The dissertation is a study of the connection between justification and truth. It presents and critically discusses various ways of construing the connection. A dilemma is argued for to the effect that any construal of the connection is defective, while any theory of epistemic justification that ignores the connection incurs an explanatory deficit. The objective construal of the connection between epistemic justification and truth views such justification as probabilistic. A currently popular version of this view is a theory called Reliabilism. This theory is discussed in terms of both intuitive and purely logical considerations. Another way to cast out the connection between justification and truth is subjectively. It might be claimed that a subject must have beliefs about the connection between his evidence and the truth of the proposition he believes. This approach is characteristic of coderence theories. These theories are assessed with respect to their psychological reality. Since objective and doxastic construals of the connection between epistemic justification and truth fail, theories which eschew a truth connection altogether are discussed. Such an approach is characteristic of foundations theories. It is argued that these theories fail to achieve a level of generality that provides very much insight into the nature of epistemic justification. The final section of the dissertation is a detailed discussion of naturalized epistemology. The stalking horse is Fred Dretske's information-theoretic approach which relies on a very strong truth connection. The lessons of the previous chapters are applied to Dretske's theory demonstrating its inability to account for the normative aspects of epistemic justification.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-111).

This dissertation demonstrates that Richard Hooker’s doctrine of justification, as reflected in his <i>A learned Discourse of Justification, Workes, and How the Foundation of Faith is Overthrown, </i> continues the Protestant tradition of Lutheran and Reformed theology, in spite of various claims which associate Hooker with Catholicism and <i>via media </i>Anglicanism.  Though it stays in the line established by W. J. Torrance Kirby and Nigel Atkinson, who limited their arguments in favour of Hooker’s Reformed theology to Martin Luther and John Calvin, this thesis makes reference also to Philip Melanchthon, Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Bucer and Theodore Beza.  As a result of the fact that the vast majority of studies in Richard Hooker’s theology have concentrated on his later theology of the <i>Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, </i>this dissertation is limited to his early theology and more specifically, to his <i>A Learned Discourse of Justification.  </i> The first chapter is an updated study in Richard Hooker scholarship, with comments on the most important works in the field.  The next three chapters present fundamental aspects of the doctrine of justification in Lutheran, Early Reformed, and Classical Reformed theology with special reference to the ideas which were taken over by Richard Hooker himself.  A chapter on the doctrine of justification in the time of Richard Hooker follows and introduces the debates which shaped his soteriology.  The last four chapters provide a detailed analysis and some concluding remarks on Richard Hooker’s understanding of justification and especially on his concept of righteousness as the essence of justification.  The righteousness of justification as objective faith centres on Hooker’s concern with the salvation of Catholics, which provides the starting point of his minute analysis of justification.  The practical implications of this doctrine are revealed in Hooker’s treatment of the righteousness of sanctification as subjective faith, which discloses his fundamental belief in the importance of Scripture for the salvation of humanity.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Master's Seminary, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-114).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-111).

Diss.-- Franeker (J. Coyter, defendant).

Thesis (M.A.)--Reformed Theological Seminary, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-81).

Thesis (M.A.)--Reformed Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-98).

Thesis (S.T.M.)--Concordia Seminary, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-163).

Thesis (M.A.)--Reformed Theological Seminary, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-81).