Reconceiving philosophy of religion

Philosophers have long worked with conceptions of God inadequate to a God genuinely worthy of worship. A key inadequacy is the omission of a notion of divine severity appropriate to the idea of a God worthy of worship. As a result, many philosophers have misguided expectations for God, that is, expectations that fail to match what would be God's relevant purposes, if God exists. The latter purposes include what God aims to achieve in revealing to humans (the evidence of) God's reality and will. Misguided expectations for God can leave one looking for evidence for God in all the wrong places. The needed antidote calls for a careful reconsideration of our expectations for God, and enables us to approach religious epistemology in a way that does justice to the idea of a God worthy of worship. The article contends that the evidence available to humans from a God worthy of worship would not be for mere spectators, but instead would seek to challenge the will of humans to cooperate with God's perfect will, as in the case of the divine challenge from Gethsemane.