The Interaction of Religion and Philosophy

Precise definitions are always difficult, yet for clearness we must attempt, to differentiate philosophy, religion, and the philosophy of religion. Conceivably one could have a philosophy which was non-religious, and a religion which was non-philosophical. This assertion may surprise some persons, yet historically we see a sharp division between philosophy and religion which may be illustrated in the thought of, say, Aristotle and Luther. (We might think also of the strange combination of two contradictory strains in Augustine, the philosophical and the theological. Yet again, in Athanasius, we find a religious rather than a philosophical passion.) Now the philosophy of religion stands as a third factor, as it were, between the other two. It is seen to exist and function in the most varied types of philosophy, seeking to extract a religion from those philosophies or to construct one in consequence of their doctrines or yet again to relate such doctrines to a religion already recognized.