Theology in Search of Foundations

This monograph examines the contemporary crisis in theological methodology and proposes a moderate foundationalist approach to theological knowledge. Rauser addresses the widespread abandonment of classical foundationalism in theology following criticisms from philosophers like Wilfrid Sellars and Richard Rorty, while arguing that theology cannot simply embrace postmodern anti-foundationalism without losing its claim to truth and rationality.

The work develops through three main movements. First, Rauser surveys the collapse of Enlightenment foundationalism and its impact on theological method, examining how theologians have responded to challenges against the existence of self-evident beliefs and incorrigible foundations. He engages critically with non-foundationalist alternatives, including coherentism and Reformed epistemology, demonstrating their inadequacies for grounding theological claims.

Second, the author constructs a reformed version of foundationalism that avoids the pitfalls of its classical predecessor while maintaining the possibility of justified belief. This moderate foundationalism acknowledges that foundational beliefs need not be indubitable or self-evident but can be properly basic in appropriate circumstances. Rauser draws on recent developments in epistemology, particularly the work of Robert Audi and William Alston, to show how beliefs can be non-inferentially justified without claiming certainty.

Third, Rauser applies this epistemological framework specifically to theological knowledge, arguing that certain religious experiences and beliefs can function as proper foundations for theological systems. He defends the rationality of taking experiences of God as evidential, while acknowledging the need for critical scrutiny and communal verification. The work engages substantively with religious skeptics and naturalistic critics who deny the veridicality of religious experience.

The monograph makes an important contribution by navigating between dogmatic fundamentalism and relativistic postmodernism in theological method. Rauser demonstrates that theology need not abandon rational foundations entirely in response to postmodern critique, nor must it cling to outdated Cartesian certainty. His moderate position allows theology to maintain claims about truth and reality while acknowledging human fallibility and the contextual nature of knowledge.

This work matters for the God debate because it addresses the fundamental question of whether religious and theological claims can have rational justification in a post-foundationalist intellectual context. By defending a sophisticated form of foundationalism, Rauser provides resources for theologians to make truth claims about God without retreating into fideism or succumbing to skeptical defeaters.