Chapter Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter you should be able to:

1. provide an overview of various evidentialist and nonevidentialist approaches to the issue of justifying religious belief

2. present the key steps of the "first cause" and contingency versions of the cosmological argument and state strengths and weaknesses of each

3. outline the argument from design (teleological argument) and discuss both the merit of Hume's objections and the extent to which Darwin's theory of natural selection grounds a significant objection

4. explain Anselm's version of the ontological argument, together with the objections raised by Gaunilo and Kant

5. summarize Pascal's Wager and various possible criticisms of it

6. contrast the positions of Clifford and James on the justifiability of belief in the face of insufficient evidence

7. state the problem of evil and weigh the effectiveness of the greater goods defense (including Hick's soul-making variety), the free will defense, and the natural order defense

8. explain various key concepts in the Advaita Vedanta Hindu philosophy, particularly the notions of Brahman, Atman, jiva, maya, yoga, karma, reincarnation, and moksha

9. discuss various central aspects of Theravada Buddhism, including the attitude toward divinities, the conception of objects, the anatta (no-self) doctrine, the Four Noble Truths, karma, rebirth, and nirvana

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