Philosophy of Religion A More Diverse Western Approach Eric Steinhart 21 August 2018 (v19) Copyright (C) Eric Steinhart Free for educational use. No commercial use. Draft 1 Table of Contents Introduction ..............................................................................................................................9 The Olympic Gods and Goddesses................................................................................... 10 1. The Theogony..............................................................................................................................10 2. Zeus is a Man in the Sky ...........................................................................................................10 3. The Gods and Goddesses Make War ....................................................................................11 Socrates: The Design Argument....................................................................................... 12 1. Religiously Interesting Arguments ......................................................................................12 2. From Useful Organs to Divine Minds...................................................................................13 3. Divine Superhuman Agents ....................................................................................................14 4. Some Precisely Defined Deities.............................................................................................15 Plato: The Form of the Good.............................................................................................. 16 1. The One over the Many ............................................................................................................16 2. The Good is the Source of Existence ....................................................................................17 3. The Good is not a Deity.............................................................................................................18 Plato: The Demiurge............................................................................................................ 19 1. The Argument from Change....................................................................................................19 2. The Ultimate Sufficient Reason .............................................................................................20 3. The Pattern of the Universe....................................................................................................20 4. The Material Elements .............................................................................................................21 5. The Universe is Self-Sufficient ...............................................................................................22 6. The Creation of the Gods and Other Animals....................................................................23 7. The Closed World.......................................................................................................................24 8. Modernizing the Demiurge.....................................................................................................25 Plato: The First Cause.......................................................................................................... 26 1. The Regress Argument.............................................................................................................26 2. The Souls of Heavenly Bodies are Gods..............................................................................27 The Epicureans...................................................................................................................... 28 1. Atoms and Worlds......................................................................................................................28 2. The Epicurean Deities ..............................................................................................................28 3. The Epicurean Challenge.........................................................................................................29 Stoicism: The Cosmic Administrator.............................................................................. 30 1. Zeus as King of the Gods...........................................................................................................30 2. The Harmony of Parts...............................................................................................................30 3. Cicero: The Argument for a Divine Administrator..........................................................31 4. Epictetus: The Argument from the City to the Ruler......................................................32 5. The Divine Lawgiver .................................................................................................................33 Stoicism: The Great Chain of Being................................................................................. 34 1. The Levels of Reality .................................................................................................................34 2. The First Henological Argument...........................................................................................35 3. The Second Henological Argument......................................................................................36 Stoicism: Holy Fire Fills All Things ................................................................................. 37 1. The Universe is Divine..............................................................................................................37 2. All Things Contain Fire-Energy..............................................................................................38 2 3. The Holy Fire-Energy................................................................................................................39 4. The Olympic Deities ..................................................................................................................40 5. From the High God to the Lesser Deities............................................................................41 Stoicism: Human Citizens in the Divine City................................................................ 42 1. The Stoic God Determines the Fate of the Universe .......................................................42 2. Serenity Prayers to the Stoic God .........................................................................................43 The Body and the Soul......................................................................................................... 44 1. Plato: Arguments for the Soul................................................................................................44 2. The Soul is the Form of the Body ..........................................................................................45 3. Barrow & Tipler: The Soul is a Body-Program.................................................................47 Ancient Reincarnation ........................................................................................................ 48 1. Reincarnation in the West.......................................................................................................48 2. Arguments for Reincarnation ................................................................................................48 3. How Souls Change Bodies........................................................................................................50 4. Retributive Karma.....................................................................................................................50 5. Reincarnation into Animal Bodies .......................................................................................51 6. Problems with Retributive Karma .......................................................................................51 7. Escape from the Cycle of Rebirth ..........................................................................................52 Neoplatonism: That Radiant Unity ................................................................................. 53 1. Plotinus: The One Before the Many......................................................................................53 2. Plotinus: Every Many has its One..........................................................................................54 3. Plotinus: The Sun Radiates Reality ......................................................................................54 4. Sallustius: The Olympic Deities.............................................................................................55 6. Divine Power Flows into Your Life.......................................................................................56 The Biblical God .................................................................................................................... 58 1. Yahweh and Asherah ................................................................................................................58 2. The Old Testament God is a Man in the Sky ......................................................................59 3. Beyond the Man in the Sky......................................................................................................60 4. The Problem of Religious Revelation..................................................................................61 5. Divine Embodiment: Christ versus Jesus ...........................................................................61