The development of thinking about faith
In his new book, "Thinking about Faith: From Modern Certainty to Agnostic Restraint", former dean and Professor of philosophy Willem B. Drees of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences, presents a Dutch view of the status of religion in our society. He does so by analyzing the development of philosophy of religion after 1876. In that year the faculty of theology in Leiden was made a faculty of religious studies, creating more distance from the church, because church and state were separated. Before being appointed to Tilburg University, Drees was the last professor of religious studies in Leiden.
In the book, Drees paints a picture of increasing agnosticism. Thus church theology at public universities was replaced by religious philosophy. This discipline was based primarily on empiricism and reason with which moral progress could be made. The religionist was certainly not a theologian. Optimism disappeared after the world wars and secularization continued. This also had consequences for the philosophy of religion. The influence of faith on man and society was discussed less, and religion was often regarded as backward.
Question on truth of religions
Originally, the theological faculties of state universities were training programs for Reformed ministers. Due to the Higher Education Act of 1876, theology had to give way to religious studies in 1876, although the name remained "faculty of theology”. Recognized denominations were allowed to establish a supplementary ecclesiastical program, but no longer within the university.
The question of "truth", the correctness of religions, was considered less relevant in academia. But Drees writes that scholarship on religion may indeed address the consistency and coherence of religions, with an eye to ethics. And with that, philosophy of religion also belongs within the walls of the academy.