Abstract

Theistic beliefs require epistemic justification. One way to understand the justification of theistic beliefs is to take them to have the same level of epistemic justification as other, nontheistic beliefs. Such a suggestion, I argue, is incorporated into "Reformed epistemology." This new approach to the justification of theistic beliefs has been developed by William Alston, Alvin Plantinga, and Nicholas Wolterstorff. In this essay I concentrate on the work of Plantinga. ;The central argument of the essay is that while the parity thesis--roughly the claim that theistic beliefs are just as rational as certain nontheistic beliefs--may be true, it is difficult to hold both it and Plantinga's foundationalism. The essay shows how pressure can be brought to bear against the parity thesis by an extension of what Plantinga calls the evidentialist objection which demands that all theistic beliefs have discursive justification. The reply to this challenge brings a certain kind of relativism which Plantinga will, it seems, want to avoid. A second challenge to the parity thesis suggests a certain kind of circularity among the beliefs which provide confirmation for both theistic and nontheistic beliefs. This provides some reason to move away from foundationalism toward holism. ;The essay concludes that while perhaps the avoidance of relativism can be accomplished within Plantinga's foundational model of epistemic justification, it can be done only by rejecting the parity thesis. Hence it is advantageous to move to a more holistic model of epistemic justification, with its incumbent relativism, for such a move may rescue the parity thesis. ;Chapter I introduces the essay. An exposition of Plantinga's Reformed epistemology follows in chapter II. Chapters III and IV present the universality challenge to the parity thesis, along with several potential solutions, only one of which appears to be successful. Chapters V and VI discuss the confirmation challenge, along with replies to the challenge which point in the direction of holism, and they conclude