Love, Religion, and God

This book takes a philosophical and theological approach to aspects of love, religion, and God, including secular and diverse religious perspectives. The question of the relation between love, religion, and God is a central concern for both atheists and theists, and philosophers, theologians, and scientists have drawn interesting and sometimes conflicting conclusions about the nature of this relation and of the things related in this context. Can love be understood in the absence of God? Is love one thing or many things? And what is the role and value of love in non-theistic religious traditions? This volume examines the relevant issues from the vantage point of philosophy of religion as broadly conceived, giving due weight to the practical and existential significance of such questions. The chapters draw on a range of thinkers, including Plato, Nietzsche, Karl Barth, Simone Weil, Iris Murdoch, Roger Scruton, and Martin Hägglund.