Disturbing the public
The atheist blogosphere (to the extent that there is such a thing) seems convulsed about the question about whether public advocacy of atheism etc. is a good idea—after all, maybe the public can’t handle it. (I’ll just mention a post by Jason Rosenhouse; follow the links back from him if you’re at all interested.) Everybody’s … Disturbing the public
Swinburne’s Case for God – Part 4
Swinburne makes use of Bayes’ Theorem in presenting most of the a posteriori arguments for and against God in The Existence of God (EOG), and he makes significant use of it in summing up his case for God. Although his argument can be presented without using Bayes’ Theorem, I want to stick closely to Swinburne’s … Swinburne’s Case for God – Part 4
Swinburne’s Case for God – Part 3
Before we look at the a posteriori arguments that Swinburne presents and evaluates in The Existence of God (EOG), I should briefly describe his views on a priori arguments for and against the existence of God.In Chapter 1 of EOG, Swinburne mentions an assumption that his case for God makes:In reaching my final conclusion about … Swinburne’s Case for God – Part 3
DoSER
After my presentation Friday at the AAAS meeting, I stopped by the reception of DoSER (AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion). It was interesting, but my impression was that this was a bunch of people trying to keep the peace by setting aside discordant voices: Dawkins-style nonbelievers and Discovery Institute-style believers. (In other words, … DoSER
Swinburne’s Case for God – Part 2
Swinburne’s case for God (in The Existence of God, 2nd ed.) can be summed up this way:1. Based on evidence other than religious experience, the existence of God is not very improbable.2. If based on evidence other than religious experience, the existence of God is not very improbable, then the evidence from religious experience (in … Swinburne’s Case for God – Part 2
Swinburne’s Case for God – Part 1
Richard Swinburne summarizes his case for God in the final pages of the final chapter of The Existence of God: …all that my conclusion so far amounts to is that it is something like as probable as not that theism is true, on the evidence so far considered. However, so far in this chapter I … Swinburne’s Case for God – Part 1
Froese, Bader, and the compatibility of science and religion
I just finished Paul Froese and Christopher Bader’s America’s Four Gods, which was a very interesting survey of American religious beliefs analyzed according to four major conceptions of God: the Authoritative God, the Benevolent God, and the Distant God. It’s well worth reading. Still, I have to gripe about something that appears on page 145. … Froese, Bader, and the compatibility of science and religion
How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’ – Part 6
In the last post on this subject (Part 5), I claimed that one can generate over 5,000,000 definitions of ‘divine person’ from a set of five divine attributes.In reflecting over my previous analysis of how many definitions one can generate from a set of just four divine attributes (power, knowledge, freedom, goodness), I noticed that … How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’ – Part 6
How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’? – Part 5
I have previously shown that using just four divine attributes (power, knowledge, freedom, goodness) that can occur in four different degrees (human, superhuman, perfect, eternally perfect), one can create more than 200,000 definitions of ‘divine person’. That is not quite as impressive as the estimate of three million definitions that I made initially, based on … How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’? – Part 5
A Simple Statement of the Problem of Evil
I have been trying to come up with a statement of the problem of evil that is comprehensible to undergraduates. Below is my draft. It makes for a rather long post, but any comments, suggestions, or criticisms would be appreciated. A SIMPLE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM OF EVIL Believers tell us that God is good. … A Simple Statement of the Problem of Evil