Judaism and the Philosophy of Religion [Paperback]

This book fuses Jewish tradition and analytic philosophy in examining such concepts as divine attributes, free will, afterlife, and faith.David Shatz offers a new and fresh approach to the field in a wide-ranging and engaging introduction to the analytic philosophy of religion from the perspective of Judaism.David Shatz offers a new and fresh approach to the field in a wide-ranging and engaging introduction to the analytic philosophy of religion from the perspective of Judaism.Analytic philosophy of religion is a vibrant area of inquiry, but it has generally focused on generic forms of theism or on Christianity. David Shatz here offers a new and fresh approach to the field in a wide-ranging and engaging introduction to the analytic philosophy of religion from the perspective of Judaism.? Exploring classical Jewish texts about philosophical topics in light of the concepts and arguments at the heart of analytic philosophy, he demonstrates how each tradition illuminates the other, yielding a deeper understanding of both Jewish sources and general philosophical issues. Shatz also advances growing efforts to imagine Jewish philosophy not only as an engrossing, invaluable part of Jewish intellectual history, but also as a creative, constructive enterprise that mines the methods and literature of contemporary philosophy. His book offers new pathways to think deeply about God, evil, morality, freedom, ethics, and religious diversity, among other topics.Introduction: the varieties of Jewish philosophy; Part I. God: 1. Is perfect being theology an imperfect theology?; 2. Where in the world is God?: nature and divine action; 3. The problem(s) of evil; Part II. Human Beings: 4. Problems of free will: the Bible's near-silence; 5. 'It was not you who sent me here': free will and God's foreordaining of history; 6. How free is the will?: The challenge of scientific determinism; 7. Here today, here tomorrow: death and the afterlife; Part III. God in Relation to Humanity: 8. Divine cl#7