Reformed Epistemology and the Problem of Religious Diversity

Description:Can Christian belief be warranted? Can someone hold to Christian exclusivism even in the face of mutually exclusive religious belief systems? In contemporary philosophy of religion there has been much debate about whether the diversity of mutually exclusive religious beliefs is a good reason to give up any form of religious exclusivism. Amidst this discussion, the Christian exclusivist claims that the tenets of Christianity are true, and mutually exclusive religious views are false. Opponents of Christian belief argue, however, that the diversity of mutually exclusive religious beliefs is a good reason to give up one’s Christian exclusivism. This is the problem of religious diversity for Christian exclusivism. In this book, Joseph Kim defends Christian belief in conversation with the problem of religious diversity and argues that mutually exclusive religious beliefs do not serve as defeaters for Christian belief. Kim engages Alvin Plantinga’s proper function account of warrant and argues that the Christian exclusivist need not give up her Christian belief when faced with the problem of religious diversity even when she is unable to give an argument for the truth of Christian belief to those that disagree. This book also explores the areas surrounding the problem of religious diversity and serves as a good introduction to the central issues that intersect contemporary epistemology and the philosophy of religion.Endorsements:''Joseph Kim’s extremely careful, judicious, and accurate defense of Christian belief deserves a wide readership.''--Alvin PlantingaJohn A. O’Brien Professor of PhilosophyUniversity of Notre Dame''Reformed Epistemology--one of the more important and controversial movements in recent epistemology of religion--has been criticized for failing to deal adequately with issues stemming from religious disagreement. In this helpful work, Joseph Kim carefully explains Alvin Plantinga’s version of Reformed Epistemology and defends it against criticisms based upon religious diversity and disagreement.''--Harold NetlandProfessor of Philosophy of Religion and Intercultural StudiesTrinity Evangelical Divinity School''Joseph Kim’s Reformed Epistemology and the Problem of Religious Diversity is a careful, perceptive, and well informed study of one important family of objections to Alvin Plantinga’s version of Reformed Epistemology. It should be of interest not only to readers of Plantinga, but also those who are concerned about the rationality of exclusive religious belief and those who have been following recent debates about the epistemology of informed disagreement.''--Steven L. ReynoldsAssociate Professor of PhilosophyArizona State UniversityAbout the Contributor(s):Joseph Kim is Executive Vice-President of CBI Japan in Nagoya, Japan. He is an alumnus of Trinity International University, Harvard Business School, and Arizona State University where he received his PhD in Philosophy.