ABSTRACT
Most analytic philosophers of religion pay scant attention to the history of their discipline, although many see some level of continuity between their own aims and those of their predecessors, even if the methods need drastically revamping. The eighteenth century is particularly significant. It is commonly accepted that the philosophy of religion in its current form originated with the criticisms levelled at religion during the European Enlightenment. This is of critical importance because the historical precedent gives analytic philosophy of religion a substantive part of its legitimacy. The justification of belief against the atheist unbeliever is confirmed as the primary purpose of the discipline and religious claims are consolidated as propositions of fact to be judged objectively through the methods of science. Natural theology is then interpreted as the attempt to claim that a proof of theism can be achieved through reason or empirical evidence independently of any faith conviction, thereby achieving a significant degree of certainty.
