Faith, Reason, and Miracles
Is Religious Belief Rational?
- The Problem: what's the relationship between faith and reason?
- Two Modes of Belief -
- Rational Beliefs: Three Systems of Justification -
- Internalism
Foundationalism -
- Classical Foundationalism
- Neo-Foundationalism
- Coherentism -
- Externalism -
- Revelatory Beliefs -
- Propositional Revelation -
- Personal Revelation -
- Are Reason and (Propositional) Revelation Compatible?
- Yes
- Reason and revelation are identical ('faith' and 'belief' are synonymous)
- Revelation transcends reason - St. Thomas
- No
- Revelation is non-rational -
- Voluntarism - Pascal
- Pragmatism - James
- Revelation is irrational -
- Existentialism - Kierkegaard
- Reason and the Miraculous:
- What is a Miracle?
- Violation of Natural Law, or
- An improbable event consistent with Natural Law, or
- An Awe-inspiring natural event
- Are Miracles Consistent with Rational Belief?
- Miracles are logically impossible
- Miracles are empirically impossible
- Miracles are empirically possible, but do not occur
- Miracles are empirically possible, and do occur
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