An epistemological corrective to doctrines of assurance
Abstract
Many Christian traditions affirm a doctrine of assurance. According to this doctrine, those who are saved have assurance of their own salvation; that is, the doctrine of assurance tells us that the elect can know their status as elect. In this paper, I explore two developments of the doctrine of assurance by theologians (i.e. John Calvin & Kenneth Keathley) and argue that they fail to accommodate the fallibilistic nature of human knowing. I then develop a fallibilistic doctrine of assurance, which makes such assurance available to most Christians, and respond to an objection from the camp of pragmatic encroachment.
Citation
Rutledge , J C 2017 , ' An epistemological corrective to doctrines of assurance ' , European Journal for Philosophy of Religion , vol. 9 , no. 1 , pp. 163-177 . https://doi.org/10.24204/ejpr.v9i1.1869
Publication
European Journal for Philosophy of Religion
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1689-8311Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright (c) 2017 European Journal for Philosophy of Religion. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at https://doi.org/10.24204/ejpr.v9i1.1869
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