Religious Philosophy

Religious Philosophy is philosophical thinking that is inspired and directed by religion.

Buddhist Philosophy
Buddhist philosophy finds its origins in the teachings of the Buddha. Its main concern is with explicating the dharmas constituting reality. A recurrent theme is the reification (viewing of the abstract as concrete) of concepts, and the subsequent return to the Buddhist middle way.  Early Buddhism avoided speculative thought on metaphysics, phenomenology, ethics, and epistemology, but was based instead on empirical evidence gained by the sense organs.

Christian Philosophy
There is no record of any written works produced by Jesus. Nor is there a record of any systematic philosophy or theology written by him. Several accounts of his life and many of his teachings are recorded in the New Testament.

Saul of Tarsus was a Jewish Roman citizen who persecuted the early Christian church. Saul underwent a dramatic conversion, becoming a Christian leader (‘Paul the Apostle’ or St. Paul) who wrote a number of epistles (letters) in which he taught doctrine and theology.  St. Paul’s teachings, in a way, was similar to the teachings of the philosophers of his day (Cynics, Skeptics, Stoics). His epistles became a significant source for later Christian philosophies.

Hindu Philosophy
The orthodox (Astika) schools of Indian philosophy cite the Vedas as their scriptural authority. In Hindu tradition the Vedas, credited to Brahma, are apauruseya meaning 'not of human agency' or directly revealed.  There a six 'official' astika schools:
 1. Samkhya - atheistic and strongly dualist theoretical exposition of consciousness and matter.
 2. Yoga - school that emphasizing meditation, contemplation and liberation.
 3. Nyaya - school of logic that explores sources of knowledge.
 4. Vaisheshik - empiricist school of atomism.
 5. Mimamsa - anti-ascetic, anti-mysticist school of orthopraxy.
 6. Vedanta - dominate current of Vedism in the post-medieval period.  Last segment of vedic knowledge ('Jnan').

The non-orthodox (Nastiki) schools do not regard the Vedas as authorities.  The key active Nastika schools are:
 1. Buddhism
 2. Jainism

Islamic Philosophy
Islamic philosophy is a generic term that can be defined and used in different ways. In its broadest sense it means the world view of Islam, as derived from the Islamic texts concerning the creation of the universe and the will of the Creator. In another sense it refers to any of the schools of thought that flourished under the Islamic empire or in the shadow of the Arab-Islamic culture and Islamic civilization. In its narrowest sense it is a translation of Falsafa, meaning those particular schools of thought that most reflect the influence of Greek systems of philosophy such as Neoplatonism and Aristotelianism.

Islamic philosophy, imbued as it is with Islamic theology, distinguishes more clearly than Aristotelianism the difference between essence and existence. Whereas existence is the domain of the contingent and the accidental, essence endures within a being beyond the accidental. This was first described by Avicenna's works on metaphysics, who was himself influenced by al-Farabi.

Jewish Philosophy
Rabbinic literature (teachings from the Torah) sometimes views Abraham as a "philosopher."  Some Jews ascribe the Sefer Yetzirah ("Book of Creation") to Abraham which declares him the recipient of the divine revelation of mystic lore.  Abraham understood the world to have a creator and director and who compares the world to "a house with a light in it" ('Argument from design').

The Book of Psalms contains invitations to "admire the wisdom of Hashem (‘the Name’) through his works".  From this, some scholars suggest that Judaism harbors a Philosophical under-current. The Book of Ecclesiastes, considered to be the only genuine philosophical work in the Hebrew Bible, seeks to understand the place of human beings in the world and life's meaning.