Narrative Philosophy of Religion

This open access book breaks new ground by extending and deepening philosophical engagement with narrative sources to investigate the complexities of religious life. After expounding the connections between philosophy, narrative, and the study of religion, Mikel Burley examines a diverse selection of religiously significant stories. These include Indian classics such as the Buddhist Vessantara Jataka (about a former life of the Buddha) and Hindu Devi Mahatmya (about the goddess Durga); traditional Yorùbá myths involving the enigmatic figure of Èshù, who embodies chance and indeterminacy; and the twentieth-century novel Silence by Endo Shusaku, which has been adapted as feature films by Shinoda Masahiro and Martin Scorsese.Advancing a pluralist interpretive approach to these sources, the book discusses issues such as alternative visions of the spiritual and ethical life; the relation between myth, history, and politics; the role of chance and indeterminacy in human existence; the apparent silence of God in the face of human suffering; and whether faith and virtue might yield a form of invulnerability to harm. Unified by the overarching theme of narrativity, these discussions will appeal to students, scholars, and general readers interested in the intersections between philosophy, religion, mythology, and literature.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.