On Christian Belief: A Defence of a Cognitive Conception of Religious Belief in a Christian Context

by Collier,Andrew

• ISBN13: 9780415315227
• ISBN10: 0415315220
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-03
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

On Christian Beliefoffers a defense of realism in the philosophy of religion. It argues that religious belief--with particular reference to Christian belief--unlike any other kind of belief, is cognitive; making claims about what is real, and open to rational discussion between believers and non-believers. The author begins by providing a critique of several views which either try to describe a faith without cognitive context, or to justify believing on non-cognitive grounds. He then discusses what sense can be made of the phenomenon of religious conversion by realists and non-realists. After a chapter on knowledge in general, he defends the idea that religious knowledge is very like other knowledge, in being based on reliable testimony, sifted by reason and tested by experience. The logical status of the content of religious belief is then discussed with reference to Christianity.

Author Biography

Andrew Collier is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton.

Table of Contents

Foreword	viii
Introduction	1	(8)
Faith without belief I: religious feeling	9	(14)
Faith without belief II: moral faith	23	(12)
Non-cognitive grounds for belief	35	(18)
The intelligibility of conversion	53	(12)
About knowledge in general	65	(12)
About religious knowledge	77	(14)
The content of Christian revelation	91	(10)
The knowledge of God as creator	101	(8)
Notes	109	(2)
Bibliography	111	(2)
Name index	113	(2)
Subject index	115