FAITH AND REASON 359Questions for reflection
1 Is the critique of scientism offered here successful?
2 How are the critiques of scientism and robust foundationalism similar?
How do they differ?
3 Discuss the idea that there can be evidence against religious beliefs.
4 Discuss the idea that there can be evidence for religious beliefs.
5 Assess the merits and limits of confirmationism and falsificationism.
6 What relevance, if any, has the notion of explanatory power to religious
belief?
Annotated reading
Mavrodes, George (ed.) (1970) The Rationality of Belief in God, Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall. A good collection of essays on the reasonableness of
monotheistic belief.
Mitchell, Basil (1981) The Justification of Religious Belief, Oxford: Oxford
University Press. A clear presentation of the cumulative-case argument for
monotheism.
Penelhum, Terence (1983) God and Scepticism, Dordrecht: D. Reidel. Clear
discussion of monotheism and skepticism about monotheism.
Swinburne, Richard (1981) Faith and Reason, Oxford: Oxford University Press. A
detailed account of faith and reason by a philosopher who thinks that one ought to
have reasons for one’s religious beliefs.
Yandell, Keith E. (1986) Christianity and Philosophy, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
A systematic exploration of issues relevant to monotheistic belief.