چکیده:
Cottingham in following Pascal believes that we can not analyse religion in rational way in principle because it talks about transcendent being which is above our rational faculties and it use symbolic, allegoric, metaphoric language and some narratives. Thus it is impossible to prove or deny existence of God by only rational arguments. Nevertheless cottingham in following Pascal, showing rationality of theism not proving of theism by practical argument because he believes that religion is something more than theoretical doctrines. So the way of encountering God is practical not theoretical because human can not find God in theory. So that we can understand rationality of religious beliefs and feel presence of God by appealing to emotions and practical involvement with religious doctrines. therefore If we want to change ourselves, we must apply religious and spiritual practices.
خلاصه ماشینی:
However, Cottingham, inspired by Pascal, has a practical understanding of religion and considers it more than just theoretical-doctrinal teachings; therefore, he employs a practical argument to demonstrate the reasonableness of believing in God, rather than proving His existence.
John Cottingham, who considers religion a necessary condition for the meaningfulness of life and believes that life is devoid of value and meaning without religious belief, tried to, inspired by Pascal and explaining his view, present a different picture of how religious teachings are understood and how belief and faith arise in the human conscience, so that, through this, a solution can be offered to the intellectual and theoretical obstacle that has arisen in accepting religion; religion, which plays an essential and irreplaceable role in giving meaning to life.
Before explaining Cottingham's opinion, it is necessary to pay attention to the point that he is not indifferent to the theoretical teachings of religion and does not deny the importance of beliefs that are presupposed behind moral and spiritual practices; because, in any case, spiritual exercises (Spiritual exercises) recommended by religions presuppose the truth of theoretical propositions such as “God exists” and “God has a special relationship with His creatures,” but someone who is captivated by the benefits and positive effects of religion and spirituality cannot prove the truth of those propositions (which are beyond the world of appearance and outside the realm of human knowledge) (:2003, Cottingham 92, 87, 88).
(
, 
, 
)
