THEOLOGY - by Avi Sion

THEOLOGY

A Thematic Compilation

Avi Sion,  Ph. D.

First published, 2009. Expanded edition, 2014.

Abstract

Theology is about God and Creation, or more precisely perhaps about our ideas of them, how they are formed and somewhat justified, although it is stressed that they can be neither proved nor disproved.

This book is a thematic compilation drawn from past works by the author over a period of thirteen years.

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All of Avi Sion’s published books can be purchased at Amazon.com (in paperback or kindle/.mobi form), and at Lulu.com (in hardcover, paperback or e-book/.epub form), as well as other online stores.

They can also be read online free of charge, chapter by chapter, at www.TheLogician.net and, in '3D flipbook' format, at www.AviSionBooks.com, as well as in Google Books and other Internet locations. They are also available in many university and public libraries.

Contents in brief

1.                           Logical Aspects of Faith

2.                           Nagarjuna on God and Creation

3.                           Theology Without Prejudice

4.                           Causation, Volition and God

5.                           Philosophy and Religion

6.                           Meditations

7.                           The Ideas of God and Creation

8.                           Sundry Reflections on the Soul and God

References

Contents in detail

Chapter 1.       Logical Aspects of Faith

Drawn from Judaic Logic (1995), chapter 2 (section 4 - part) & chapter 14 (sections 1-2); and addenda 10 & 11.

1.                           Logic and mysticism

2.                           On natural proofs of religion

3.                           Theodicy and the Believer's Wager

4.                           Proof of God by analogy?

5.                           Disproofs of God?

Chapter 2.       Nagarjuna on God and Creation

Drawn from Buddhist Illogic (2002), chapter 10.

1.                           Nagarjuna’s main arguments

2.                           Other issues raised

3.                           Buddhism and Theism

Chapter 3.       Theology Without Prejudice

Drawn from Phenomenology (2003), chapter 9.

1.                           Applying logical standards to theology

2.                           Conceiving the Divine attributes

3.                           Analyzing omniscience and omnipotence

4.                           Harmonizing Justice and Mercy

5.                           The formlessness of God

Chapter 4.       Causation, Volition and God

Drawn from Volition and Allied Causal Concepts (2004), chapter 1 (section 1), chapter 2 (sections 1-4), chapter 15 (section 2 part & section 3).

1.                           Causation and volition

2.                           Necessity and inertia in causation

3.                           Direct and indirect volition

4.                           Matter-mind and spirit

5.                           Conceiving Divine volition

6.                           Spiritual Darwinism

7.                           Theological perspectives

Chapter 5.       Philosophy and Religion

Drawn from Ruminations (2005), chapter 2 (section 19).

1.                           Two distinct endeavors

2.                           Many people make claims

3.                           How to decide?

4.                           A word on Buddhism

5.                           Evaluating claims

6.                           Acknowledging science

Chapter 6.       Meditations

Drawn from Meditations (2006), chapters 5, 6, 8 & 33.

1.                           Interpretations of meditation

2.                           The coexistence of the and the many

3.                           The individual self in Monism

4.                           Already there

Chapter 7.       The Ideas of God and Creation

Drawn from Logical and Spiritual Reflections (2008), Zen Judaism, chapter 1.

1.                           The idea of God

2.                           The idea of creation

3.                           Two acts of faith

Chapter 8.       Sundry Reflections on the Soul and God

Drawn from Volition and Allied Causal Concepts (2004), chapter 16 (section 3)

1.                           About the soul

2.                           About God

3.                           Theology

References

Further description

Some readers may find my occasional references to God in some of my works as misplaced. In this day and age, any reference to God is considered by many as necessarily apologetic and prejudiced. But I insist, my works are secular and rational works of philosophy. I simply refuse to be intimidated by ignorant pseudo-philosophers, who tell the masses that atheism is an established fact of ‘science’. I consider myself a philosopher in the ancient and high tradition, which admits of no such fashionable dogma.

In this context, theology is admitted as a legitimate and noble field of open philosophical debate, in which theism and atheism are both given voice and must both argue their case rationally, though both may remain forever equally speculative. In my view, people who claim that atheism is scientific are as epistemologically pretentious as those who claim knowledge of the Divine by ordinary experience and reasoning. The role of philosophy here is merely to eliminate certain incoherent ideas, and so limit the field to a more limited number of respectable ones. Beyond that, all beliefs (including the atheistic) are personal faiths.