Introduction

This volume is a collection of recent, and in most cases previously unpublished, essays about the philosophical exploration, critique and comparison of (a) the major philosophical models of God, gods and alternative ultimate realities implicit in the world’s religions and philosophical schools, and of (b) the ideas of such models and doing such modeling per se. Part II is the bulk of the volume, since it presents the major models. Part I prepares the reader to encounter these models by exploring foundational questions regarding the whole project of creating and using models, such as what God, ultimate reality, and models of them are, the logically possible range of such models, and whether humans, in the end, can acquire knowledge of God or ultimate reality. Part III explores responses to the models “including the negative theologians” stance against them based on the idea that God and ultimate reality are beyond description, as well as reflections on the enormous diversity of the models and their practical impact for personal and social issues of spirituality, gender equity, war and peace, and global warming.