TOWARDS A REFORMED EPISTEMOLOGY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE
JOHN GROSVENOR SHORTT
Ph D Thesis
University of London Institute of Education
•.. ( LONDIN. ■UNIV. ,/
- 1 - Abstract of Thesis
This thesis examines Reformed epistemology as it finds expression in the writings of Abraham Kuyper, Cornelius Van Til and Alvin Plantinga. It seeks to develop three main themes of this kind of approach in order to see whether they constitute an adequate foundation for a coherent account of faith and to examine their significance for educational theory.
The themes studied are: belief in God may be properly basic in a rational noetic structure; divine revelation can be self- authenticating; and sin has noetic effects. Discussion of the third of these is focused upon rational autonomy and, in particular, upon the form it takes in the pancritical rationalism of W. W. Bartley. The position developed is a moderate form of foundationalism which seeks to ground belief in God in an immediate awareness of him speaking through the propositions of scripture. It opposes an ideal of theonomous response to divine revelation to that of unlimited rational autonomy.
The study of educational issues commences with an examination of the relationship between a Reformed Christian worldview and educational (or other) theory construction and argues for the transformation from within of the areas of knowledge through the introduction into them of Christian presuppositions. In accordance with this strategy for the integration of faith and learning, a study is made of the implications of the Reformed critique of autonomy for educational aims and methods and for discussions of the issue of indoctrination. The final issue dealt with is that of whether or not it is right or necessary to set up separate schools of Reformed Christian and other outlooks in our contemporary pluralist society. The conclusion reached is that there is a place for good Reformed Christian schools but nevertheless the Reformed Christian teacher may, in good conscience, teach in a state school. CONTENTS
Introduction 6
Part One: Reformed Epistemology and Its Characteristic Themes
1 Some Examples of Reformed Epistemology 8 1.1 The Reformed Epistemology of Abraham Kuyper 9 1.1.1 The Noetic Effects of Sin 10 1.1.2 'Two Kinds of People and Two Kinds of Science' 12 1.1.3 Revelation in the Scriptures 14 1.2 The Reformed Epistemology of Cornelius Van Til 16 1.2.1 Two Basic Presuppositions 17 1.2.2 Self-Authenticating Revelation 19 1.2.3 The Noetic Effects of Sin 20 1.3 The Reformed Epistemology of Alvin Plantinga 21 1.3.1 Faith, Evidentialism and Classical Foundationalism 23 1.3.2 Faith, Evidentialism and Coherentism 26 1.3.3 The Proper Basicality of Belief in God 28 1.3.4 The Place of Argument and Apologetics 30 1.3.5 Sin and Cognitive Dysfunction 33
2 Belief in God is Properly Basic 36 2.1 Belief in God 37 2.2 Epistemic Justification 38 2.2.1 Normative and Evaluative Justification 39 2.2.2 Internalist and Externalist Justification 42 2.3 Foundationalism 44 2.3.1 The Regress Argument 46 2.4 Intuitionism 51 2.4.1 Immediate Awareness 53 2.4.2 Immediate Awareness of God? 58 2.4.3 Alternative Conceptual Schemes 63 2.4.4 The Epistemological Gap 68 2.5 The Basis of Meta-Justification 70 2.6 Summary 71 3 Revelation is Self-Authenticating 73 3.1 The Concept of Revelation 74 3.2 Revelation and Personal Knowledge 77 3.3 The Possibility of Divine Revelation 82 3.4 The Authentication of Divine Revelation 85 3.4.1 Divine Revelation and Evidence 87 3.4.2 Divine Revelation and Immediate Awareness 90 3.5 Summary 97
4 Sin has Noetic Effects 98 4.1 Autonomy 101 4.2 Three Kinds of Rationalism 103 4.3 Reason and Commitment 109 4.4 Some Problems in Pancritical Rationalism 116 4.4.1 Argument without Justification? 117 4.4.2 Commitment and Metacontexts 118 4.4.3 The Anthropocentricism of Bartley's Account 120 4.4.4 Self-Referential Incoherence in Bartley's Account 122 4.5 Summary and Some Concluding Remarks 123
Part Two: The Educational Significance of Reformed Epistemology
5 WOrldviews and Theory Construction 126 5.1 Complementarity 127 5.2 A Hierarchy of Perspectives? 133 5.3 Presuppositions 137 5.3.1 Approaches to the Integration of Faith and Learning 141 5.3.2 Presuppositionalist Approaches to Education 145 5.4 Some Concluding Remarks 155
6 Aims, Methods and the Critique of Autonomy 156 6.1 Indoctrination and Method 157 6.2 Indoctrination and Content 161 6.3 Indoctrination and Intention 165 6.4 Methods, Content and Basic Beliefs 168 6.5 Commitment, Neutrality and Impartiality 171 6.6 Non-Rational Methods and Basic Beliefs 176
4 7 Christian Education in a Pluralist Society 180 7.1 Christian Attitudes to Other Faiths