Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T00:41:23.914Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is God's belief requirement rational?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2010

GREG JANZEN
GREG JANZEN*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
*
e-mail: gajanzen@ucalgary.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper sketches an evidential atheological argument that can be answered only if one of the central tenets of some theistic traditions is rejected, namely, that (propositional) belief in God is a necessary condition for salvation. The basic structure of the argument is as follows. Under theism, God is essentially omniscient, but no one can be both omniscient and irrational. So, if there is reason to hold that God is irrational, then it would follow that God doesn't exist. And there is reason to hold that God is irrational. To wit, God both hides and, according to some theistic traditions, requires belief. But it is irrational for God both to hide and require belief; therefore, God is irrational. Since a crucial – and controversial – premise in the argument is that it is irrational for God both to hide and require belief, a large part of the paper is devoted to defending that premise.

Type
Articles
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 4 , December 2011 , pp. 465 - 478
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Almeida, M. J. & Oppy, G. (2003) ‘Sceptical theism and evidential arguments from evil’, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 81, 496–516.Google Scholar
Alston, W. (1991a) ‘The inductive argument from evil and the human cognitive condition’, Philosophical Perspectives, 5, 29–67.Google Scholar
Alston, W. (1991b) Perceiving God: The Epistemology of Religious Experience (New York NY: Cornell University Press).Google Scholar
Alston, W. (1996) ‘Belief, acceptance, and religious faith’, in Jordan, J. & Howard-Snyder, D. (eds) Faith, Freedom, and Rationality (Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield), 3–27.Google Scholar
Bergmann, M. (2001) ‘Sceptical theism and Rowe's new evidential argument from evil’, NoÛs, 35, 278–296.Google Scholar
Cordry, B. (2008) ‘Divine hiddenness and belief de re’, Religious Studies, 45, 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drange, T. (1993) ‘The argument from non-belief’, Religious Studies, 29, 417–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzpatrick, F. J. (1981) ‘The onus of proof in arguments about the problem of evil’, Religious Studies, 17, 19–38.Google Scholar
Hacker, P. M. S. (2007) Human Nature: The Categorial Framework (Oxford: Blackwell).Google Scholar
Howard-Snyder, D. & Moser, P. (eds) (2001) Divine Hiddenness: New Essays (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kekes, J. (1984) ‘“Ought” implies “can” and two kinds of morality’, Philosophical Quarterly, 34, 459–467.Google Scholar
MacIntosh, J. J. (1970) ‘Belief-in’, Mind, 79, 395–407.Google Scholar
Nozick, R. (1993) The Nature of Rationality (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plantinga, A. (2000) Warranted Christian Belief (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Pojman, L. (1986) ‘Faith without belief’, Faith and Philosophy, 4, 157–176.Google Scholar
Poston, T. & Dougherty, T. (2007) ‘Divine hiddenness and the nature of belief’, Religious Studies, 43, 183–198.Google Scholar
Saka, P. (2000) ‘Ought does not imply can’, American Philosophical Quarterly, 37, 93–105.Google Scholar
Schellenberg, J. L. (1993) Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason (Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press).Google Scholar
Sehon, S. (2010) ‘The problem of evil: Skeptical theism leads to moral paralysis’, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 67, 67–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Speak, D. (2007) ‘Salvation without belief’, Religious Studies, 43, 229–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, D. (2006) ‘Moral reasons: internal and external’, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 72, 536–558.CrossRefGoogle Scholar