Experience of God and the Rationality of Theistic Belief

Jerome I. Gellman

Published by Cornell University Press 1997

Experience of God and the Rationality of Theistic Belief

Jerome I. Gellman

In the series Cornell Studies in the Philosophy of Religion

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501735400

Overview
Contents

About this book

Jerome I. Gellman observes that the mystic experience of God's presence, a sense of having direct contact with the divine, often compels belief in God's existence. On the basis of widely accepted principles connecting appearance with reality, Gellman contends, the claims people make of having experienced God show that belief in God is strongly rational, meaning that such claims are sufficient in number and variety to support a line of reasoning making it rational to believe that God exists and irrational to deny God's existence.

Gellman considers challenges to his thinking based on epistemological grounds and challenges growing out of the diversity of religious experiences across the range of world religions. He thoroughly evaluates reductionist explanations of apparent experiences of God and finds them incapable of invalidating his view.

Finally, he directs his attention to the two most compelling arguments against the existence of God: the charge that the idea of a perfect being is logically incoherent, and the threat to theism based on the existence of evil, in both its logical and probabilistic forms. Until and unless stronger objections come along, he concludes, personal experiences of God constitute sufficient evidence of God's existence.

Author / Editor information

Jerome I. Gellman is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He is the author of The Fear, the Trembling, and the Fire: Kierkegaard and Hasidic Masters on the Binding of Isaac.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. “Experience of God” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	12
2. The Argument Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
3. On Not Experiencing God—Objections to the Argument Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
4. God and Religious Diversity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
5. Reductionism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	122
6. Evidence against God’s Existence I Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	150
7. Evidence against God’s Existence II Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	202
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 224
Keywords: Religious Studies; Philosophy

eBook

Published: May 15, 2019
ISBN: 9781501735400