Why does belief in God require less evidence than other beliefs?

Space · Published 27 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Some philosophers argue that faith in the divine is 'properly basic'—a foundational starting point for knowledge that requires no further proof. Michael Tooley challenges this, asking a piercing question: if an all-powerful deity exists, why would their presence be anything less than unmistakably obvious to our senses?

In the philosophy of epistemology, a 'properly basic' belief is one that is justified without being derived from other beliefs. Proponents often argue that religious faith fits this category, similar to how we trust our own perceptions or memories. However, Michael Tooley, an Emeritus Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, pushes back against this special treatment for the divine. Tooley questions the inherent asymmetry in these arguments. He asks why belief in God should be exempt from the standard requirements of evidence that we apply to every other claim about reality.

If a creator were responsible for the universe, Tooley suggests there is no logical reason why that existence could not be made perfectly clear and evident to human observation. This critique strikes at the heart of how we justify our most fundamental convictions. By highlighting this tension, Tooley invites us to reconsider whether religious belief is truly a foundational starting point or if it should be held to the same rigorous standards as any other claim about the nature of existence.

Tooley's work spans several decades of high-level academic inquiry into metaphysics and epistemology. His research encompasses various intricate subjects, such as perception's philosophy, skepticism's rebuttal, and induction's validation. His specific focus on the epistemological status of religious beliefs provides a rigorous framework for evaluating how we know what we think we know about the supernatural.

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