Philosophy of Religion as a Way to Scepticism

This article presents philosophy of religion as a specific branch of religious studies. The main philosophical problems of religion are the possibility of defi ning religion, the truthfulness of religion, the nature of God (as the main object of religious worship), the existence of God, and the rationality (or irrationality) of religious behaviour. In every problem you can be a sceptic, because we have no rational method guaranteeing the successful definition of religion (every definition is subjective and either too narrow or too large). Unfortunately, we are not able to defi ne God (or Holiness) as the object of religion; every defi nition is only partial or incoherent. Therefore, we do not have any proof of God’s existence or nonexistence, and because of this neither can we say that religious behaviour is rational or irrational (and especially which religious behaviour). This means that philosophy of religion, which tries to resolve the essential problem of religion, is the best way to religious scepticism.

This article presents philosophy of religion as a specific branch of religious studies. The main philosophical problems of religion are the possibility of defi ning religion, the truthfulness of religion, the nature of God (as the main object of religious worship), the existence of God, and the rationality (or irrationality) of religious behaviour. In every problem you can be a sceptic, because we have no rational method guaranteeing the successful definition of religion (every definition is subjective and either too narrow or too large). Unfortunately, we are not able to defi ne God (or Holiness) as the object of religion; every defi nition is only partial or incoherent. Therefore, we do not have any proof of God’s existence or nonexistence, and because of this neither can we say that religious behaviour is rational or irrational (and especially which religious behaviour). This means that philosophy of religion, which tries to resolve the essential problem of religion, is the best way to religious scepticism.