SYNCRETISM AND THEISTIC RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES: A PHILOSOPHICAL DISCUSSION ABOUT BLENDS OF BELIEF IN THE CONTEXT OF THEISM

Abstract

In this paper, I consider syncretic processes as generators of syncretic beliefs and discuss the question of whether the religious believer, especially the theist believer, would have reasons for trusting in the beliefs that arise from this process. I intend to answer the following specific question: Is the theist, specially the Christian theist, justified in forming and maintaining syncretic beliefs? However, the answer to the specific question is dependent on an answer to a broad question, namely, whether a believer in general is justified in forming and maintaining syncretic beliefs. For this reason, much of this article will focus on the broad question to later answer the specific question. I will argue that both in the case of syncretic beliefs in general and in the case of syncretic-theistic beliefs in particular, defeaters are unsustainable, and a religious believer has good reasons to maintain syncretic beliefs