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J. L. Schellenberg

January 20, 2023

John L. Schellenberg (born 1959) is a Canadian philosopher best known for his work in philosophy of religion. He has a DPhil in Philosophy from the University of Oxford, and is Professor of Philosophy at Mount Saint Vincent University and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Dalhousie University, both in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[1]

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Peter Getzels, and JL Schellenberg on the set of Closer To Truth

Schellenberg's early development of an argument from divine hiddenness for atheism has been influential.[2] In a subsequent series of books he has arrived at a form of religion called ‘skeptical religion’ which he regards as being compatible with atheism.[3] In 2013 the Cambridge University Press journal Religious Studies published a special issue devoted to critical discussion of Schellenberg's philosophy of religion.[4]

Philosophical work

Divine hiddenness

Schellenberg's first book, Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason (Cornell University Press, 1993), developed the argument from divine hiddenness (or hiddenness argument) against the existence of God. Discussion of Schellenberg's argument continues today, in academic journals, anthologies, and other books, as well as online.[5]

Schellenberg's most recent statement of the hiddenness argument may be summarized as follows. A God (construed as a perfect personal being) could not be less than perfectly loving, and a perfectly loving God would always be open to a meaningful conscious relationship with finite persons who are capable of participating in such a relationship and do not resist it. This implies that if there is a God, every finite person who fits that description is able to exercise his or her capacity and be part of such a relationship. But this cannot be the case unless everyone who fits that description believes that God exists (for to have a conscious relationship with someone you have to believe they exist). It follows that if there is a God, there is no one who fits that description and fails to believe that God exists, i.e., there are no ‘nonresistant nonbelievers’. But there are. Therefore, there is no God.[6]

Critics have argued that even a loving God might have reasons to be hidden generated by such things as the requirements of human freedom, human unreadiness for relationship with God, or the religious value of doubt.[7] Schellenberg has replied that philosophers have no reason to assume that the persons God would create would be human persons existing in a world like ours, and that there are various ways in which the same good states of affairs to which critics appeal would be capable of being experienced in the context of a relationship with God.[8]

Skeptical religion

Schellenberg's work after 1993 includes a trilogy on philosophy of religion (also published by Cornell: 2005, 2007, 2009). This project aims to address the most fundamental issues in that field and to set an agenda for future inquiry.[8]

The first volume, Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion, examines basic concepts in philosophy of religion such as ‘religion’, ‘belief’, ‘faith’ and ‘skepticism’ (or ‘doubt’) and proposes what Schellenberg regards as ways of revamping the discipline, including a new understanding of faith without belief.[9]

The second volume, The Wisdom to Doubt: A Justification of Religious Skepticism, offers various different arguments for religious skepticism that are intended to prepare the reader for the third book – The Will to Imagine: A Justification of Skeptical Religion.[10]

In the third book, Schellenberg argues for a religious orientation grounded not in belief, but in the sort of imaginative faith detailed in the first volume. Instead of focusing on theism, or any other specific idea from today's religions, this sort of religion, which Schellenberg calls ‘skeptical religion’, is focused on a proposition to which he gives the name ‘ultimism’. Ultimism, as he defines it, is more general than other religious ‘isms’ – it is the proposition that something is ultimate in the nature of things, ultimately valuable, and the source of our ultimate good, but the details of that something it leaves open.[11]

Schellenberg suggests that arguments criticized as unable to support traditional belief in God can be adapted to support skeptical religion. In his view, skeptical religion therefore offers a solution to the problem of faith and reason.[12]

A central feature of Schellenberg's trilogy is his suggestion that if we alter our perspective on time – looking into the deep future as well as the deep past – we will see that we may be at a very early stage in our development as a species (given that it is possible that the Earth will remain habitable for another billion years). With this vast stretch of time before us, he asks, why would we think that our best ideas – even ideas about religion – are behind us?[13] At this stage in our development, Schellenberg argues, religion of a different sort from what we have seen before is called for.

Critics have argued that if Schellenberg is skeptical or doubting about ultimism on the basis of future possibilities, then he should also be skeptical about theism instead of being an atheist, and that the idea of skeptical religion might be hard to put into practice.[14] Schellenberg has said that there is a danger here of "crying over unspilt milk" since we have hardly begun to think about skeptical religion.[15] He has also suggested reasons for distinguishing between theism (which he says may be disbelieved) and ultimism (which he says should only be doubted) on the basis of the former's detailed content.[16]

The science and religion debate

Schellenberg's Evolutionary Religion (Oxford University Press, 2013) aims to be a more widely accessible account of his arguments in the trilogy.[17] It seeks to place these arguments into an evolutionary framework and maintains that skeptical religion provides a new way of responding to the science and religion debate.[18]

Books

  • Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason. Cornell University Press. 2006 [1993]. ISBN 978-0-8014-7346-3.
  • Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion. Cornell University Press. 2005. ISBN 9780801443589.
  • The Wisdom to Doubt: A Justification of Religious Skepticism. Cornell University Press. 2007. ISBN 9780801445545.
  • The Will to Imagine: A Justification of Skeptical Religion. Cornell University Press. 2009. ISBN 978-0-8014-4780-8.
  • Evolutionary Religion. OUP Oxford. 2013. ISBN 978-0-19-967376-6.
  • The Hiddenness Argument: Philosophy's New Challenge to Belief in God. Oxford University Press. 2015. ISBN 978-0-19-873308-9.
  • Progressive Atheism: How Moral Evolution Changes the God Debate. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2019. ISBN 978-1-350-09720-9.
  • Religion After Science. Cambridge University Press. 2019. ISBN 978-1-108-49903-3.

Notes

  1. ^ Schellenberg CV, p. 1.
  2. ^ Howard-Snyder 2013, 141.
  3. ^ Schellenberg 2013a, 147.
  4. ^ Robin LePoidevin, ed. Religious Studies 49(2), 2013.
  5. ^ Howard-Snyder and Moser, eds., 2002; Cuneo 2013; Murray and Taylor 2007, pp. 376-377; Dumsday 2010, 423-424; infidels.org
  6. ^ Schellenberg, "Recent notes", Session 2, pp. 2-3.
  7. ^ Swinburne 1998, p. 209; McKim 2001, p. 101; Poston and Dougherty 2007, 195-196.
  8. ^ a b Schellenberg 2007a, 202-203; Schellenberg 2010, pp. 515-516.
  9. ^ Schellenberg 2005, x-xi, pp. 127-166.
  10. ^ Schellenberg 2007b, p. 311; Schellenberg 2009, xi.
  11. ^ Schellenberg 2005, pp. 37-38.
  12. ^ Schellenberg 2009, p. 251.
  13. ^ Schellenberg 2007b, pp. 93-94.
  14. ^ McCreary 2010, Morriston 2013, 217-218; Dole 2013, 240-245.
  15. ^ Schellenberg, 2013b, 273.
  16. ^ Schellenberg, 2013b, 280-281.
  17. ^ Schellenberg, ‘Extract,’ pp. 6-7.
  18. ^ Schellenberg, ‘Extract,’ p. 8.

References

  • Cuneo, Terence. 2013. "Another look at divine hiddenness." Religious Studies 49: 151–164.
  • Dole, Andrew. 2013. "Is skeptical religion adequate as a religion?" Religious Studies 49: 235–248.
  • Dumsday, Travis. 2010. "Divine hiddenness, free will, and the victims of wrongdoing." Faith and Philosophy 27: 423–438.
  • Howard-Snyder, Daniel and Paul Moser, eds. 2002. Divine Hiddenness: New Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Howard-Snyder, Daniel. 2013. "Introduction." Religious Studies 49(2).
  • LePoidevin, Robin, ed. 2013. Religious Studies 49(2). Special Issue: Critical Essays on J. L. Schellenberg’s Philosophy of Religion.
  • McCreary, Mark. 2010. "Schellenberg on divine hiddenness and religious skepticism," Religious Studies 46: 207–225.
  • McKim, Robert. 2001. Religious Ambiguity and Religious Diversity. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Morriston, Wes. 2013. "Is faith in the Ultimate rationally required? Taking issue with some arguments in The Will to Imagine." Religious Studies 49: 209–220.
  • Murray, Michael J. and David E. Taylor. 2007. "Hiddenness." The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion 2d ed. Chad Meister and Paul Copan, eds. New York: Routledge.
  • Poston, Ted and Trent Dougherty. 2007. "Divine hiddenness and the nature of belief." Religious Studies 43: 183–198.
  • Schellenberg CV. Schellenberg website: jlschellenberg.com, retrieved May 26, 2013.
  • Schellenberg, J. L. "Recent notes on divine hiddenness." Session 2. Schellenberg website: jlschellenberg.com, retrieved May 26, 2013.
  • Schellenberg, J. L. "Extract from forthcoming book on evolutionary religion." Schellenberg website: jlschellenberg.com, retrieved May 26, 2013.
  • infidels.org, retrieved May 25, 2013.
  • Schellenberg, J. L. 2005. Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
  • Schellenberg, J. L. 2007a. "On not unnecessarily darkening the glass: a reply to Poston and Dougherty." Religious Studies 43: 199–204.
  • Schellenberg, J. L. 2007b. The Wisdom to Doubt: A Justification of Religious Skepticism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
  • Schellenberg, J. L. 2009. The Will to Imagine: A Justification of Skeptical Religion. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
  • Schellenberg, J. L. 2010. "Divine hiddenness." A Companion to Philosophy of Religion 2d ed. Charles Taliaferro, Paul Draper and Philip L. Quinn, eds. London: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Schellenberg, J. L. 2013a. "My stance in philosophy of religion." Religious Studies 49: 143–150.
  • Schellenberg, J. L. 2013b. "Replies to my colleagues." Religious Studies 49: 257–285.
  • Swinburne, Richard. 1998. Providence and the Problem of Evil. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

External links

January 20, 2023
schellenberg, john, schellenberg, born, 1959, canadian, philosopher, best, known, work, philosophy, religion, dphil, philosophy, from, university, oxford, professor, philosophy, mount, saint, vincent, university, adjunct, professor, faculty, graduate, studies,. John L Schellenberg born 1959 is a Canadian philosopher best known for his work in philosophy of religion He has a DPhil in Philosophy from the University of Oxford and is Professor of Philosophy at Mount Saint Vincent University and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Dalhousie University both in Halifax Nova Scotia 1 Robert Lawrence Kuhn Peter Getzels and JL Schellenberg on the set of Closer To Truth Schellenberg s early development of an argument from divine hiddenness for atheism has been influential 2 In a subsequent series of books he has arrived at a form of religion called skeptical religion which he regards as being compatible with atheism 3 In 2013 the Cambridge University Press journal Religious Studies published a special issue devoted to critical discussion of Schellenberg s philosophy of religion 4 Contents 1 Philosophical work 1 1 Divine hiddenness 1 2 Skeptical religion 1 3 The science and religion debate 2 Books 3 Notes 4 References 5 External linksPhilosophical work EditDivine hiddenness Edit Schellenberg s first book Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason Cornell University Press 1993 developed the argument from divine hiddenness or hiddenness argument against the existence of God Discussion of Schellenberg s argument continues today in academic journals anthologies and other books as well as online 5 Schellenberg s most recent statement of the hiddenness argument may be summarized as follows A God construed as a perfect personal being could not be less than perfectly loving and a perfectly loving God would always be open to a meaningful conscious relationship with finite persons who are capable of participating in such a relationship and do not resist it This implies that if there is a God every finite person who fits that description is able to exercise his or her capacity and be part of such a relationship But this cannot be the case unless everyone who fits that description believes that God exists for to have a conscious relationship with someone you have to believe they exist It follows that if there is a God there is no one who fits that description and fails to believe that God exists i e there are no nonresistant nonbelievers But there are Therefore there is no God 6 Critics have argued that even a loving God might have reasons to be hidden generated by such things as the requirements of human freedom human unreadiness for relationship with God or the religious value of doubt 7 Schellenberg has replied that philosophers have no reason to assume that the persons God would create would be human persons existing in a world like ours and that there are various ways in which the same good states of affairs to which critics appeal would be capable of being experienced in the context of a relationship with God 8 Skeptical religion Edit Schellenberg s work after 1993 includes a trilogy on philosophy of religion also published by Cornell 2005 2007 2009 This project aims to address the most fundamental issues in that field and to set an agenda for future inquiry 8 The first volume Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion examines basic concepts in philosophy of religion such as religion belief faith and skepticism or doubt and proposes what Schellenberg regards as ways of revamping the discipline including a new understanding of faith without belief 9 The second volume The Wisdom to Doubt A Justification of Religious Skepticism offers various different arguments for religious skepticism that are intended to prepare the reader for the third book The Will to Imagine A Justification of Skeptical Religion 10 In the third book Schellenberg argues for a religious orientation grounded not in belief but in the sort of imaginative faith detailed in the first volume Instead of focusing on theism or any other specific idea from today s religions this sort of religion which Schellenberg calls skeptical religion is focused on a proposition to which he gives the name ultimism Ultimism as he defines it is more general than other religious isms it is the proposition that something is ultimate in the nature of things ultimately valuable and the source of our ultimate good but the details of that something it leaves open 11 Schellenberg suggests that arguments criticized as unable to support traditional belief in God can be adapted to support skeptical religion In his view skeptical religion therefore offers a solution to the problem of faith and reason 12 A central feature of Schellenberg s trilogy is his suggestion that if we alter our perspective on time looking into the deep future as well as the deep past we will see that we may be at a very early stage in our development as a species given that it is possible that the Earth will remain habitable for another billion years With this vast stretch of time before us he asks why would we think that our best ideas even ideas about religion are behind us 13 At this stage in our development Schellenberg argues religion of a different sort from what we have seen before is called for Critics have argued that if Schellenberg is skeptical or doubting about ultimism on the basis of future possibilities then he should also be skeptical about theism instead of being an atheist and that the idea of skeptical religion might be hard to put into practice 14 Schellenberg has said that there is a danger here of crying over unspilt milk since we have hardly begun to think about skeptical religion 15 He has also suggested reasons for distinguishing between theism which he says may be disbelieved and ultimism which he says should only be doubted on the basis of the former s detailed content 16 The science and religion debate Edit Schellenberg s Evolutionary Religion Oxford University Press 2013 aims to be a more widely accessible account of his arguments in the trilogy 17 It seeks to place these arguments into an evolutionary framework and maintains that skeptical religion provides a new way of responding to the science and religion debate 18 Books EditDivine Hiddenness and Human Reason Cornell University Press 2006 1993 ISBN 978 0 8014 7346 3 Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion Cornell University Press 2005 ISBN 9780801443589 The Wisdom to Doubt A Justification of Religious Skepticism Cornell University Press 2007 ISBN 9780801445545 The Will to Imagine A Justification of Skeptical Religion Cornell University Press 2009 ISBN 978 0 8014 4780 8 Evolutionary Religion OUP Oxford 2013 ISBN 978 0 19 967376 6 The Hiddenness Argument Philosophy s New Challenge to Belief in God Oxford University Press 2015 ISBN 978 0 19 873308 9 Progressive Atheism How Moral Evolution Changes the God Debate Bloomsbury Publishing 2019 ISBN 978 1 350 09720 9 Religion After Science Cambridge University Press 2019 ISBN 978 1 108 49903 3 Notes Edit Schellenberg CV p 1 Howard Snyder 2013 141 Schellenberg 2013a 147 Robin LePoidevin ed Religious Studies 49 2 2013 Howard Snyder and Moser eds 2002 Cuneo 2013 Murray and Taylor 2007 pp 376 377 Dumsday 2010 423 424 infidels org Schellenberg Recent notes Session 2 pp 2 3 Swinburne 1998 p 209 McKim 2001 p 101 Poston and Dougherty 2007 195 196 a b Schellenberg 2007a 202 203 Schellenberg 2010 pp 515 516 Schellenberg 2005 x xi pp 127 166 Schellenberg 2007b p 311 Schellenberg 2009 xi Schellenberg 2005 pp 37 38 Schellenberg 2009 p 251 Schellenberg 2007b pp 93 94 McCreary 2010 Morriston 2013 217 218 Dole 2013 240 245 Schellenberg 2013b 273 Schellenberg 2013b 280 281 Schellenberg Extract pp 6 7 Schellenberg Extract p 8 References EditCuneo Terence 2013 Another look at divine hiddenness Religious Studies 49 151 164 Dole Andrew 2013 Is skeptical religion adequate as a religion Religious Studies 49 235 248 Dumsday Travis 2010 Divine hiddenness free will and the victims of wrongdoing Faith and Philosophy 27 423 438 Howard Snyder Daniel and Paul Moser eds 2002 Divine Hiddenness New Essays Cambridge Cambridge University Press Howard Snyder Daniel 2013 Introduction Religious Studies 49 2 LePoidevin Robin ed 2013 Religious Studies 49 2 Special Issue Critical Essays on J L Schellenberg s Philosophy of Religion McCreary Mark 2010 Schellenberg on divine hiddenness and religious skepticism Religious Studies 46 207 225 McKim Robert 2001 Religious Ambiguity and Religious Diversity New York Oxford University Press Morriston Wes 2013 Is faith in the Ultimate rationally required Taking issue with some arguments in The Will to Imagine Religious Studies 49 209 220 Murray Michael J and David E Taylor 2007 Hiddenness The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion 2d ed Chad Meister and Paul Copan eds New York Routledge Poston Ted and Trent Dougherty 2007 Divine hiddenness and the nature of belief Religious Studies 43 183 198 Schellenberg CV Schellenberg website jlschellenberg com retrieved May 26 2013 Schellenberg J L Recent notes on divine hiddenness Session 2 Schellenberg website jlschellenberg com retrieved May 26 2013 Schellenberg J L Extract from forthcoming book on evolutionary religion Schellenberg website jlschellenberg com retrieved May 26 2013 infidels org retrieved May 25 2013 Schellenberg J L 2005 Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion Ithaca Cornell University Press Schellenberg J L 2007a On not unnecessarily darkening the glass a reply to Poston and Dougherty Religious Studies 43 199 204 Schellenberg J L 2007b The Wisdom to Doubt A Justification of Religious Skepticism Ithaca Cornell University Press Schellenberg J L 2009 The Will to Imagine A Justification of Skeptical Religion Ithaca Cornell University Press Schellenberg J L 2010 Divine hiddenness A Companion to Philosophy of Religion 2d ed Charles Taliaferro Paul Draper and Philip L Quinn eds London Wiley Blackwell Schellenberg J L 2013a My stance in philosophy of religion Religious Studies 49 143 150 Schellenberg J L 2013b Replies to my colleagues Religious Studies 49 257 285 Swinburne Richard 1998 Providence and the Problem of Evil Oxford Clarendon Press External links EditSchellenberg s website Interviews for PBS program Closer to Truth Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title J L Schellenberg amp oldid 1006091119, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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