CONCEPTS OF GOD
in Underrepresented Religious Traditions

Although the debates concerning concepts of God have regained considerable momentum in Western philosophy of religion since the 1960s, they mainly focus on concepts of God emerging out of the Abrahamic religions and the philosophical traditions informed by Western theology. ​​There is a growing awareness nowadays that such an approach might conceal and prohibit a culturally sensitive and philosophically adequate appreciation of the numerous concepts of God found in religious traditions outside of the Abrahamic domain. This increasing awareness, which is part of the motivation beyond what has become known as cross-cultural and global philosophy of religion, encompasses both the need for and the encouragement of new dialogues between Western philosophy of religion and so-called underrepresented religious traditions.

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By "underrepresented religious traditions," we mean religious traditions that have been largely excluded from the philosophical debate on God throughout the history of philosophy, especially in the past few decades within analytic philosophy of religion. These traditions include, but are not limited to: Indian religious traditions, Confucianism, Taoism and Zoroastrianism, Afro-Brazilian and African religions, and Amerindian and Australian Aboriginal religions. 

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Regarding the concepts of God or divinity found in these underrepresented religious traditions, the following questions might be posed:

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• Can the concepts of Divine of such traditions be regarded monotheistic in the Western sense of the term? Or are they closer to panentheism, pantheism, henotheism or polytheism? 

• What divine properties do the traditions ascribe to their respective divinity or sets of divinity? 

• Can the corresponding concepts of God be described in a consistent way? And Is it sensible to presuppose that they should be describable in such a way? 

• Do any of these concepts of God possess an advantage over Western philosophical accounts of God?

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