RATIONALITY AND RELIGIOUS BELIEF

C. F. Delaney, editor

The original essays in this volume call into question the sim- plistic strategy of characterizing religion by some abstract set of propositions and then judging determined standard of it by means of an independently rationality. They show that religion is more than a set of beliefs, that belief itself involves more than mere assent to abstract propositions, and that the criteria of rationality have not remained immutable throughout history.

Alvin Plantinga explores the possibility that belief in God might be in the foundations of a person's noetic structure, thus straightforwardly eliminating any conflict between rationality and religious belief, George Mavrodes examines the various rela- tions that may obtain between truth value and rationality. John Smith argues that philosophy should be able to set an onto- logical standard of rationality that will be capable of interpreting religious belief. Langdon Gilkey traces a basic dialectic in the relation of rationality to Christianity as the dialectic moves from rationality through incredibility to credibility. David Burrell maintains that classical proofs are intended only as retrospective justifications for religious belief and that only an internal kind of justification is appropriate to the religious sphere. Robert Adams explores the issue of proof in moral arguments on the nature of right and wrong, on the existence of God, and on the goodness of God. Elizabeth Anscombe discusses the notions of belief and testimony as they function in theology and philoso- phy, Finally, Frederick Crosson approaches the theme of this volume through an analysis of St. Augustine's Confessions