Chapter 9 – How do Christians Justify their Beliefs?
Some Key Terms:
Justification of Religious Belief
The philosophical question of whether Christian faith can be held intelligently and responsibly - examining the relationship between faith, reason, and evidence
Evidentialism
The view that rational belief requires proportioning one's confidence to one's evidence; stronger evidence precipitates stronger belief
Strict Evidentialism
Relies on publicly available data: truths that are self-evident (ex: 2+2=4), or truths that are accessible to the ordinary senses (ex: color)
Soft Evidentialism
Broadens 'acceptable' evidence to include personal religious experience, moral intuitions, and "seemings"
Seemings
Intuition as a form of evidence, valid provided no strong reasons to believe it is misleading
Reliabilism
A belief is justified if it arises from a process that usually produces true beliefs
Permissiveness
When a theory makes it equally easy for differing religions to be rational