Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism, Faculty of Religions and Islamic teachings, International University of Islamic Denominations, Tehran, Iran
The developed theology of the meaning of life constitutes a coherent attempt to interpret life’s significance by integrating personal experience, moral structures, and cosmic teleology. Rooted in both philosophical and religious traditions and further shaped within contemporary philosophy of religion, it incorporates diverse models such as narrative approaches, evolutionary teleology, and the perennialist tradition. These models aim to provide a framework capable of explaining meaning at both the existential level and within a broader metaphysical and eschatological horizon. The strengths of this approach include its conceptual coherence, capacity for interdisciplinary dialogue with the natural and human sciences, intercultural adaptability, and ability to offer a unified response to the problem of evil. Nevertheless, challenges remain—among them excessive abstraction, the difficulty of substantiating a benevolent cosmic purpose, the risk of implicit exclusivism in the face of religious diversity, heavy reliance on contested metaphysical notions, and limited empirical testability. Recent scholarship indicates that many of these obstacles may be mitigated through strategies such as drawing more deeply on narrative and lived experience, employing cumulative-case reasoning, embracing open-inclusivist perspectives on religious diversity, rethinking core metaphysical premises, and engaging with the social sciences and the psychology of religion. The overall assessment suggests that, despite significant philosophical and empirical limitations, the theology of the meaning of life possesses substantial potential for self-correction and for adapting to contemporary intellectual and cultural contexts, offering a credible framework for bridging the personal and cosmic dimensions of meaning.
Hojjati,G . (2025). The Theology of the Meaning of Life: In the Face of Secular Challenges. Practical Theology, 2(1), 137-159. doi: 10.22034/pt.2025.543427.1064
MLA
Hojjati,G . "The Theology of the Meaning of Life: In the Face of Secular Challenges", Practical Theology, 2, 1, 2025, 137-159. doi: 10.22034/pt.2025.543427.1064
HARVARD
Hojjati G. (2025). 'The Theology of the Meaning of Life: In the Face of Secular Challenges', Practical Theology, 2(1), pp. 137-159. doi: 10.22034/pt.2025.543427.1064
CHICAGO
G Hojjati, "The Theology of the Meaning of Life: In the Face of Secular Challenges," Practical Theology, 2 1 (2025): 137-159, doi: 10.22034/pt.2025.543427.1064
VANCOUVER
Hojjati G. The Theology of the Meaning of Life: In the Face of Secular Challenges. Practical Theology. 2025;2(1):137-159 (In Persian). doi: 10.22034/pt.2025.543427.1064