by THE REFORMED EPISTEMOLOGY APPROACH
‘‘Since the Enlightenment,” Clark says, ”there has been a demand to expose all of our beliefs to the searching criticism of reason.” (…). We are told that if a belief is unsupported by evidence of some kind, it is irrational to believe it. Reformed epistemology challenges this ”evidentialist” epistemological assumption. Those who advocate this view hold that it is perfectly reasonable for a person to believe many things without evidence. Most strikingly, they argue that belief in God does not require the support of evidence or argument in order for it to be rational. The Reformed epistemology apologist will not necessarily eschew making positive arguments in defense of Christianity, but will argue that such arguments are not necessary for rational faith. If Calvin is right that human beings are born with an innate sensus divinitatis (sense of the divine), then people may rightly and rationallly come to have a belief in God immediately without the aid of evidence.
For the Reformed epistomologist, then, the focus will tend to be on negative or defensive apologetics as challenges to one’s theistic belief are encountered. On the positive side, however, the Reformed epistemologist will, in the words of Clark, ”encourage unbelievers to put themselves in situations where people are typically taken with belief in God” (…), attempting to awaken in them their latent sense of the divine.
The list of contemporary Reformed epistemologists includes this volume’s contributor, already noted, Kelly James Clark. But four other names that would head that list would be Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, George Mavrodes, and William Alson.
Again, let me say that these five apologetic methodologies do not constitute an exhaustive list of apologetic approaches. They do represent, however, the most well-known and popular argumentative strategies in the scholarly apologetics community. It is my hope, as well as that of the other contributors, that this work promotes additional fruitful discussion of apologetic methodology and proves to be of service to the church universal and our Lord Jesus Christ.
– Source: Cowan, Steven B. Editor, Five Views on Apologetics, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2000. Pages 15-20