 In the realm of special revelation, there are also theories of direct, perceptual justification. William Alston has argued for the possibility that God could be (nonsensorially) perceived, and that such “mystical perception” can justify beliefs about God (Alston 1991). Different religions have different, socially established “doxastic practices” (belief-forming habits) built on purported experiences of God. Appealing to the parity argument, Alston contends that such mystical practices can be on more or less equal footing, epistemically, with basic doxastic practices such as sense-perceptual and memory-based belief-forming. In general, basic doxastic practices cannot be shown to be reliable without circularity, but if they are socially established and their outputs are reasonably internally consistent and consistent with the outputs of other practices, they can be rationally engaged in. The case for the rationality of a doxastic practice is also strengthened if it generates significant “self-support”—for example by making predictions that are later confirmed.