ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the application of empiricism to religious belief. Lockes approach seems to destroy the distinction between faith and reason by insisting that religious belief be reasonable. The chapter considers three arguments: the argument from design, which claims to prove that the universe was created by intelligence; the argument that we can know his intentions from religious books such as the Bible or Koran because they report miracles that can be supported by empirical evidence; and arguments from religious experience and mystical states. It deals with design, Hume’s criticisms and the effect of Darwin’s theory of natural selection on the question. A similar view is defended by Locke, but with some significant differences. He agrees that faith is above reason, but disagrees about which is dominant. Locke agrees that miracles are the criterion, but offers a detailed theory of how “reason guides faith” and seems to make faith a compartment of reason.
