Rationality and Religious Traditions: An Epistemological Approach to Theology of Religions

Abstract

precis: Drawing on the work of Alasdair MacIntyre, I argue that it is possible to evaluate the epistemic standing of religious traditions by comparing the narrative history of their epistemic progress and looking for places where there is asymmetry. Specifically, I consider the Christian and Islamic traditions and the extent to which each has been able to resolve respective problems concerning the issue of divine action that has been raised in light of modern science. Explicit in this argument is that questions of epistemology can be distinguished from those of soteriology. Thus, denying the truth of a particular tradition does not have to result in denying its authentic spiritual connection or its soteriological standing.