The Wisdom Of Religious Commitment

by Terrence W. Tilley

Overview

By exploring a practical, rather than propositional, understanding of religious belief, this book provides a new construct through which to view philosophy of religion. Terrence W. Tilley shifts the focus of debate from the justification of rational belief to the exercise of wisdom in making or maintaining a commitment to religious practices. It is through practices, Tilley concludes, that religious belief is formed.

After analyzing the strengths and limitations of the modern approaches, Tilley applies the concept of wisdom to the process of making a religious commitment. Wisdom, as explored by Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, and John Henry Newman, may be thought of as the bridge between intellectual and moral virtues. Roughly, it can be described as the ability to put intellect into action in a context. Because wisdom is a virtue requiring concrete display, the book discusses the wisdom of commitment to specific religious practices of a range of traditions. These examples demonstrate the issues and complexities involved in the wisdom of making a religious commitment. This important challenge to contemporary philosophy of religion will be of special interest to students and teachers of theology and philosophy of religion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780878403677
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	12/01/1995
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	188
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.43(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Terrence W. Tilley is professor and chair of Religious Studies, University of Dayton. He is the author of The Evils of Theodicy (Georgetown University Press, 1991), Story Theology (Michael Glazier, Inc, 1985; reprint by Liturgical Press, 1991), Talking of God: An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis of Religious Language (Paulist Press, 1978), and Postmodern Theologies and the Challenge of Relgious Diversity (Orbis Books, 1995).

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	1
1	Toward a Practical Philosophy of Religion	6
	The Construal of Religion and Religious Belief in Modern Philosophy	5
	The Legacy of Montaigne	13
	Pascal's Wager and Religious Practice	19
	Notes	27
2	Religion Practically Defined	29
	The Practical Theory of Religion Renewed	30
	Religion as a Tradition	32
	The Stories of Religious Traditions	39
	Religious Founders and Exemplars	41
	Religious Goals	43
	Religious Communities and Institutions	45
	Religion and Epistemology	53
	Notes	55
3	Justifying Religious Belief in Modern Religious Epistemology	58
	The Parity Problem and the Probability of Theism	59
	A New Design Argument for the Reasonableness of Believing in God	68
	A Practical Approach to Justifying Religious Belief	77
	Notes	89
4	Wisdom in Practice	93
	The Presumption of Substitutability	94
	The Practice of Wisdom	101
	Notes	118
5	The Wisdom of Religious Commitment	121
	Basic Wisdom in Religious Commitment	123
	The Practical Pursuit of Religious Wisdom	131
	Conclusion	151
	Notes	153
	Epilogue: A Practical Conclusion	155
	Works Cited	161
	Index	169

What People are Saying About This

Nancy K. Frankenberry

This work represents something new and original at two levels: first, it presents the first broad and in-depth critique of the now dominant school in Anglo-Amerian philosophy; and second, it offers a constructive argument . . . in favor of the wisdom of making (or remaking) a religious commitment . . . Tilley effects an important paradigm shift.

From the Publisher

"This work represents something new and original at two levels: first, it presents the first broad and in-depth critique of the now dominant school in Anglo-Amerian philosophy; and second, it offers a constructive argument . . . in favor of the wisdom of making (or remaking) a religious commitment . . . Tilley effects an important paradigm shift."—Nancy K. Frankenberry, Stone Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, Dartmouth College

Editorial Reviews

The thesis of Terrence Tilley's provocative and scholarly work is that the practice of theodicy is immoral and deceptive. . . . the substance of his argument is compelling and important.

Modern Theology

This work represents something new and original at two levels: first, it presents the first broad and in-depth critique of the now dominant school in Anglo-Amerian philosophy; and second, it offers a constructive argument . . . in favor of the wisdom of making (or remaking) a religious commitment . . . Tilley effects an important paradigm shift.

--Nancy K. Frankenberry, Stone Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, Dartmouth College

From the Publisher

This work represents something new and original at two levels: first, it presents the first broad and in-depth critique of the now dominant school in Anglo-Amerian philosophy; and second, it offers a constructive argument . . . in favor of the wisdom of making (or remaking) a religious commitment . . . Tilley effects an important paradigm shift.

Nancy K. Frankenberry