The presuppositions of religious pluralism and the need for natural theology

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

In 'The Presuppositions of Religious Pluralism and the Need for Natural Theology' I argue that there are four important presuppositions behind John Hick's form of religious pluralism that successfully support it against what I call fideistic exclusivism. These are i) the ought/can principle, ii) the universality of religious experience, iii) the universality of redemptive change, and iv) a view of how God (the Eternal) would do things. I then argue that if these are more fully developed they support a different kind of exclusivism, what I call rational exclusivism, and become defeaters for pluralism. In order to explain rational exclusivism and its dependence on these presuppositions I consider philosophers J.P. Moreland, William Lane Craig, and Alvin Plantinga, who offer arguments for their forms of exclusivism but I maintain that they continue to rely on fideism at important points. I then give an example of how knowledge of the Eternal can be achieved.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)201-222
Number of pages22
JournalSophia
Volume47
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2008

Keywords

  • Alvin Plantinga
  • Fideism
  • Fideistic exclusivism
  • General revelation
  • Immanuel Kant
  • Inference
  • Intuition
  • J.P. Moreland
  • John Hick
  • Law of non-contradiction
  • Nagarjuna
  • Natural theology
  • Ought/can principle
  • Pluralism
  • Post-Kantian theology
  • Rational exclusivism
  • Reason
  • Redemption
  • Religious experience
  • Sensus divinitatis
  • Special revelation
  • Vasubandhu
  • Vivekananda
  • William Lane Craig
  • William Rowe

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Religious studies
  • Philosophy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The presuppositions of religious pluralism and the need for natural theology'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this