Philosophy of Religion

The decision to believe in god or not fundamentally affects one’s perceptions, practical choices, and behavior. Is religious belief rational? Is the negation of religious belief rational? Perhaps rationalism has no bearing on this issue, in any significant essence, and religious belief cannot be criticized in terms of rationalism. Is there any reason to believe or not to believe in god? Can religious belief be justified with no evidence? All these are the core questions of those engaged with the philosophy of religion. As opposed to theology departments where religions are studied, philosophers tend to deal with general abstract questions about religious belief, independent of interpretive study of religious texts or specific religious traditions.