Evidence and religious belief / edited by Kelly James Clark and Raymond J. VanArragon.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Clark, Kelly James, 1956-

VanArragon, Raymond J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Faith and reason.

Faith.

Religion--Philosophy.

Religion.

Physical Description:

viii, 214 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.

Summary:

A fundamental question in philosophy of religion is whether religious belief must be based on evidence in order to be properly held. In recent years two prominent positions on this issue have been staked out: evidentialism, which claims that proper religious belief requires evidence; and Reformed epistemology, which claims that it does not. Evidence and Religious Belief contains eleven chapters by prominent philosophers which push the discussion in new directions. The volume has three parts. The first part explores the demand for evidence: some chapters object to it while others seek to restate it or find space for compromise between Reformed epistemology and evidentialism. The second part explores ways in which beliefs are related to evidence; that is, ways in which the evidence for or against religious belief which is available to a person can depend on that person's background beliefs and other circumstances. The third part contains chapters that discuss actual evidence for and against religious belief. Evidence for belief in God includes the so-called common consent of the human race and the way that such belief makes sense of the moral life; evidence against it includes profound puzzles about divine freedom which suggest that it is impossible for a being to be morally perfect. Book jacket.

Contents:

pt. 1. Exploring the demand for evidence. Willing belief and rational faith / James Ross

Epistemic self-trust and the consensus gentium argument / Linda Zagzebski

Religious experience and the question of whether belief in God requires evidence / C. Stephen Evans

Phenomenal conservatism and evidentialism in religious epistemology / Chris Tucker

pt. 2. The relation of beliefs to evidence. Theistic proofs, person relativity, and the rationality of religious belief / William J. Wainwright

Hiddenness, evidence, and idolatry / E.J. Coffman, Jeff Cervantez

An evolutionary objection to the argument from evil / Thomas M. Crisp

pt. 3. Evidence and religious belief. Consensus gentium : reflections on the 'common consent' argument for the existence of God / Thomas Kelly

Morality and happiness / Kelly James, Andrew Samuel

Divine perfection and freedom / William Rowe

The many gods of Hick and Mavrodes / William Hasker ; with a response by John Hick.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [203]-209) and index.

ISBN:

0199603715

9780199603718

OCLC:

707267277

Publisher Number:

99945456841