Our model of the God of Abraham expresses a theory of rationality called " Enlightened Freethinking" and is adapted from the philosophy of science. On this view, many Abrahamic traditional beliefs are potential explanations. They tell why certain data that need to be explained are the way they are ; they account for certain facts about human existence. When we believe them, we believe that they do a better job of explaining the data than the other explanatory hypotheses .
The task of rational discussion is to weigh competing explanations , whatever their respective sources, and to select the one or more that do the best job of explaining the data at hand. Accomplishing this task involves making religious beliefs available to intersubjective assessment--translating them into the terms, and connecting them with the kinds of evidence, that will make them genuinely discussable by a broad community of inquiry that comprises believers and nonbelievers alike.
Enlightened Freethinking is the philosophy that best leads to public truth about the relation of nature, humanity, and the God of Abraham.
