Introduction to Religious Philosophy

Book excerpt: This is a book with a clearly visible theme of Advaita. That is not to say, that Masih has not spoken of other things. However, this book is not an introduction to philosophy of religion, but an introduction to religious philosophy. Thus it escapes the narrow confines of being a mere introduction to religious philosophy, as there are plenty of insights on philosophy of religion as well. A striking aspect of this book is that the author not only believes, but also calculates logically, as to how the various insights of different religions must crossfertilise the visions of one another. This exercise obviously demands a great deal of understanding of the various religious commitments. The author quotes the example of Ramakrishna Paramahansa who suggested that there is something like religious unity and that one is capable of extending oneself beyond the limited confines of a single religion, of the Supreme Spirit. Thus, understanding the Supreme Spirit as a concept is useful, because it is in the nature of a concept that is shareable and comm-unicable. One appreciable part of the book is the sweep it has over the subject... from Galloway and Martinieu to J.N. Findlay, Hare Blik, Kant, Hastings, Rashdall to McCloskey and Radhakrishnan, the author has drawn from various thinkers.