Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology

Built around the Birmingham Centre for Philosophy of Religion, this research theme focuses on questions surrounding God’s existence, the nature of God in a variety of different philosophical traditions, and how to best philosophical understand different religions.

This cross-Departmental research theme has expertise across a wide range of areas in philosophy of religion and philosophical theology.Whilst the School conducts research on traditional understandings of God, in particular Perfect Being theology, the School also spearheads research into alternative conceptions of God including the philosophical theology of a broad variety of religions. This includes active research in the areas of pantheism and panentheism.The School has further expertise in religious pluralism, inter-religious engagement and discourse, and the meetings of religions. Researchers are also active in more traditional areas, such as the problem of evil and natural theology.

Researchers

  • Nicholas Adams works on the impact of German idealism on Christian theology as well as the investigation of philosophical problems in inter-religious engagement.
  • David Cheetham looks at the relations between religions, contemporary philosophical theology, and theology and the arts. His latest book articulates different theological and non-theological spaces for the meeting of religions. 
  • Nikk Effingham specifically researches on contemporary analytic treatments of Christian theology, pantheism, the problem of evil, and Pascal’s Wager.
  • Jonathan Duquette works on South Asian religions, in particular the history of late medieval and early modern Sanskrit intellectual traditions. He is also interested in the interface of natural sciences and religions.
  • Jeremy Kidwell focuses on theology and economics, spiritual placemaking, and the ethics of design.
  • Yujin Nagasawa works on all central issues in philosophy of religion, including arguments for/against the existence of God, the problem of evil, alternative concepts of God, the meaning of life, and miracles.
  • Martin Pickup works within the growing field of analytic theology, using the tools of contemporary analytic metaphysics to clarify and address key theoretical issues concerning claims relevant to religious practice and rituals.
  • Mohammad Saleh Zarepour works on philosophy of religion, medieval Islamic philosophy, as well as the philosophy of language, mathematics, and logic.

Major publications

  • Adams, Nicholas. 2020. Barth and Hegel’ in Hunsinger and Johnson (eds.) Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth London: Blackwell.
  • Cheetham, David. 2020. Creation and Religious Pluralism: A Christian Theology, Oxford: OUP.
  • Cheetham, David. 2020. Pluralism and Ineffability. Religious Studies, 56, 95-110.
  • Effingham, Nikk. 2018. The Philosophy of Filioque, Religious Studies 54, 297-312.
  • Effingham, Nikk. 2021. The CaML Model of Pantheism, Religious Studies.
  • Kidwell, Jeremy. 2018. What are the ethical implications of the science-and-religion debate?, in Pritchard and Harries (eds.) Philosophy, Science, and Religion for Everyone, London: Routledge.
  • Nagasawa, Yujin. 2017. Maximal God: A New Defence of Perfect Being Theism, Oxford: OUP.
  • Nagasawa, Yujin (co-edited with Andrei Buckareff). 2015. Alternative Concepts of God: Essays on the Metaphysics of the Divine, Oxford: OUP.

Projects

Research centres

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OUR RESEARCHERS TALK ABOUT THEIR WORK:

A Short Introduction to Miracles | Yujin Nagasawa | Talks at Google