@article { author = {Swinburne, Richard}, title = {Why Believe That There Is a God?}, journal = {Religious Inquiries}, volume = {5}, number = {10}, pages = {5-18}, year = {2016}, publisher = {University of Religions and Denominations Press}, issn = {2322-4894}, eissn = {2538-6271}, doi = {}, abstract = {This article presents an argument for the existence of God, showing that the evident phenomena are best explained by supposing that a God causes them. The argument is based on the inductive force of four very evident general phenomena: that there is a physical Universe; that it is governed by very simple natural laws; that those laws are such as to lead to the existence of human bodies; and that those bodies are the bodies of reasoning humans, who choose between good and evil.}, keywords = {natural theology,the Existence of God,Natural Laws,theism}, url = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46544.html}, eprint = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46544_648af92b294e34391f27f0a34b77622c.pdf} } @article { author = {Aguti, Andrea}, title = {Are Miracles Violations of the Laws of Nature?}, journal = {Religious Inquiries}, volume = {5}, number = {10}, pages = {19-33}, year = {2016}, publisher = {University of Religions and Denominations Press}, issn = {2322-4894}, eissn = {2538-6271}, doi = {}, abstract = {Classical theism holds that God rules the world not only indirectly, by the natural laws established with creation, but through actions or direct interventions that interfere with natural processes and human actions. These direct interventions are usually called miracles. Modern Western philosophy, at least starting from Spinoza and Hume, has defined miracles as “violations of the laws of nature” and criticized them on this ground. Actually, if God is the author of the natural laws, it seems contradictory that he violates them performing miracles. In the last decades, analytical philosophy of religion developed a considerable discussion on this topic. This debate has seen, on the one hand, those, like N. Smart and R. Swinburne, who defend the definition of miracle as a violation of natural laws, and those, like K. Ward, R. Larmer, and D. Corner, who reject it and sustain alternative definitions of miracle. In my article, I refer to this debate with the purpose of showing that the notion of miracle as a violation of the natural law is a coherent one from a theistic point of view.}, keywords = {miracle,God,theism}, url = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46546.html}, eprint = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46546_05c8c3bcd4c9d14cb1d7d5e97d90f944.pdf} } @article { author = {Elmi, Qorban and Zarvani, Mojtaba}, title = {Problem of Evil in Taoism}, journal = {Religious Inquiries}, volume = {5}, number = {10}, pages = {35-47}, year = {2016}, publisher = {University of Religions and Denominations Press}, issn = {2322-4894}, eissn = {2538-6271}, doi = {}, abstract = {This paper attempts to present the Taoist understanding of evil. In the Taoist tradition, especially in Tao Te Ching, evil is divided into two categories: causal evil and consequential evil. Causal evils are those evils that are said to be the causes of other evils; consequential evils are those that are said to be the consequences of the causal evils. Causal evils originate from human will, and cause suffering. This means that evil is not equal to suffering. Lao Tzu does not clearly talk about natural suffering. He regards all evil and suffering as resulting from human actions that are not in accordance with Tao, which is the source of all life. Therefore, the way to overcome evil is to follow Tao, to actualize wu-wei in life.}, keywords = {The Problem of Evil,Taoism,Lao Tzu,Causal Evil,Consequent Evil}, url = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46549.html}, eprint = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46549_ef964fff6dcba3a11a5569138f25c90b.pdf} } @article { author = {Hoxha, Mirushe}, title = {The Nietzschean Verification of the Missing God and Steps to a Completest Self}, journal = {Religious Inquiries}, volume = {5}, number = {10}, pages = {49-67}, year = {2016}, publisher = {University of Religions and Denominations Press}, issn = {2322-4894}, eissn = {2538-6271}, doi = {}, abstract = {This paper aims to present Friedrich Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity as a Western example that reconfirms the necessity for man’s inner development up to the stage of the Completest Self (nafs-i safiyya). With the advent of Christianity and the resultant triumph of its “morality of slave” (1886, sec. 260), the “death of God” (1882) becomes the “fundamental event of Western history” and its “intrinsic law” so far (Heidegger 1977, 67). The central question is how the West shall return the lost God, and so answer adequately to the drive of the eternal return? Nietzsche’s answer is expressed within the concepts of the “death before death,” the “man of Greek tragedy,” the “nomad” (“traveler”), and the “overman,” while this paper identifies their essence in the teachings of Sufism. The “death before death” declared by Prophet Mohammad (s), the Sufi exercise Stop, the background of Sufi teaching, and the seven stages of nafs, including the Completest Self, are juxtaposed to the concepts of the German philosopher. It results that according to Nietzsche, what the West should bring from the state of absence to the state of presence is the summarizing truth of Sufism.}, keywords = {“Death of God,” Nihilism,“Death before Death,” Sufism,Overman,Completest Self}, url = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46552.html}, eprint = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46552_292aa758ace93d43974d9ce208608227.pdf} } @article { author = {Rezaei, Ebrahim and Shanazari, Jafar}, title = {The Origin of Islamic Mysticism in the Light of the Personal Unity of Existence}, journal = {Religious Inquiries}, volume = {5}, number = {10}, pages = {69-84}, year = {2016}, publisher = {University of Religions and Denominations Press}, issn = {2322-4894}, eissn = {2538-6271}, doi = {}, abstract = {The question of the origin of Islamic mysticism has been one of the major concerns of many researchers in the field of mysticism in the recent decades. Some have maintained that Islamic mysticism is an imported product: a combination of Eastern spiritual traditions or a mixture of Manichaeism and Alexandrian philosophy. However, in order to find out the real origin of Islamic mysticism, the best way is to investigate the main questions of Islamic mysticism and to trace them in the Islamic culture and tradition. Reflecting on the personal unity of existence, the most important principle of Islamic mysticism, the author shows that Muslim mystics have been so inspired by the teachings of the Qur’an and the traditions of the Prophet and the Imams that there remains no need to look for the origin of Islamic mysticism outside the Muslim tradition.}, keywords = {Personal Unity of Existence,manifestation,Islamic mysticism,The Oneness Of God,Encompassing Distinction}, url = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46556.html}, eprint = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46556_e96e4c45463360d46d19bf619fc0783b.pdf} } @article { author = {Nekoonam, Jafar and Moosavi Harami, Fatemeh Sadat}, title = {A Historical Analysis of the Quranic Concept of Lapidating Devils with Meteors}, journal = {Religious Inquiries}, volume = {5}, number = {10}, pages = {85-95}, year = {2016}, publisher = {University of Religions and Denominations Press}, issn = {2322-4894}, eissn = {2538-6271}, doi = {}, abstract = {The Quranic concept of lapidating devils with meteors has received a variety of interpretations throughout Islamic history. In the past, it was interpreted to mean heavenly meteors thrown at devils in order to prevent them from giving ear to heavenly tidings. However, in the fourteenth century AH and as a result of modern scientific achievements, different non-literal interpretations were suggested. These interpretation and their place in the contemporary Quranic exegesis will be studied in this article.}, keywords = {Meteor,Star,Devils,Jinn,allegory}, url = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46557.html}, eprint = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_46557_60aa8bce08ad026d0be6ad7ee5afb54c.pdf} } @article { author = {}, title = {the complete version of this issue}, journal = {Religious Inquiries}, volume = {5}, number = {10}, pages = {1-96}, year = {2016}, publisher = {University of Religions and Denominations Press}, issn = {2322-4894}, eissn = {2538-6271}, doi = {}, abstract = {}, keywords = {}, url = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_50307.html}, eprint = {https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_50307_eab5b0a9eeeee82caac44b55c60177b1.pdf} }