The Philosophy of Religions and Culture

The philosophy of religions has been regarded as one of the most important aspects for shaping up the cultures of the society. The aim of this essay is to discuss about the role of the philosophy in the different cultures of the society and religions. It has to be mentioned that the religions play a vital role in the cohesion of different people within the society. This is why the people would have to be very cautious about the ways they could live within the society where people from the different religions live (Griffith-Dickson, 2012).  

In a multicultural society, people from different religions have to live in harmony to avoid the conflicts and collisions in their viewpoints and seeing the society in different ways. The different religious traditions have different central themes and this has to conform to the general view of the society (Avis, 2013). The people outside the society would have to view this phenomenon from how organized the society is and how they co-exist irrespective of their different traditions. There are several challenges in this context as well to live in the society with different viewpoints and still living as a cohesive unit.

The philosophy of the religions is basically the study of the religion and culture from various angles regarding the philosophical interpretations. Several concepts, themes and beliefs would have to be analyzed in this section indeed (Griffith-Dickson, 2012). Many philosophical terms and beliefs would have to be discussed in this context since the arguments would focus on the religious interpretations of philosophy from the viewpoints of the several people indeed. The study of the philosophy of religions has often been made limited within the sphere of the several theistic religions (Gall, 2012). The relevant studies have been made in this context since the concepts of God and reality have been intermixed for the better outcomes indeed. This study has received a broader and global approach indeed. The religious traditions could be divided into the theism and non-theism (Broad, 2014). The philosophers have followed both the traditional and analytic traditions in order to talk about the concept. The study about the philosophy and religions will be broad and diversified. The decisions will depend on the outcomes based on the religious themes and interpretations. Both the philosophical and religious thinkers have pointed their opinions from the Eastern and Western sections. The discussions will surely range upon the different fields like theology, psychology, sociology, history, natural sciences and others (Broad, 2014).

Different Philosophical Interpretations from Various Religions

The philosophy has been practiced in the several regions like Europe and North America. Some of the potential factors that could be described in this context are- diversity of religions, religious languages and beliefs, concepts related to God or the Ultimate Reality, arguments made in favor and against the existence of God in this world, miracles that happen in the world by God and the problems related to evils and suffering in this world as well (Randau & Medinskaya, 2015).  The analytic view of the philosophy or religion depends on the clarity of the different ideas and concepts. It is because the various religious ideas and concepts are often regarded as vague indeed (Avis, 2013). The religious sayings are often mysterious and the underlying things would have to be acknowledged properly indeed. The aspect of the logical positivism could be attributed to the use of the religious philosophy (Randau & Medinskaya, 2015). The basic things could be full of much ambiguity indeed. In this light it can be said that the several religious sayings like ‘Atman is Brahman’ can be considered as completely meaningless indeed. The context of the logical positivism became much prominent in the mid centuries so this belief of the philosophy of religions became much intense indeed (Ferré, 2013). 

The religious beliefs and language could be ascribed to the views of the realism and non-realism in the best ways for the thorough development of the philosophy of religions. According to some of the critics the linguistic aspects of the religion could be considered as very much important matters for the several human activities (Gall, 2012). In the words of the religious scholars the language is simply a mode of human activities and not a picture of the overall philosophy of religions. When the people would talk about their culture and the ways they see the God would be through the lens of the language indeed (Ferré, 2013). One of the best examples of the non-realists was Sigmund Freud who wanted to make transformations in the ideas of religion. In this context, he had completely rejected the correlation of the history and religion in different manners (Rambachan, 2014). When discussing about the philosophy of religions, Freud had completely turned down the aspect of the eternal truth and substituted it with that of the improvising power of the human beings. The practice of spirituality could be the guiding matter for understanding the theological aspects (Zuurdeeg, 2013). 

Understanding Religious Beliefs and Languages

These guiding myths would be very important for the proper understanding of the relevant issues within the society. The non-realists have noted that the realism has not been able to stand up to the potential to which it was expected. In this context, it could be said that the justifications could not be given to the matter of realism for understanding the philosophical truths in the general matter (Paton, 2014). The religious underpinnings could be determined by various religious structures and perceptions that could put up several religious claims and practices. The transcendent realms could be identified when goes beyond the religious boundaries within the society. The religions practices in the Western countries are completely based on theism to be precise. The different religions have different beliefs but these beliefs lack the proper evidence (Paton, 2014). The Buddhists do not believe in the existence of the true God but the Muslims believe that there is a true God indeed. They call it the Allah. The existence of the Ultimate Reality is very much there among the Advaita Vedanta Hindus who believe in the Brahman people only (Edwards, 2016). It has to be mentioned in this context that the route to the two of the biggest religions of the world, Christianity and Muslim are almost the same indeed. This is why they believe in the salvation of the human beings as their primary motto. They also have the belief that the human beings will surely get united with the God after the end of their mortal life. On the contrary, the Buddhist people believe in the idea of Nirvana (Rambachan, 2014). 

These diversified beliefs really conform to the notion of the religious pluralism. It is also included in the philosophy of culture and philosophy. Some of the most important religions that could be mentioned here are Buddhism, Daosim, Confucianism, Hinduism, Christianity and African religions (Edwards, 2016). The Eastern religions could be compared highly with the non-theistic religions in the best ways. The philosophy or religion tradition could be attributed to the western philosophy and culture as well. There are several doctrines related to the above mentioned several religions. The critics have argued that these things are not at all that much important as the religion itself (McGrath, 2016). The believers of different religions have interpreted the different things in the world in different ways indeed. The philosophy of the religions had led the people to believe that the Ultimate Reality can be deemed to be something personal (McGrath, 2016). Other religions have also deemed it to be impersonal as well. One of the biggest questions in the Ultimate Reality is that of the existence of God and the nature in which He operates. However, in Christianity, God has been seen as the omnipotent being that controls the ultimate things in the world. He punishes the offenders for the deeds through Karma (McGrath, 2016).

Diversity of Religions and Their Impact on Society

Apart from all these concepts the theme and concept of the Ultimate Reality would be defined from the various aspects of the different religions. The theme of the Ultimate Reality is believed to be as Tao by the Taoists, the Hindus believe in the Brahman (Chethimattam, 2017). The Buddhist people believe in the themes of the Shunyata and Nirvana to be the Ultimate Reality of the world. There have been many debates across the world about the importance of the several religions and the ways they would attract the attention of the several followers (McGrath, 2016). The several religions like Hinduism, Muslim, Christianity, Native American and African religion have often argued over the relevance of the theism in different contexts indeed. The divine attributes of the God will be discussed in the theological matters as well. The people will do all the things according to the will of God. If God wills, the people will do the things freely. According to the scholars, the existence of God will be there but he will not be omniscient as well. The aspect of the theism will be coherent and the different aspects of the monotheism should be practiced in this manner as well (McGrath, 2016).

The problems regarding the evil and suffering are very important as well. It is only because the people will suffer their fate because of their deeds. When the people will face the result of their deeds this will clearly be according to the cultures and religions of the society. The religious practices will be reflected in the several customs and cultures of the society in the different ways. On the contrary it can also be said that if the God only leads the human beings to the good deeds, there would be no evils (McGrath, 2016). However, the human beings suffer the evil so some critics have opined that the existence of the God has no value indeed. Both these aspects should be taken into the account to make sure the overall development of the human beings. God is Omni-benevolent and this power of God will surely lead the human beings to do good for the society and exhibit the good customs as a part of their culture.

Conclusion

According to the above discussion, it can be concluded that the human beings believe what they are taught by the society. They tend to follow the things mentioned in the several religious books. The omnipotent power of God will surely lead to the betterment of the society in various ways. However, the different attributes of the philosophy of religions will lead the human beings towards the overall salvation of the human beings from their sins. They will learn to live their lives in an honest and pure way indeed.

References

Avis, P. (2013). God and the creative imagination: Metaphor, symbol and myth in religion and theology. Routledge.

Broad, C. D. (2014). Religion, philosophy and psychical research: Selected essays. Routledge.

Chethimattam, J. B. (2017). Consciousness and reality. Dharmaram College (1967)..

Edwards, R. B. (2016). Reason and religion: an introduction to the philosophy of religion. Wipf and Stock Publishers.

Ferré, F. (2013). Basic modern philosophy of religion. Routledge.

Gall, R. S. (2012). Beyond Theism and Atheism: Heidegger’s significance for religious thinking (Vol. 11). Springer Science & Business Media.

Griffith-Dickson, G. (2012). Philosophy of Religion. In The Routledge Companion to Theism (pp. 293-302). Routledge.

McGrath, A. E. (2016). Christian theology: An introduction. John Wiley & Sons.

McGrath, A. E. (2016). The Christian theology reader. John Wiley & Sons.

Meister, C. (2016). Philosophy of Religion. Springer.

Paton, H. J. (2014). The Modern Predicament: a study in the philosophy of religion. Routledge.

Rambachan, A. (2014). A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not-Two Is Not One. Suny Press.

Randau, H. R., & Medinskaya, O. (2015). Philosophy and Religion. In China Business 2.0 (pp. 205-206). Springer, Cham.

Zuurdeeg, W. F. (2013). An analytical philosophy of religion. Routledge.