Warrant and religious belief › Extending the model to Christian belief

General awareness of God would not by itself yield beliefs about the Trinity, incarnation, atonement, or resurrection. Plantinga therefore develops an extended model for specifically Christian belief. Distinguishing the two models prevents an unexplained jump from theism to Christianity.

The extended model includes Scripture and the internal instigation of the Holy Spirit. Within its theological account, the Spirit enables people to recognize the truth of the gospel and changes their affections. The model concerns both belief and the orientation of the person, rather than the acquisition of religious information alone.

This is not an argument that any reader must accept Scripture's divine authority because Christians believe it. It is an account of how Christian belief could be warranted if the Christian picture is true. Someone who rejects that picture can still understand the proposed connection between the truth of the religion and the way belief in it might be produced.

In chapter 10, Plantinga distinguishes progressively stronger conclusions. The extended model depicts a way Christian belief could have warrant. He also argues that, given its truth, there are no cogent objections to its having warrant in this way. Finally, he argues that, given its truth, it very likely has warrant through this model or something similar.

The final qualification matters. The claim is not that Christianity's truth logically entails every detail of Plantinga's particular model. Nor is it that every person who assents to a Christian proposition therefore knows it. The account concerns suitable processes and circumstances, sufficient degree of warrant, and the challenge posed by defeaters.