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Reformed epistemology

Sixteenth-century portrait of John Calvin by an unknown artist

In the philosophy of religion, Reformed epistemology is a school of philosophical thought concerning the nature of knowledge (epistemology) as it applies to religious beliefs.[1] The central proposition of Reformed epistemology is that beliefs can be justified by more than evidence alone, contrary to the positions of evidentialism, which argues that while non-evidential belief may be beneficial, it violates some epistemic duty.[2] Central to Reformed epistemology is the proposition that belief in God may be "properly basic" and not need to be inferred from other truths to be rationally warranted.[3] William Lane Craig describes Reformed epistemology as "One of the most significant developments in contemporary religious epistemology ... which directly assaults the evidentialist construal of rationality."[2]

Reformed epistemology was so named because it represents a continuation of the 16th-century Reformed theology of John Calvin, who postulated a sensus divinitatis, an innate divine awareness of God's presence.[4] More recent influences on Reformed epistemology are found in philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff's Reason within the Bounds of Religion,[5] published in 1976, and Alvin Plantinga's "Reason and Belief in God",[6] published in 1983.

Although Plantinga's Reformed epistemology developed over three decades, it was not fully articulated until 1993 with the publication of two books in an eventual trilogy: Warrant: The Current Debate,[3] and Warrant and Proper Function.[7] The third in the series was Warranted Christian Belief,[8] published in 2000. Other prominent defenders of Reformed epistemology include William Lane Craig, William Alston, Michael C. Rea, and Michael Bergmann.[9]

The argument from a proper basis is an ontological argument for the existence of God related to fideism. Alvin Plantinga argued that belief in God is a properly basic belief, and so no basis for belief in God is necessary.[10]

  1. ^ "The Epistemology of Religion". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b Craig, William Lane (2 January 2007). "Religious Epistemology". BeThinking. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b Plantinga, Alvin (1993). Warrant: The Current Debate (PDF). Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195078619.
  4. ^ See Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion Bk. I, Chap. III.
  5. ^ Wolterstorff, Nicholas (1976). Reason within the bounds of religion. Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company. ISBN 9780802816436.
  6. ^ Plantinga, Alvin; Wolterstorff, Nicolas (1983). "'Reason and Belief in God' in Faith and Rationality". Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press: 16–93. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ Plantinga, Alvin (1993). Warrant and Proper Function. Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195078640.
  8. ^ Plantinga, Alvin (2000). Warranted Christian Belief. Vol. 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195131925.
  9. ^ Cowan, Steven (2000). Five Views on Apologetics. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. pp. 19–20. ISBN 978-0-310-22476-1.
  10. ^ Origins.org Archived 2005-12-25 at the Wayback Machine

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