Evidence and religious belief
By: edited by Kelly James Clark and Raymond J. VanArragon
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 214
ISBN-13: 9780199603718
Subjects: Faith and reason; Faith; Philosophy; Religion
Description: "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 that 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." -- Publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [203]-209) and index.
Table of contents: title: pt. 1. Exploring the demand for evidence. Willing belief and rational faith / James Ross; title: Epistemic self-trust and the consensus gentium argument / Linda Zagzebski; title: Religious experience and the question of whether belief in God requires evidence / C. Stephen Evans; title: Phenomenal conservatism and evidentialism in religious epistemology / Chris Tucker; title: pt. 2. The relation of beliefs to evidence. Theistic proofs, person relativity, and the rationality of religious belief / William J. Wainwright; title: Hiddenness, evidence, and idolatry / E.J. Coffman, Jeff Cervantez; title: An evolutionary objection to the argument from  evil / Thomas M. Crisp; title: pt. 3. Evidence and religious belief. Consensus gentium : reflections on the 'common consent' argument for the existence of God / Thomas Kelly; title: Morality and happiness / Kelly James, Andrew Samuel; title: Divine perfection and freedom / William Rowe; title: The many gods of Hick and Mavrodes / William Hasker ; with a response by John Hick.