apologetics

Unapologetic Review – Part 1

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John Loftus’ new book has just been released: Unapologetic: Why Philosophy of Religion Must End (Durham, NC: Pitchstone Publishing, 2016) My copy arrived from Amazon by UPS yesterday. The text starts on page 7 (the Forward); the introduction starts on page 11, and the main body of the text ends on page 235.  There is … Unapologetic Review – Part 1

Does Theism Explain the Necessity of Moral Truths?

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The book, Does God Exist? The Craig-Flew Debate, contains a transcript of the debate between William Lane Craig and Antony Flew, responses by eight commentators, and final responses by Craig and Flew. Many of the commentators, including some of the theists, sharply criticized Craig’s moral argument for God’s existence because, they argued, some moral truths are … Does Theism Explain the Necessity of Moral Truths?

Geisler’s Five Ways – Part 6: Arguments for the Intelligence of the Creator

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Here is my version of Geisler’s first argument in Phase 2 of his case for God: ARGUMENT #1 OF PHASE 2 10a. Only a being with great power could create the whole universe by itself, and only a being with great power could sustain the existence of the whole universe by itself  (for even just one moment). 11a. There is a being that both (a) created … Geisler’s Five Ways – Part 6: Arguments for the Intelligence of the Creator

Geisler’s Five Ways – Part 5: The Gap Between Phase 1 and Phase 2

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Here is my version of Geisler’s first argument in Phase 2 of his case for God:   ARGUMENT #1 OF PHASE 2   10a. Only a being with great power could create the whole universe by itself, and only a being with great power could sustain the existence of the whole universe by itself  (for even just one moment).   11a. There is a being that … Geisler’s Five Ways – Part 5: The Gap Between Phase 1 and Phase 2

Geisler’s Five Ways – Part 4: Phase Two of Geisler’s Case for God

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It is tempting to jump right into a critique of Geisler’s five initial arguments.  However, my first priority is to sketch out the logic of Geisler’s case for the existence of God in When Skeptics Ask (hereafter: WSA), and, as I have previously argued (in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), the five arguments are merely the first phase … Geisler’s Five Ways – Part 4: Phase Two of Geisler’s Case for God

Geisler’s Five Ways – Part 2: How Many Arguments for God?

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In Chapter  2 of When Skeptics Ask (hereafter: WSA), Norman Geisler appears to present five different arguments for the existence of God.  However, there are some significant problems with this characterization of Geisler’s case for God.   NONE of the five arguments end with the conclusion that “God exists”.  In fact, only his first argument even mentions the word “God”, … Geisler’s Five Ways – Part 2: How Many Arguments for God?

Dream a Little Dream of Me

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Barry Leventhal thinks that Jesus appears to people in dreams. (www.christianpost.com/news/jesus-still-appears-to-people-in-dreams-even-god-haters-christian-apologist-says-170855/) His claim isn’t that people have dreams in which Jesus figures as part of the dream, but rather that Jesus, himself, appears in the dream. I suspect that Leventhal does not think that every dream involving Jesus counts as an appearance of him, though. … Dream a Little Dream of Me

Geisler’s Five Ways

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Norman Geisler is a Thomist.  His case for the existence of God is basically a simplified, clarified, and somewhat modified version of the case for God made by Thomas Aqinas in Summa Theologica.  Geisler borrows the basic logical structure of the case for God made by Aquinas, as well as some of the specific sub-arguments … Geisler’s Five Ways