Philosophy of Religion

In the present century, many questions have been raised for religion-researchers. Many of these questions are concentrated on philosophy of religion. This article investigates what the philosophy of religion is. Achieving this goal is only possible by referring to its background, similar and close concepts. Thus it's necessary to have a look at expressions such as theology, philosophical and natural theology, religious-research, old and new theology. Among these terms, one which is closer to the philosophy of religion and has more in contact with it, and used frequently in the works of Moslem intellectuals, is theology, specifically the new theology. Thus for clarifying similar terms to the philosophy of religion in this article, I have a special attention to its distinction from new theology. Finding out this distinction depends on discovering "new theology". In this regard, after a short explanation of the meaning of the old theology, I have divided the present theories regarding new theology into its supporters and deniers. Then on the basis of the accepted theory, I have mentioned the distinctive characters between philosophy of religion and new theology. At the end, I have discussed the topics of philosophy of religion and the possibility of having an Islamic approach.