experiences of revelation so profound that they appeared to their contemporaries to have
particular spiritual insight and authority. They taught what had been revealed to them and
during their lifetime attracted followers. After their deaths, movements sprang up, of people
emulating them and following their examples and teachings. Many religious traditions came
into being in this way and have continued over the centuries. Here are a few experiences,
which led to the founding of four major religious movements.

1. Siddhartha Gautama, who is thought to have lived in the sixth or fifth century BCE, was a
North Indian prince with a wife and child. In what became known as the Great Renunciation,
he left palace and family to seek to understand the meaning of life, suffering and death. After
much fruitless searching and years of extreme ascetic practice he sat down under a tree,
which later became known as the Bodhi Tree, vowing to remain until he gained
Enlightenment. Once he felt that he had indeed understood the true nature of reality, he began
to teach the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path and became known as the
Buddha, the Awakened One. He taught for about forty years and Buddhists follow his
teachings, whether in the Mahayana, Theravada or Vajrayana schools.

2. Moses who is thought to have lived in the twelfth century BCE, was reputed to have had an
experience of seeing God face to face and of communicating directly with God on Mount
Sinai. He was transformed into someone whom his peers could hardly look at, so brightly did
he reflect the majesty of God. After this experience, by working miraculous signs he was able
to persuade Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt, where they had spent years
enslaved. He subsequently led them out of captivity towards the Promised Land. In
Deuteronomy it is recorded how on Mount Sinai he received the Law from God, which is
summed up in the Ten Commandments. He is regarded as the founder of Judaism while also
being revered by Christians and in Islam as Musa, who conversed with God.

3. Jesus was born in Palestine around 6 BCE and lived in close communication with God,
whom he called ‘Abba’ which is a familiar term for father. After his baptism by John the
Baptist Jesus preached the coming of the Kingdom of God, told parables and performed
healing and other miracles. He travelled around Palestine with his twelve disciples,
preaching and healing, his ministry lasting for about three years before he arrived in
Jerusalem. There he was arrested and crucified. Scripture tells us that after his death there
were appearances to his followers, who became convinced that he had been raised from the
dead. They began to worship Jesus as the risen Messiah, Christ, the Son of God. As they
spread the word and the movement grew away from Judaism, the Christian Church was
established.

4. Muhammad was about forty years old in 610 CE when he began having visions which
were so powerful that he feared for his sanity. He was instructed by the Angel Gabriel to
recite (Qur’an means ‘recite’). It is said that he then received and taught the Qur’an, which
was only later written down. He taught for twelve years in Mecca, before moving to Medina,
where he founded the religion of Islam, which means ‘submission’ (to the will of Allah).
Some years later, he returned to Mecca, conquering the city and establishing it as the main
site of pilgrimage.