The Problem of Alternative Monotheisms: Another Serious Challenge to Theism

Theistic and analytic philosophers of religion typically privilege classical theism by ignoring or underestimating the great threat of alternative monotheisms.[1] In this article we discuss numerous god-models, such as those involving weak, stupid, evil, morally indifferent, and non-revelatory gods....

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Lataster, Raphael (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Publié: [2018]
Dans: European journal for philosophy of religion
Année: 2018, Volume: 10, Numéro: 1, Pages: 31-51
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Monothéisme / Dieux / Théisme
Classifications IxTheo:AB Philosophie de la religion
NCB Éthique individuelle
Sujets non-standardisés:B Theism
B argument from alternative monotheisms
B The Evil God Challenge
B quasi-deism
B Deism
Accès en ligne: Volltext (doi)
Volltext (teilw. kostenfrei)
Description
Résumé:Theistic and analytic philosophers of religion typically privilege classical theism by ignoring or underestimating the great threat of alternative monotheisms.[1] In this article we discuss numerous god-models, such as those involving weak, stupid, evil, morally indifferent, and non-revelatory gods. We find that theistic philosophers have not successfully eliminated these and other possibilities, or argued for their relative improbability. In fact, based on current evidence - especially concerning the hiddenness of God and the gratuitous evils in the world - many of these hypotheses appear to be more probable than theism. Also considering the - arguably infinite - number of alternative monotheisms, the inescapable conclusion is that theism is a very improbable god-concept, even when it is assumed that one and only one transcendent god exists.[1] I take ‘theism' to mean ‘classical theism', which is but one of many possible monotheisms. Avoiding much of the discussion around classical theism, I wish to focus on the challenges in arguing for theism over monotheistic alternatives. I consider theism and alternative monotheisms as entailing the notion of divine transcendence.
Contient:Enthalten in: European journal for philosophy of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.24204/ejpr.v10i1.1801