What is Faith – Part 6
I have noticed a problem of unclarity in my own thinking and writing about the Thomist view of faith. Before I go further in discussing Swinburne’s characterization of the Thomist view of faith, I want to briefly consider the point of unclarity or ambiguity in my previous discussion of this view of faith. I have … What is Faith – Part 6
What is Faith? – Part 5
We have been examining the Thomist view of faith, as characterized by Richard Swinburne in Faith and Reason (FAR). In order to avoid the implication that one must reason in a circle in order to have ‘faith in God’, a supporter of the Thomist view of faith can draw a distinction between beliefs about God … What is Faith? – Part 5
What is Faith? – Part 4
We have looked at a simple and widespread understanding of ‘faith in God’: Definition 1 Person P has faith in God IF AND ONLY IF P believes that God exists. One problem with Def. 1 is that the devil himself would have ‘faith in God’ based on this definition, and thus this could hardly be considered to … What is Faith? – Part 4
What is Faith? – Part 3
I said that I was not going to walk slowly through the rest of Chapter 4 of Faith and Reason (FAR), by Richard Swinburne. But there is a lot going on in the next few paragraphs of Chapter 4, and I find myself wanting to make several comments on them. So, contrary to my previous … What is Faith? – Part 3
What is Faith? – Part 2
What does the word “faith” mean? According to my dictionary (The American Heritage Dictionary, 2nd College Edition), the word “faith” has several different meanings: Definition 1: A confident belief in the truth, value, trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. Definition 2: Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. Definition 3: Loyalty … What is Faith? – Part 2
What is Faith? – Part 1
Some general observations to consider before attempting to answer the question “What is faith?”: 1. Don’t criticize what you can’t understand. Or better: Try to understand what faith is before you try to evaluate the goodness or badness of faith. 2. The word ‘faith’ has multiple definitions in any decent dictionary. The word ‘faith’ is … What is Faith? – Part 1
Happy Easter Dr. Craig
Last year I wrote several posts criticizing William Lane Craig’s case for the resurrection. Here are several excerpts from those posts (plus links, in case you want to read the full post from which an excerpt was taken): =========== Some Skeptical Thoughts on the Resurrection 1. Geisler vs. Craig Norman Geisler makes an excellent point … Happy Easter Dr. Craig
Artifacts Discovered in Dusty Academic Libraries Suggest WLC Once Participated in Fairly Matched Debates
LA MIRADA, CALIFORNIA–In a significant discovery that sheds new light on late twentieth century academic philosophy, researchers discovered new evidence this week suggesting that famed Christian debater William Lane Craig once participated in fairly matched debates with his opponents. The team of researchers–including Christian philosophers, theologians, altar boys, and vintage 1990s sweater enthusiasts–made the discovery this … Artifacts Discovered in Dusty Academic Libraries Suggest WLC Once Participated in Fairly Matched Debates
Swinburne’s Argument from Religious Experience – Part 6
I will now try to wrap up this series of posts on Swinburne’s Argument from Religious Experience (AFR). I don’t have any big bold conclusion that I’m driving toward, just a few observations, clarifications, and an objection or two. One thing I have done is to make use of the concepts of dependence and … Swinburne’s Argument from Religious Experience – Part 6
Geisler & Turek Rebuttal, Part 7: Chapter 8
Chapter 8. Miracles: Signs of God or Gullibility? As I read them, Geisler and Turek (G&T) seek to establish four points: (1) If God exists, then miracles are possible; (2) Hume’s argument against the credibility of miracle claims is a failure; (3) miracles can be used to confirm a message from God (i.e., as acts … Geisler & Turek Rebuttal, Part 7: Chapter 8