The Essence of Philosophy of Religion (and its difference with theology and the philosophy of religious episteme)

Many sciences have developed and flourished nowadays which have not existed as a scientific field in the near past. Some of these sciences are imported and have arisen from the West. For example philosophy of religion is one of these sciences. The philosophy of religion is a new science which has entered the world of Islam almost without any change and is based on the culture dominant on the West and on the Christian theology. Due to the sickly entrance of this science, the definition of the philosophy of religion presented in the world of Islam is still, after the passage of many years, a transcript of its Western essence. Therefore the common definitions of the philosophy of religion are criticized in this article, especially those of the Iranian philosophers of religion, which concentrate on the aspect of "existence". Subsequently a definition of the philosophy of religion which considers the stage of "definition an obligation" is chosen and presented; and the difference between the philosophy of religion and other homogenous sciences such as theology, the philosophy of religious episteme, and … are explained.