Philosophy & Religion

Ideas are always dynamic, so is true of philosophical reflection and human thinking activity, always bringing into light new developments or building upon the existing knowledge to keep it alive and pass it to the present and future generations. In the process of doing so, academicians find themselves coming up with new works to add to the academic pool and on their desk. This book is a result of such reflection. Not as an afterthought or prior thought, but as a product of a process that conceived a combination of two analogical disciplines, that is; Philosophy and Religion as studied in higher education institutions under the banner 'Philosophy and Religious studies'. The book is in three parts or sections. Section one's subject matter of discussion is Philosophy, beginning with an introduction to what Philosophy entails. Then, it goes deeper into historical periods of Philosophical development with much emphasis on the ancient historical period or ancient philosophy which dealt primarily with cosmological questions. This led to the birth of Metaphysics as has come to be known as a branch of Philosophy. This part is covered in chapter one through chapter two. The second part goes into the area of African Philosophy which developed in the period around 1960's taking into consideration its subject matter from anthropological and theological literature. The section covers a period viewed here as an era of biasness towards any conception of African Philosophy and the responses advanced by different thinkers for a defense or justification of the existence of Africa Philosophy with many of them basing their arguments on the concept known as sage philosophy. Much of the new development in this philosophical circle was the inter-relationship of African Philosophical concept of the religious belief in their Deity, leading to dictum that Africans are notoriously religious. This discussion is covered here in chapters three through chapter five. Part three of this book has religious discussion on Sacred Scripture as the main subject matter. It discusses such matters relevant to Scripture as;- Revelation, Inspiration, Hermeneutics, Sources and Canonicity. It delves into brief critical exegesis on Pentateuch, Wisdom Literature, the books of Prophets, and ends with a brief discussion on the four Gospels, the Synoptics problem and matters in the Acts of Apostles. this is covered in chapter six through chapter nine. By weaving the two analogical disciplines together, that is; Philosophy and Religion in one seamless volume, this book provides an in depth resourceful material for students and instructors in the Philosophy and Religious study department in higher institutes of learning, as well as those from all cadre who love wisdom.