Philosophy of Religion deals with questions that involve religion and religious ideas from a philosophically neutral perspective (as opposed to theology which begins from religious convictions). Traditionally, religious questions were not seen as a separate field from philosophy proper, the idea of a separate field only arose in the 19th century.
Issues Include
- existence of God
- relationship between reason and faith
- questions of religious epistemology
- relationship between religion and science
- how to interpret religious experiences
- questions about the possibility of an afterlife
- problem of religious language
- existence of spirits/souls
- responses to religious pluralism and diversity.
Origins of Religion
- an evolutionary adaptation for binding groups together and helping them to create communities with a shared morality
- arose from the environmental weather, explanations of environmental events