Dr. Ron Mourad specializes in the philosophy of religion and Christian theology.  While teaching a broad range of courses in these areas, his scholarship focuses on the epistemology of religion and its implications for theological method.  In particular, he has written about religious uses of transcendental arguments, Reformed epistemology, religious experience and Christian mysticism, the ethics of belief, the place of religious convictions in political and academic discourse, and the distinctiveness of theological criteria of truth.  He is currently writing a series of articles on the concept and ethics of religious faith.

Courses

• RS101 Introduction to Western Religions

• RS131 Introduction to Christian Thought

• RS232 Faith and Reason

• RS234 Philosophy of Religion

• RS242 Christian Ethics

• RS250 Mysticism and Ecstasy

• RS270 Liberation Theology

• LA101 Religion and Science

• HSP135 Religion and Politics

Education

• Ph.D. Philosophy of Religion, University of Chicago, 2002

• M.A. Divinity, University of Chicago, 1995

• B.A. Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1994; graduated summa cum laude and with distinction

Career

• Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Albion College, 2007-present.

• Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Albion College, 2001-2007.

• Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Calvin College, 1998

Publications

Books

• Transcendental Arguments and Justified Christian Belief, University Press of America, 2005.
• Jeanne Guyon: Selected Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality, co-edited and introduction co-authored with Dianne Guenin-Lelle, Paulist Press, forthcoming 2011.

Journal articles

• “Choosing to Believe,” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion (February 2008); reprinted in Ethics of Belief: Essays in Tribute to D.Z. Phillips, edited by Eugene Thomas Long and Patrick Horn (Springer Publishing, 2008).
• “Religiosity, Religious Doubt, and the Need for Cognition: Their Interactive Relationship with Life Satisfaction,” Journal of Happiness Studies (2006), co-author.
• “Argumentative Justification and Religious Experience,” Journal of Religion, July 2005.
• “Proper Function and Justified Christian Belief,” Journal of Religion, October 2001.
• “Credibility and Warrant in Theology: An Epistemological Synthesis,” American Journal of Theology and Philosophy, May 2000.

Online Publications

• Response to “Justification and Truth, Relativism and Pragmatism: Reflections on Indian Philosophy and its Lessons for Religious Studies” by Dan Arnold.  The Religion & Culture Web Forum (November 2006).  The Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion.

Book Reviews

• Review of Paul K. Moser’s The Elusive God: Reorienting Religious Epistemology in the Journal of Religion (October 2009).
• Review of Stephen Davis’s Christian Philosophical Theology in the Journal of Religion (January 2008).
• Review of J. L. Schellenberg’s Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion in the Journal of Religion, January 2007.
• Review of William Rowe’s Can God Be Free? in the Journal of Religion, October 2005.
• Review of Paul Helm, Faith with Reason in the Journal of Religion, April 2002.
• Review of Sue Patterson, Realist Christian Theology in a Postmodern Age in the Journal of Religion, April 2001.

Conference Papers

• “Choosing to Believe,” Claremont Philosophy of Religion Conference, Claremont, California, 2007.
• "Christian Reasons, Secular Reason," Midwest American Academy of Religion Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, 2005.
• "Language Use as a Transcendental-Pragmatic Condition of Experience," National American Academy of Religion Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, 2004.
• "University Theology and Public Religion," Midwest American Academy of Religion Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, 2004.
• "Justifying the Justification of Christian Beliefs," Midwest American Academy of Religion Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, 2003.
• "Theology as a Public Medium," Midwest American Academy of Religion Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, 2002.
• "Schubert Ogden's Criteria of Credibility," Martin Marty Center, University of Chicago, 2000.