Introduction to the epistemology of religion

Because the second half of the twentieth century witnessed a great renaissance in the philosophy of religion in the Anglo-American sphere, and one of the reasons for that renaissance was the emergence of prominent philosophers in the Western world, who brought the discussion of traditional religious doctrinal issues back into the philosophical arena after they had been excluded under the influence of anti-religious philosophies such as logical positivism. Contributing to this also was the emergence of some scientific theories and discoveries with philosophical implications supporting the theistic belief, such as the Big Bang theory supporting the occurrence of the universe, and the discovery of DNA indicating the existence of an intelligent designer. In the midst of this renaissance, the arguments for the divine were dusted off, developed, and critiqued, and new forms of arguments for the existence of God appeared, as well as increased recognition of non-theistic religions, which were previously absent. To this introduction, a translation was added of a paper written by the American analytic philosopher Alvin Plantinga, titled "Is Belief in God a Properly Basic Belief?". In it, he summarized his thesis regarding the epistemological stance on the evidential objection to the existence of God.