The in the invites you to their Oct. 3 Think! talk by Jerry L. Martin,听titled "If There Is One God, Why Are There So Many Religions?"
Who: Open to the public
What: Think! talk听"If There Is One God, Why Are There So Many Religions?"
When: Tuesday, Oct. 3, 7:30-9 p.m.
Where: Eaton Humanities, room 150
The lecture addresses what philosophers call the Problem of the Diversity of Revelations: One revelation is a blessing; multiple revelations are an embarrassment. As French philosopher Jean Bodin explains, each religion鈥檚 claims to absolute truth is negated by the other religions making the same claim.
Or is it? From within religion, there have been three major responses to the problem: exclusivism, inclusivism听and pluralism. The presentation will argue there is a germ of truth in each alternative, which a more comprehensive solution must retain, yet there are limits inherent in each alternative. Martin听will offer a fourth view, centered on the hypothesis of divine complexity, that resolves the contradictions.听
Martin is the author of God: An Autobiography As Told to a Philosopher, coordinator of the Theology Without Walls project at the American Academy of Religion and the author of numerous articles on epistemology, philosophy of the mind, and public policy.
He is the former head of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a former tenured professor and chair of the CU Boulder Philosophy Department. He has taught in the Graduate Public Policy Program at Georgetown University and taught graduate courses on political science at the Catholic University of America. Martin also has听testified before Congress.
All Think! talks are sponsored by the听Center for Values and Social Policy听and funded through the generosity of The Collins Foundation.
