Published : 2023-12-28

Faith, Evil, Testimonium: A Reply To the Discussants

Abstract

The article is a response to ten texts in which objections or comments were made to my book Między ukryciem a jawnością. Esej z filozofii religii i teologii filozoficznej [Between Hiddenness and Openness: An Essay in the Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology] (Wojtysiak 2023). The response I divided into three thematic groups: the theistic argument from the great fact of faith, a critique of the atheistic argument from evil, and a defence of religion from its testimonial character. In the first part of the article, I defend the thesis that my theistic argument from the great fact of faith is, despite the difficulties put forward and thanks to its improvements, stronger than (formulated by J.L. Schellenberg) the atheistic argument from the fact of nonbelief. I still believe that theism best explains the fact of the universality and duration of belief in God or ‘something’ like Him. In the second part of the article, I justify the thesis that, properly understood, the principle of creative grace both allows us to expect evil in the world (to a similar degree to atheism) and does not violate our intuitions about the goodness of God. In addition, I defend the rationality of believing in a state of ‘original justice’. In the third part, I maintain my conviction that religion is one of those areas of life in which we are doomed to testimonial knowledge. Therefore, religion has prima facie epistemic value.

Keywords:

hiddenness of God, J.L. Schellenberg, great fact of faith, consensus gentium, cognitive science of religion, atheistic argument from evil, principle of creative grace, ‘original justice’, testimonial knowledge, theistic religions



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Roczniki Filozoficzne · ISSN 0035-7685 | eISSN 2450-002X
© Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II


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