Often seemingly simple questions can demand rational treatment in quest for answers. Try answering the question; ‘What does that mean?’ when you have made a claim. Ask that of any belief and you will begin to see that a whole multitude of issues arise demanding attention. Or just think of the terms you use. Ask, ‘What does that word mean?’ Or, ‘What do I understand that term to mean?’ You may find that you have taken for granted a great deal that you might now wish to examine further. You may then discover that you have relied upon meanings handed down to you and that you have not really made your own. It is much better to ask, ‘What do I believe?’ and start thinking, than to ask ‘What do we believe?’ and rest satisfied without any real thought with the answers you are given. Why should you get someone to give you an answer, accept it without real consideration, and thereafter take it for granted?
This book is intended as an introduction. I would like to give some guidance as you begin or continue the process of inquiry just suggested. It is intended to be as simple as makes for clarity.
1 Examining BeliefsWe said ‘We believe many things’. That’s not very explicit. The ‘things’ we believe are statements, propositions, claims. We believe many different kinds of belief. We might classify individual beliefs into many different classes.Here are examples of individual beliefs:We can trust John.Lynne is competent for this task.Tomorrow’s weather will be fine.Advertisements need very careful scrutiny.That is a genuine Vermeer.God is love.Moses received tablets up in a mountain.Here are some possible classifications of kinds of belief:Medical diagnosisCampaigning politician’s promisesA historian’s accountClaims in an ancient documentReligious teachingMoral claimsAesthetic claimsWe can ask the questions we raise in this writing about any belief, however we classify it, such questions as, What motivates the belief? What reason, or lack of it, is there behind the belief? How could one argue in a rational way for the belief? What makes for the justification of a belief?The term ‘argument’ has two meanings. It meansa disagreement between believers. Contrary beliefs are expressed in opposed or contradictory claims. The attempt to justify them may vary. There may be no attempt to provide justification. An attempt to justify may take bizarre forms. But in this sense of the term you can have an argument simply by stating opposed beliefs.a set of statements arranged in such a way that they give support for the conclusion that is drawn from them. This is sometimes called deduction.
In discussing belief and believing we can operate on two levels. We can ask about the particular belief. Take for example the belief: ‘This building is safe.’ We can also ask about the fact of my holding this particular belief and then pass over to asking what makes this or any belief reasonable. Clearly there are different avenues of approach.
When you start to talk about Christian faith, even though you do not realise it you have already been engaged, I will not say ‘immersed’, in philosophical issues. For you already have developed certain attitudes before you fill your speech with content. You implicitly say ‘I believe’, whatever it is that you affirm or deny.
You then expand the statement that begins with the claim, ‘I believe’ with all kinds of content, with many kinds of assertion: about the future, about the past, about authority, about yourself, about the world, about the beginning of all things, about the end of all things, about life after death, etc, etc. But you believe many things, even if you do not consciously preface your convictions with the terms ‘I believe’.
So a good place to start would be to ask, ‘What is belief? What does it mean to believe?’
When we have spent time in thinking about those questions we might then go to some specific and important beliefs and ask the similar question, for example, What does it mean to say that you believe that God is creator? You will now see, of course, that philosophical discussion will help you to come to a better understanding of your particular beliefs.
You ask, ‘What will I achieve by engaging in such a pursuit?’ You will find the best answer to that question as you immerse yourself in the activity this book invites you to engage in. There is no substitute for persistent participation. But we can give preliminary answers and say what we hope you will discover. Take just three:
Achieve clarity. Misunderstanding is often due to not being clear as to what a belief means. So we must raise and persist in answering the questions, ‘What do the words used to state the belief mean? What does the belief mean?’
Understand what makes for reasonable support of a belief. This involves being able to see that the reasons you put forward to expound and to support your belief are rational, that the arguments you use are sound, that the evidence to support the belief is reliable.
Achieve an adequate vocabulary. A confused or inadequate understanding often results from having a limited mastery of the appropriate language. Fuller understanding results from expanding our mastery of concepts.
1 Discussing IssuesPhilosophy and theology both consist in the discussion of issues. In each of our chapters we state an issue to which we then address ourselves. The point of departure in each case is with a position held by the believer. We first make a statement of that belief. We then go on to present and explain relevant philosophical themes, showing what importance they have for the believer’s understanding.There is hardly any philosophical or theological position which has not been questioned and disputed. So when you hold one of alternatives it is only reasonable that you are aware of the claims, arguments and discussions that differ from your own. They may be more reasonable than the ones you are at present holding. But if you do not know what they are you cannot assess your own satisfactorily.As you read we hope that you will learnto articulate a problem, to define an issue, to recognise a significant question.where appropriate, to consider different possible approaches to the issue. So we consider contrary positions and the arguments by which these are defended.to assess the arguments, so as to decide which explanation is worthy, which is defensible, which appears most reasonable.to reckon with the fact that our conclusion may be tentative, to be revised upon further consideration of arguments and evidence.what constitutes a good argument, and what pitfalls to avoid in constructing an argument.
We discover:
that for every topic we discuss there is a philosophical literature. This includes classical statements, exploratory statements, varied and opposed points of view.
that to sample such writing seriously is an invigorating, challenging and sometimes frustrating experience — in short, a rewarding enterprise.
that there are classic treatments of particular theological issues and philosophical problems. So we do not need to start afresh when we tackle a particular issue. That means that we are learning to be sophisticated and not to think that we have made novel discoveries when we begin to have opinions about a particular topic:
that it is often only through considerable struggle that one arrives at a particular position on an issue. In that sense we make important discoveries when we come to accept or reject, attack or defend a particular position.
that such activity is fascinating, drawing us on, always with the realisation that there is more than meets the eye.
You will find that you cannot hurry understanding. Better to read a paragraph and puzzle out its meaning and significance than race through a chapter with the result that you only vaguely understand its content. Mind you, a cursory reading may be a preparation for a second or third reading as you come, again slowly, to more adequate understanding. But only as a preparation. Things take time, T. T. T. Give yourself time. Experience the satisfying joy of increased understanding as with the time you have patiently spent you come to real comprehension,
1 Why Be Interested in Philosophy?Why should the believer be interested in philosophy? In what ways is philosophy related to theology? We can take the two questions together.a. The language Christians use in declaring their belief and developing their doctrines has been widely influenced by philosophy. So understanding ideas and methods of philosophy illuminates and clarifies