Reformed epistemology
E195110
epistemological theory
position in religious epistemology
theory of justified belief
view in philosophy of religion
Reformed epistemology is a school of thought in religious epistemology that argues belief in God can be rational and properly basic without requiring inferential evidence or arguments.
All labels observed (3)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Reformed epistemology canonical | 13 |
| Reformed epistemology (presuppositional) | 1 |
| Reformed epistemology movement | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1723239 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Reformed epistemology Context triple: [Alvin Plantinga, philosophicalSchool, Reformed epistemology]
-
A.
On Faith and Reason
"On Faith and Reason" is a section of the First Vatican Council’s dogmatic constitution *Dei Filius* that articulates the Catholic Church’s teaching on the harmonious relationship between human reason and divine revelation.
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B.
Skepticism and Naturalism: Some Varieties
Skepticism and Naturalism: Some Varieties is a collection of influential lectures by philosopher P. F. Strawson that examines the tension between skeptical doubt and a naturalistic understanding of human knowledge and practice.
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C.
Belief: Readings on the Reason for Faith
"Belief: Readings on the Reason for Faith" is a collection of essays and reflections edited by geneticist Francis Collins that explores the relationship between science, reason, and religious faith.
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D.
The Problem of Knowledge
The Problem of Knowledge is a 1956 philosophical work by A. J. Ayer that critically examines the nature, limits, and justification of human knowledge within the analytic tradition.
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E.
The Problem of Knowledge
The Problem of Knowledge is a major philosophical work by Ernst Cassirer that examines the historical development and foundations of human knowledge from the Renaissance to modern science.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Reformed epistemology Target entity description: Reformed epistemology is a school of thought in religious epistemology that argues belief in God can be rational and properly basic without requiring inferential evidence or arguments.
-
A.
On Faith and Reason
"On Faith and Reason" is a section of the First Vatican Council’s dogmatic constitution *Dei Filius* that articulates the Catholic Church’s teaching on the harmonious relationship between human reason and divine revelation.
-
B.
Skepticism and Naturalism: Some Varieties
Skepticism and Naturalism: Some Varieties is a collection of influential lectures by philosopher P. F. Strawson that examines the tension between skeptical doubt and a naturalistic understanding of human knowledge and practice.
-
C.
Belief: Readings on the Reason for Faith
"Belief: Readings on the Reason for Faith" is a collection of essays and reflections edited by geneticist Francis Collins that explores the relationship between science, reason, and religious faith.
-
D.
The Problem of Knowledge
The Problem of Knowledge is a 1956 philosophical work by A. J. Ayer that critically examines the nature, limits, and justification of human knowledge within the analytic tradition.
-
E.
The Problem of Knowledge
The Problem of Knowledge is a major philosophical work by Ernst Cassirer that examines the historical development and foundations of human knowledge from the Renaissance to modern science.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
epistemological theory
ⓘ
position in religious epistemology ⓘ theory of justified belief ⓘ view in philosophy of religion ⓘ |
| addresses |
justification of theistic belief
ⓘ
rationality of religious belief ⓘ warrant for belief in God ⓘ |
| allows | natural theology as a possible but not necessary support for theistic belief ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
Alvin Plantinga
ⓘ
George Mavrodes ⓘ Kelly James Clark ⓘ Michael C. Rea ⓘ Nicholas Wolterstorff ⓘ William Alston ⓘ |
| claims |
belief in God can be grounded in a sensus divinitatis
ⓘ
belief in God can be properly basic in the absence of defeaters ⓘ theistic belief can be warranted if formed by properly functioning cognitive faculties ⓘ |
| compatibleWith | Christian theism ⓘ |
| contrastsWith |
classical natural theology as a necessary basis for theistic belief
ⓘ
evidentialism about religious belief ⓘ |
| coreClaim |
belief in God can be properly basic
ⓘ
belief in God can be rational without inferential evidence ⓘ belief in God can have warrant apart from propositional evidence ⓘ theistic belief need not be based on arguments to be justified ⓘ there are non‑inferential grounds for belief in God ⓘ |
| criticizedBy | evidentialist philosophers ⓘ |
| criticizedFor |
allegedly lowering standards for rational belief
ⓘ
allegedly permitting fideism ⓘ |
| denies | evidentialist requirement that all rational belief in God must be based on evidence or argument ⓘ |
| developedIn | late 20th century ⓘ |
| field |
analytic philosophy
ⓘ
philosophy of religion ⓘ religious epistemology ⓘ |
| influenced | contemporary debates on religious belief and rationality ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
Dutch Reformed tradition
ⓘ
linked to:
Dutch Reformed Church
John Calvin ⓘ Reformed theology ⓘ
linked to:
Calvinism
|
| keyConcept |
basic beliefs
ⓘ
defeater ⓘ non‑inferential justification ⓘ properly basic belief ⓘ sensus divinitatis ⓘ warrant ⓘ |
| opposes | classical foundationalism about religious belief ⓘ |
| relatedWork |
Alvin Plantinga’s book "Warrant and Proper Function"
ⓘ
Alvin Plantinga’s book "Warranted Christian Belief" ⓘ
linked to:
Warranted Christian Belief
Nicholas Wolterstorff’s book "Reason within the Bounds of Religion" ⓘ |
| respondsTo | objections that theistic belief is irrational without evidence ⓘ |
| usesFramework | Plantinga’s proper functionalist account of warrant ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Reformed epistemology Description of subject: Reformed epistemology is a school of thought in religious epistemology that argues belief in God can be rational and properly basic without requiring inferential evidence or arguments.
Referenced by (15)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Reformed epistemology
subject linked to:
Nicholas Wolterstorff’s book "Reason within the Bounds of Religion"
subject linked to:
Nicholas Wolterstorff’s book "Reason within the Bounds of Religion"
linked to: Reformed epistemology