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In locating friendly fire in contemporary philosophy of religion, D.Z. Phillips shows that more harm can be done to religion by its philosophical defenders than by its philosophical despisers. Friendly fire is the result of an uncritical acceptance of empiricism, and Phillips argues that we need to examine critically the claims that individual consciousness is the necessary starting point from which we have to argue: for the existence of an external world and the reality of God; that God is a person without a body, a pure consciousness; and that to assent to a religious belief is essentially to assign a truth value to a proposition independent of any confessional context. When these products of friendly fire are avoided, we arrive at a new understanding of belief, trust and the soul, and refuse to say more or less than we know about the realities of human life in the service of religious apologetics.
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PRELIMS 26/8/04 3:41 PM Page 1 RELIGION AND FRIENDLY FIRE PRELIMS 26/8/04 3:41 PM Page 2 Also by D. Z. Phillips The Concept of Prayer Moral Practices (with H. O. Mounce) Faith and Philosophical Enquiry Death and Immortality . Sense and Delusion (with Ilham Dilman) Athronyddu Am Grefydd Religion Without Explanation Through a Darkening Glass Dramâu Gwenlyn Parry Belief, Change and Forms of Life R. S. Thomas: Poet of the Hidden God Faith After Foundationalism From Fantasy to Faith Interventions in Ethics Wittgenstein and Religion Writers of Wales: J. R. Jones Introducing Philosophy Philosophy’s Cool Place Recovering Religious Concepts Religion and the Hermeneutics of Contemplation The Problem of Evil and the Problem of God PRELIMS 26/8/04 3:41 PM Page 3 Religion and Friendly Fire Examining Assumptions in Contemporary Philosophy of Religion The Vonhoff Lectures and Seminars, University of Groningen, 1999–2000 D. Z. PHILLIPS Danforth Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Claremont Graduate University, USA and Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and Rush Rhees Professor Emeritus, University of Wales Swansea, UK PRELIMS 26/8/04 3:41 PM Page 4 First published 2004 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 2004 D. Z. Phillips D. Z. Phillips has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this Work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Phillips, D. Z. (Dewi Zephaniah), 1934– Religion and friendly fire : examining assumptions in contemporary philosophy of religion : the Vonhoff lectures and seminars, University of Groningen, 1999–2000 1. Religion – Philosophy 2. Philosophy and religion I. Title 210 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Phillips, D. Z. (Dewi Zephaniah) Religion and friendly fire : examining assumptions in contemporary philosophy of religion / D. Z. Phillips. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7546-4111-2 (alk. paper) 1. Christianity–Philosophy. 2. Religion–Philosophy. I. Title. BR100.P47 2004 210–dc22 2003063854 ISBN 9780754641117 (hbk) ISBN 9781138266575 (pbk)