Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology

Rating:
Summary: A Solid Collection of Scholars
Review: This collection is a who's who of scholars who are dealing with the philosophical study of epistemology (the study of knowledge). The book is divided into 6 (VI) different sections which include Atheism (Antony Flew, Michael Martin, William L. Rowe, etc), Wittgensteinian Fideism (Norman Malcolm, Kai Nielsen, etc), Reformed Epistemology (Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, etc), Natural Theology (William Lane Craig, Richard Swinburne, etc), Prudential Accounts of Religious Belief (Thomas Morris, James Cargile, etc), and Rational Belief and Religious Experience (William P. Alston, John Hick, etc). Each section has a different popular philosopher discussing a particular issue that relates to epistemology. While the book itself claims to be somewhat of an introductory text, a new student to the issues at hand may get bogged down in the lingo. However, many of the articles are written in a fairly easy to read style. If you are willing to sit down and digest the contents then this book is a great text to read, but if you are wanting a more "popular" and/or easy text to read then you might hold off on this one until you get more used to the issues at hand. Either way, this book is a great tool for now or later in your current studies.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent overview of religious epistemology
Review: This is a very useful collection of papers by noted analytic philosophers, all concerned with the epistemology of religion. The introduction sets up the basic structure of the book, which is divided into six sections, each named after one of the major contemporary approaches to religious epistemology: atheism, natural theology, Wittgensteinian fideism, reformed epistemology, approaches based on religious experience, and prudential accounts of religious belief. I especially recommend the following: "Atheological Apologetics", "The Argument from Evil and some Varieties of Atheism" (W. Rowe), "Colors, Flavors, and God" (R. M. Adams), "The Argument from Design" (R. Swinburne), "The Groundlessness of Belief" (N. Malcolm), Plantinga's paper, and "You Bet Your Life" (Lycan & Schlesinger).