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Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) was an English medievalist and Anglican lay theologian whose religious writings drew heavily from Augustinian thought. Though a devout believer in Christ, in The Problem of Pain Lewis flatly rejected orthodox Christian doctrine concerning the origin of suffering in the natural world: “The origin of animal suffering could be traced, by earlier […]
C. S. Lewis, “Animal Pain” Read More »
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) is most famous for founding psychoanalysis, but he also took a keen interest in religion, particularly as it relates to man’s experience of suffering. For Freud, however, the problem of pain was a distraction from the more important “problem of religion,” as he referred to it. In the selection below, the famed
Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion Read More »
Hermann Cohen’s Religion of Reason Out of the Sources of Judaism (published in 1919) is regarded by many as the most important work in Jewish religious and philosophical thought since Maimonides’s Guide for the Perplexed. In the excerpt below, Cohen examines the pantheistic response to the problem of pain, then contrasts it against the religious response to the
Hermann Cohen, Religion of Reason… Read More »
American philosopher and psychologist William James (1842–1910) is regarded as one of the founders of functional psychology, which evaluates mental life and behavior in terms of active adaptation to a person’s environment. Together with Charles Sanders Peirce, James also established the philosophical school known as pragmatism, which holds that most philosophical topics should be judged according to
William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience Read More »
Josiah Royce (1855–1916) was an objective idealist philosopher and the main proponent of American idealism at the turn of the twentieth century. Royce sets out his theodicy in “The Problem of Job” (published in 1898). In it, he argues that individuals “truly are one with God, part of his life.” Consequently, “When you suffer, your
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The English poet and Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) is regarded as one of the leading Victorian poets for his innovations with prosody (the use of syllables, meter, rhyme, and the pattern of words in poetry). Prone to depression and struggles with religious doubt, Hopkins’ melancholy found expression in his ‘sonnets of desolation.’ Among them is
Gerard Hopkins, “Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord” Read More »
The German philologist, philosopher, and cultural critic Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) is famous for declaring that “God is dead,” an expression of the secularist consequences unleashed by the Enlightenment. Though he was unsparing in his attacks on theism, Nietzsche shared at least one concern with the religious and metaphysical systems he held in such contempt: the
Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality Read More »
What is the problem of evil? The sterile, academic language of philosophy is often used to explain it, but one is hard-pressed to find a better description of the visceral nature of the problem of evil than that provided by the great Russian novelist Fodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881) in The Bothers Karamazov. In a chapter titled “Rebellion,”
Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Rebellion” Read More »
The English utilitarian and Member of Parliament John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) was one of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism. Though known mostly for his work in political philosophy and political economy, his interests spanned a wide variety of subjects, including the intersection of science and theism. During Mill’s lifetime, scientific knowledge
John Stuart Mill, …Sir Hamilton’s Philosophy Read More »
Man’s understanding of his origins was revolutionized with the 1859 publication of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, by renowned English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882). The book presents a body of evidence in support of the claim that the diversity of life on Earth arose from a unique ancestor through the
Charles Darwin, Letter to Asa Gray Read More »