Reformed Epistemology
A position in religious epistemology — associated with alvin-plantinga among others — that argues belief in God can be rational and warranted without requiring strict empirical or mathematical proof. 1
Relationship to Bayesian Apologetics
Many theistic philosophers who embrace Reformed Epistemology view bayesian-apologetics as:
- Misguided — attempting to quantify what cannot (and need not) be quantified
- Reductive — reducing faith to a probability calculation
- Damaging — a weak mathematical argument may undermine rather than support belief
This creates an interesting alignment: both secular critics and Reformed Epistemologists reject Bayesian apologetics, but for different reasons. Secular critics see the priors as ungrounded; Reformed Epistemologists see the entire project of mathematical proof as unnecessary and counterproductive.
See Also
- alvin-plantinga
- bayesian-apologetics
- dwindling-probabilities
- agrippas-trilemma — The regress problem; properly basic beliefs are a “dogmatic horn” response