Doxastic and epistemological justification of religious beliefs in a secular age

Abstract

Although most of the world today is religious, there has always been resentment against religious beliefs, given that they are thought not to be empirically verifiable. This article examines the doxastic justification of religious belief. The article focusses on the question of whether faith can be epistemically justified in a secular age where scepticism towards religious claims is prevalent. The article draws insight from contemporary epistemological theories of justification to investigate if religious beliefs are rationally and logically viable today. To do this, the article argues that faith is a belief-forming process which is first internalised before it is practised. Further, it argues that belief has a practical relevance in daily living. Furthermore, the article argues that religious beliefs can be epistemically justified because experience can be considered evidence. In the end, the article concludes that to be epistemologically unjustifiable, the internal witnesses of a religious belief must contradict its praxis.

Contribution: This article contributes to the ongoing debate by arguing that rather than placing the burden of proof on the religious worshipper to epistemically justify their beliefs, the evidentialists and contemporary critics of Christianity have the burden of proof for their claims against the Christian religious beliefs.