ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the process of assessing the truth of the Christian religious system. The same considerations are relevant to assessing the truth of rival religious and non-religious systems. ‘Justification’ and similar terms such as ‘warrant’ can be spelled out in different ways, and analytic philosophers have investigated whether religious claims are justified or warranted in different senses. Atheists have always recognized the need to face up to the fundamental questions of the meaning and justification of religious claims and to settle them by the best available secular criteria. The chapter aims to show that the Christian theological tradition is very familiar indeed with the use of the best available secular criteria to clarify and justify religious claims. Analytical philosophy of religion, having somewhat better tools than earlier theologians, can do the job a bit better. The existence of God might be accepted on authority or as a result of religious experience.
