Is Plantinga-Style Christian Philosophy Really Philosophy?

Abstract

In this chapter John Schellenberg defends the proposal that the intellectual activity associated with Alvin Plantinga’s work on religion, a Reformed sort of Christian philosophy (RCP), isn’t properly regarded as being philosophy at all—not even philosophy of religion. Instead, Schellenberg argues that it is theology. He begins by clarifying how RCP should be understood. Then he presents and defends a condition he calls the Communal Condition, which says that to be doing philosophy one must aim not just to solve certain fundamental problems, or contribute thereto, but to do so together with like-minded others in a shared enterprise leading to informed consensus. Finally, Schellenberg defends the view that, although it satisfies very well a condition sufficient for something to count as theology, RCP cannot satisfy the Communal Condition.