POSSIBILITY OF EQUATION BETWEEN REASON AND REVELATION: WAS IBN SĪNĀ A DEIST?

Yıl 2018, Cilt: 1 Sayı: 1, 6 - 18, 01.06.2018

Rahim Acar

Öz

With reference to the conception of God, in philosophy of religion scholars make a distinction
between the God of philosophers and the God of religion. A similar distinction is made between
rational religion and religion based on revelation. In conformity with these distinctions, it is a deistic
position to believe that we may know what God is and what the true religious beliefs are on the
basis of reason alone, and to believe that revelation does not add anything further to our rational
knowledge in this regard. In this article, I am going to discuss if Ibn Sīnā, who was charged with
infidelity for some of his ideas about God and the nature of religious beliefs by al-Ghazālī, could be
considered as a deist. To answer the question if Ibn Sīnā was a deist, I am going to discuss his theories
regarding the nature of revelation and religious teachings. Then I am going to relate his theories
to the position of medieval Muslim theologians. I am going to defend that even though there are
important differences between Avicenna’s position and that of Muslim theologians on these issues,
it would be misleading to consider his position as a deistic position.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Deism, Ibn Sīnā, Avicenna, al-Ghazālī, Rational Religion, Theism

Kaynakça

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