Jesus: True Prophet or False Prophet? – Part 1
In his book The Resurrection of God Incarnate, Richard Swinburne argues that the case for the resurrection of Jesus must include three major components: I. General Background Evidence – evidence for and against the existence of God, and evidence about whether and why God would be likely to perform a miracle, especially raising someone from the … Jesus: True Prophet or False Prophet? – Part 1
The Logic of the Resurrection – Part 6
In Part 4 of this series, we saw that Theodore Drange interpreted Christian theologian Charles Hodge to be arguing as follows (“Why Resurrect Jesus?” in The Empty Tomb, p. 56) : (2a) (JRD) is a sufficient condition for (JSG). Therefore: (1a) (JRD) is a necessary condition for (JSG). ============ Abbreviations: (JRD) Jesus rose from the dead. (JSG) Jesus is the … The Logic of the Resurrection – Part 6
The Logic of the Resurrection – Index
The Logic of the Resurrection – Part 1 Different assumptions about the existence of God have different implications concerning the resurrection. The Logic of the Resurrection – Part 2 As Richard Swinburne has pointed out, a complete case for the resurrection must be a three-legged stool, resting upon general background evidence, prior historical evidence, and … The Logic of the Resurrection – Index
What is Faith? – Part 8
In the Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (1999; hereafter: BECA), Geisler has written a fairly long and detailed article on “Faith and Reason”, and the entire article is basically an exposition of the views of Aquinas about faith and the relationship between faith and reason. There are nine bolded subheadings in Geisler’s article on “Faith … What is Faith? – Part 8
The Logic of the Resurrection – Part 4
One of the neglected aspects of the case for the resurrection of Jesus is what Swinburne calls General Background Evidence. I have summarize this part of the case this way: (GTE) The God of traditional theism exists. (GPR) God, if God exists, has purposes P1, P2, etc. that are relevant to whether God would be … The Logic of the Resurrection – Part 4
The Logic of the Resurrection – Part 2
The two most important writings on the resurrection of Jesus are, IMHO, Richard Swinburne’s book The Resurrection of God Incarnate (Oxford University Press, 2003; hereafter: ROGI), especially the Introduction (pages 1-6), and Theodore Drange’s short article “Why Resurrect Jesus?” in the collection of skeptical essays The Empty Tomb, edited by Robert Price and our fearless … The Logic of the Resurrection – Part 2
The Logic of the Resurrection – Part 1
In thinking about the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus, one needs to either determine an answer to this very basic question: Q1: Does God exist? Or else one needs to determine some sort of approach to how this question is to be dealt with in relation to the two key questions about the … The Logic of the Resurrection – Part 1
What is Faith? – Part 7
I’m going to take a detour and temporarily set Mr. Swinburne’s characterization of the Thomist view of faith aside. But I will continue to examine the Thomist view of faith, specifically as presented by Dr. Norman Geisler. As Jeff Lowder has recently shown, Dr. Geisler’s case for Christianity is a failure. IMHO Jeff won that … What is Faith? – Part 7
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