Religious Epistemology

Jesus' Return as Lottery Puzzle: A Reply to Donald Smith

by P. Roger Turner

Forthcoming in *Religious Studies*.

Jacob and Esau, or, On ‘Secular’ and ‘Confessional’ Biblical Studies

by Jason M. Silverman

Opinion essay on Biblical Studies in the academy

Epistemology of ancient Israelite religion

by Jaco Gericke

Review of DISAGREEMENT ed. Richard Feldman & T. Warfield (Oxford University Press, 2010)

by Amir Dastmalchian

published in RELIGIOUS STUDIES
2012, vol 48, issue 1, pages 119-122
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Religious Exclusivism, (Pseudo)Disagreement and Heterodoxy

by Dennis Potter

"John Hick"

by David Cramer

Published in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP), an online, peer reviewed encyclopedia for a relatively popular audience

Davidson and Religious Education

by William Brooke

Working paper / in progress

Stand In Awe: A Parable About Love, Youth, & Change

by Horace Columbus Neal II

Draft N: December 9, 2011 - It is finished.

This is a simple three-page short story that calls for a reflection on the core need of today's troubled youth. In 36... more This is a simple three-page short story that calls for a reflection on the core need of today's troubled youth. In 36 CE, a group of rowdy, Cushite-Hebrew youths go to see the Roman crucifixions, hoping to have some fun taunting the victims. Their encounter at one man's cross causes them to stand in awe. Notes and images follow the narrative to aid the readers' conceptualization of some of the story's themes. The story is thematically multilayered to facilitate productive discussions on a number of topics.

Bridging the Gap Between Social and Existential-Mystical Interpretations of Schleiermacher's ‘Feeling’

by Gorazd Andrejc

Appeared in 'Religious Studies', 2012 (Published & Copyrighted by Cambridge University Press).

The article engages with two contemporary understandings of Schleiermacher’s notion of feeling which are in important... more The article engages with two contemporary understandings of Schleiermacher’s notion of feeling which are in important aspects in conflict: a social understanding (Kevin W. Hector and Christine Helmer) and an existentialmystical understanding (Thandeka). Using the phenomenological category of ‘existential feelings’ drawn from the work of Matthew Ratcliffe, I argue that they can be brought into a coherent overall account that recognizes different aspects of feeling in Schleiermacher’s work. I also suggest that such an interpretation of Schleiermacher’s concept of religious feeling offers a different and better understanding of the role of feelings in religious experience and belief than the contemporary ‘perception-model’ of religious experience.

One notion of religious truth? Hilary Putnam's conceptual truth and the justification of religious propositions

by Niek Brunsveld

This article is part of a volume that I edited with Roger Trigg, called 'Religion in the Public Sphere'. You can find it here: http://adss.library.uu.nl/index.html

This article explores and gives a preliminary answer to the question whether, from a particular pragmatic pluralist... more This article explores and gives a preliminary answer to the question whether, from a particular pragmatic pluralist perspective, the notion of truth can have any bearing on religious propositions in today’s secularised and multicultural societies. It is argued that the realist and antirealist answers to this question
are not satisfactory. Along the lines of an analysis of Hilary Putnam’s notion of conceptual truth it is argued that establishing what a true proposition claims, and whether it is actually true, depends on the intellectual and practical abilities we have in the particular field in which the proposition is situated. I conclude
that even in a secular or multi-religious society of today, the truth of at least some religious propositions can be assessed in ways similar to nonreligious propositions.

"“Repugnant,” “Not Repugnant at All”: How the Respective Epistemic Attitudes of Georges Lemaître and Sir Arthur Eddington Influenced How Each Approached the Idea of a Beginning of the Universe"

by Simon Appolloni

Publish in IBSU Scientific Journal, 5(1): 19-44, 2011. ISSN: 1512-3731 print / 2233-3002 online.

This paper investigates how the different epistemic attitudes held by scientists George Lemaître and Sir Arthur... more This paper investigates how the different epistemic attitudes held by scientists George Lemaître and Sir Arthur Eddington decidedly influenced how they approached their research on cosmology. It demonstrates the degree to which epistemic attitudes matter in scientific research. Though both were Christian, a belief in God or in biblically inspired narratives does not explain satisfactorily why these two Christians remained at such opposite ends of thinking with regard to the idea of a beginning of a universe, especially considering Lemaître and Eddington each put forth his case in a scientific manner. This paper suggests that had both entered into a dialogue on each other’s epistemic attitude, a more constructive dialogue might have ensued perhaps initiating a greater amount of cooperation. And while these findings might seem academic, today a growing number of academics, social and environmental ethicists, and activists are embracing the big-bang theory as “a new story of the cosmos” as a means to gaining a new sense of purpose and understanding of the place of the human species in the world. This suggests that the scientists who convey the story to us today are especially beholden to be sensitive to their own epistemic attitudes which may influence their scientific conclusions.

Receptions of Phenomenology in French Philosophy and Religious Thought, 1889-1939

by Christian Dupont

PhD Dissertation, University of Notre Dame, 1997. Thomas F. O'Meara, O.P., advisor

This dissertation presents an historical investigation of the reception of phenomenology in France from 1889-1939. It... more This dissertation presents an historical investigation of the reception of phenomenology in France from 1889-1939. It examines anticipation of phenomenology in French thought as well as early encounters of French academic philosophers and religious thinkers with the phenomenological philosophies of Edmund Husserl, Max Scheler and Martin Heidegger.

The Possibility of Authenticity: On Schönbaumsfeld's Wittgenstein

by Jonathan Beale

Published in Ratio, Volume 24, Issue 1, pp. 107–115, March 2011