Why this book?
- To understand the relation between faith and reason in contemporary philosophy of religion.
- To become familiar with the rationality of religious belief in the Christian philosophical tradition.
- To read a clear text on theism, skepticism, and natural theology.
- For readers who want to begin philosophy of religion without unnecessary complexity.
About the book
What Is Faith? is a collection of Anthony Kenny’s essays and lectures on one of the fundamental questions in philosophy of religion: can religious faith be rational and intellectually defensible? Kenny does not treat faith merely as religious feeling or as the ungrounded acceptance of propositions; rather, he examines it in relation to reason, evidence, trust, and intellectual virtue.
The book develops along two main lines. First, it examines the nature of belief in God and the justification of faith, addressing the rationality of religious belief, the possibility of reasonable belief, and the views of philosophers such as Wittgenstein and Plantinga. It then turns to natural theology, where arguments such as the design argument, the ontological argument, and the causal argument are discussed alongside the problem of evil.
The book’s importance lies in Kenny’s refusal of easy or rhetorical answers. He does not regard faith as independent of reason, nor does he take skepticism to be the only philosophically justified position. This work is suitable for readers interested in philosophy of religion, reason and faith, theism, natural theology, and the problem of evil, and who want to enter these debates through a text that is accessible yet serious.