Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Religious Epistemology
- Cambridge Handbooks in Philosophy
- The Cambridge Handbook of Religious Epistemology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Tables
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Faith and Rationality
- 1 Natural Theology and Religious Belief
- 2 Evidence and Religious Belief
- 3 Reformed Epistemology
- 4 Rationality and Miracles
- 5 Pragmatic Arguments for Theism
- 6 Skepticism, Fideism, and Religious Epistemology
- 7 The Problem of Faith and Reason
- Part II Religious Traditions
- Part III New Directions
- References
- Index
7 - The Problem of Faith and Reason
from Part I - Faith and Rationality
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2023
- The Cambridge Handbook of Religious Epistemology
- Cambridge Handbooks in Philosophy
- The Cambridge Handbook of Religious Epistemology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Tables
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Faith and Rationality
- 1 Natural Theology and Religious Belief
- 2 Evidence and Religious Belief
- 3 Reformed Epistemology
- 4 Rationality and Miracles
- 5 Pragmatic Arguments for Theism
- 6 Skepticism, Fideism, and Religious Epistemology
- 7 The Problem of Faith and Reason
- Part II Religious Traditions
- Part III New Directions
- References
- Index
Summary
Faith in God conflicts with reason – or so we are told. This chapter focuses on two arguments for this conclusion. After evaluating three criticisms of them, we identify an assumption they share, namely that faith in God requires belief that God exists. Whether the assumption is true depends on what faith is. We sketch a theory of faith that allows for both faith in God without belief that God exists, and faith in God while in belief-cancelling doubt regarding God’s existence. We then argue that our theory, unlike the theory of Thomas Aquinas, makes sense of four central items of faith-data: (i) pístis in the Synoptics, (ii) ʾemunāh in the Hebrew scriptures, (iii) exemplars of faith in God, including Abraham, Jesus, and Mother Teresa, and (iv) the widespread experience of people of faith today. We close by assessing revisions of the two arguments we began with, revisions that align with our theory of faith, and find them dubious, at best.
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- The Cambridge Handbook of Religious Epistemology , pp. 96 - 114Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023