Access To Religion And Philosophy. Philosophy Of Religion

access to religion and philosophy Philosophy of Religion THIRD EDITION a t r p This page intentionally left blank access to religion and philosophy Philosophy of Religion a t r p THIRD EDITION Peter Cole PART OF HACHETTE LIVRE UK The Publishers would like to thank the following for permission to reproduce copyright material: Photo credits Cover © Design Pics/Imagestate; p.24 © Mary Evans Picture Library; p.35 © National Gallery Collection; By kind permission of the Trustees of the National Gallery, London/Corbis; p.39 © ESA/Hubble Collaboration/Handout/CNP/Corbis; p.80 © Jon Arnold Images Ltd/Alamy; p.118 Richard H. Smith/Science Photo Library; p.134 © Visual Arts Library (London)/Alamy. Acknowledgements p.8 Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) for the quote from ‘Unborn Children (Protection) Bill’, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) Volume 73, No. 62, 15 February 1985. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the Publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity. Although every effort has been made to ensure that website addresses are correct at time of going to press, Hodder Education cannot be held responsible for the content of any website mentioned in this book. It is sometimes possible to find a relocated web page by typing in the address of the home page for a website in the URL window of your browser. Hachette’s policy is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. Orders: please contact Bookpoint Ltd, 130 Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4SB. Telephone: +44 (0)1235 827720. Fax: +44 (0)1235 400454. Lines are open 9.00a.m.–5.00p.m., Monday to Saturday, with a 24-hour message answering service. Visit our website at www.hoddereducation.co.uk © Peter Cole 1999, 2004, 2008 First edition published 1999 Second edition published 2004 This third edition first published in 2008 by Hodder Education, part of Hachette Livre UK 338 Euston Road London NW1 3BH Impression number 5 4 3 2 1 Year 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 All rights reserved. Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or held within any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or under licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Further details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Illustrations by GreenGate Publishing Typeset in Bembo by GreenGate Publishing Services, Tonbridge, Kent Printed in Great Britain by Martins the Printer, Berwick-upon-Tweed A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN: 978 0 340 95778 3 CONTENTS Preface ix 1 Tools for the job 1 Studying philosophy 2 Philosophy of religion 3 Philosophical arguments Study guide 1 1 2 3 7 2 The nature of God 1 Introduction 2 Terminology 3 The key attributes of God 4 Are the attributes self-consistent? 5 Are the attributes consistent with one another? 6 Recent developments Study guide 9 9 9 10 11 14 16 16 3 The existence of God – 1 1 The classic arguments for the existence of God 2 The ontological argument 3 Supporters of the ontological argument 4 Criticisms of the ontological argument Study guide 19 19 21 23 25 30 4 The existence of God – 2: the cosmological