Editing Philosophy of religion (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Bronnikov gimnpifagoreizev.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|''Pythagoreans Celebrate the Sunrise'' (1869) by [[Fyodor Bronnikov]]. [[Pythagoreanism]] is one example of a [[Greek philosophy]] that also included religious elements.]]
Philosopher [[William L. Rowe]] characterized the philosophy of religion as: "the critical examination of basic religious beliefs and concepts."<ref>Rowe, Philosophy of Religion, An Introduction, Fourth Edition, 2007, pg. 2.</ref> Philosophy of religion covers alternative beliefs about God, gods, demons, spirits <ref> {{cite book |first= Hans| last= Van Eyghen| title= The Epistemology of Spirit Beliefs | publisher= Routledge | date= 14 April 2023| isbn= 9781003281139 | url = https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9781003281139/epistemology-spirit-beliefs-hans-van-eyghen | series = Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Religion  | doi= 10.4324/9781003281139}}</ref> or all, the varieties of [[religious experience]], the interplay between science and religion, the nature and scope of good and evil, and religious treatments of birth, history, and death.<ref name="SEP"/> The field also includes the ethical implications of religious commitments, the relation between faith, reason, experience and tradition, concepts of the miraculous, the sacred [[revelation]], [[mysticism]], power, and [[salvation]].<ref>Bunnin, N, Tsui-James, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HNWIcgEswrsC&pg=PA453 ''The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy'', John Wiley & Sons, 2008, p. 453.]</ref>

The term ''philosophy of religion'' did not come into general use in the West until the nineteenth century,<ref>Wainwright, WJ., [https://books.google.com/books?id=GbcuCf9TlDgC&q=%22come+into+general%22 ''The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Religion''], Oxford Handbooks Online, 2004, p. 3. "The expression "philosophy of religion" did not come into general use until the nineteenth century, when it was employed to refer to the articulation and criticism of humanity's religious consciousness and its cultural expressions in thought, language, feeling, and practice."</ref> and most pre-modern and early modern philosophical works included a mixture of religious themes and non-religious philosophical questions. In Asia, examples include texts such as the Hindu [[Upanishads]], the works of [[Daoism]] and [[Confucianism]] and [[Buddhist texts]].<ref>[[Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]: History of the philosophy of religion.</ref> Greek philosophies like [[Pythagoreanism]] and [[Stoicism]] included religious elements and theories about deities, and [[Medieval philosophy]] was strongly influenced by the big three monotheistic [[Abrahamic religions]]. In the Western world, early modern philosophers such as [[Thomas Hobbes]], [[John Locke]], and [[George Berkeley]] discussed religious topics alongside secular philosophical issues as well.<ref name="auto"/>

The philosophy of religion has been distinguished from [[theology]] by pointing out that, for theology, "its critical reflections are based on religious convictions".<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'': Theology.</ref> Also, "theology is responsible to an authority that initiates its thinking, speaking, and witnessing ... [while] philosophy bases its arguments on the ground of timeless evidence."<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'': [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590855/theology/14945/Relationship-to-philosophy Theology; Relationship of theology to the history of religions and philosophy; Relationship to philosophy.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511071704/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590855/theology/14945/Relationship-to-philosophy |date=2015-05-11 }}</ref>

Some aspects of philosophy of religion have classically been regarded as a part of [[metaphysics]]. In [[Aristotle]]'s ''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]'', the necessarily prior cause of eternal motion was an [[unmoved mover]], who, like the object of desire, or of thought, inspires motion without itself being moved.<ref>[http://www.abu.nb.ca/courses/grphil/philrel/aristotle.htm Aristotle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906082525/http://www.abu.nb.ca/Courses/GrPhil/PhilRel/Aristotle.htm |date=2011-09-06 }}, Professor Barry D. Smith, Crandall University</ref> Today, however, philosophers have adopted the term "philosophy of religion" for the subject, and typically it is regarded as a separate field of specialization, although it is also still treated by some, particularly [[Catholicism|Catholic]] [[philosopher]]s, as a part of metaphysics.