Can I Be Obliged to Believe?

We build an argument directed to agnostics who think there's a realistic possibility some specific revelatory claim is true (for instance, the Christian, or Judaic, or Islamic claim) and who find that claim more plausible than its theistic competitors. Though such agnostics may have serious reservations about the claim, perhaps not even deeming the chance it's true to be at least fifty-fifty, we contend that-surprisingly-it's obligatory for them to assent to the claim if it provides a means for remediation of wrong-doing. Our focus is the Christian revelatory claim, but the argument's template can be applied to other religions that, like Christianity, promise to fix the world's ills in an afterlife.

Automated summary

This article is directed towards agnostics who find some specific revelatory claim more plausible than theistic competitors and argues that they have an obligation to assent to the claim if it offers a means for remediation of wrong-doing. The focus is on the Christian revelatory claim, but the argument's template can be applied to other religions that promise to fix the world's problems in an afterlife.