Probability and Theistic Explanation: (Oxford Theological Monographs)

The past twenty years have seen a revival of interest in the epistemic of religious belief. Two philosophers who have led the way are Basil Mitchell and Richard Swinburne. Both believe that religious belief can be justified using inductive `best explanation' arguments. However, their similarity ends there. Swinburne's approach is formal, utilizing the calculus of Bayes's Theorem in assessing the weight of the evidence; Mitchell's is informal due to his recognition of judgement as central to such assessment. This book is the first full-length comparison of these two styles of justifying religious belief.

Table of Contents:
Evil and theistic explanation; evaluative criteria and Bayes's theorem; informal reasoning and religious belief; theism as an explanatory hypothesis; causality, meaning, and the concept of God; necessity and explantion; the concept of God and natural theology.

Review :
`The argument is considered clearly and persuasively, and the book as a whole could serve as a good introduction to contemporary philosophy of religion.' Theology `His treatment is careful, critical, well documented ... His complex and well-informed argument is well worth following through in detail ... The book is in every way excellently presented with accessible footnotes and a good reference list of related books.' Expository Times `This book is well set out, clearly written and unjargonized. The demise of natural theology has, it would seem, been prematurely announced.' Bernard M.G. Reardon, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Religion, (1991) `This book makes an extremely useful and interesting contribution to the increasingly sophisticated literature on the philosophy of religion that characterizes the Anglo-American philosophical scene today....philosophers of religion will, and theologians should, be grateful to the author for the lucidity and power of these investigations.' Brian Hebblethwaite, Journal of Theological Studies 'This book makes an extremely useful and interesting contribution to the increasingly sophisticated literature on the philosophy of religion that characterizes the Anglo-American philosophical scene today ... philosophers of religion will, and theologians should, be grateful to the author for the lucidity and power of these investigations.' Brian Hebblethwaite 'His treatment if careful, critical, well documented ... His complex and well-informed argument is well worth following through in detail ... The book is in every way excellently presented with accessible footnotes and a good reference list of related books.' J.C.A. Gaskin, The Expository Times 'Prevost's presentation is an important contribution ... Prevost's prescriptions lend a sympathetic ear to the traditional explanatory testimonies that lie at the heart of all religious belief.' Frank D. Schubert, Rice University, Journal of American Academy of Religion 61,1, Spring 1993