One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 6
In Chapter 3 of Handbook of Christian Apologetics (hereafter: HOCA), Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli present twenty arguments for the existence of God. The very first argument is one of the Five Ways of Aquinas. This is not surprising, since Kreeft is a Catholic: The universe is the sum total of all these moving things, … One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 6
One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 5
Here is a creationist argument for the existence of God: 1. If God exists, then it is very likely that the basic kinds of plants and animals all began to exist at the same time. 2. If there is no God, then it is very unlikely that the basic kinds of plants and animals all … One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 5
One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 4
In A Companion to Philosophy of Religion, there is an article by Jeffrey Jordan on “Pragmatic Arguments”, that covers Pascal’s Wager. According to Jordan, there are at least three versions of Pascal’s Wager. In this post I will examine one of the three versions, which goes something like this: 1. Either God exists or it … One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 4
One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 3
Here is a Christian argument for the existence of God: 1. If God raised Jesus from the dead, then God exists. 2. God raised Jesus from the dead. Therefore: 3. God exists. There is no need to make this into a modus tollens, because premise (2) clearly begs the question. The claim that ‘God raised … One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 3
One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 2
Here is another argument for God, based on answered prayers: 1. If God exists, then it is very likely that prayers to God for healing from injury or disease would usually be immediately followed by instantaneous and complete healing, except when the injury or disease was the result of self-destructive, foolish, or morally wrong actions … One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 2
One Man’s Modus Ponens…
Here is an argument for the existence of God: 1. If there is a God, then it is very likely that there is a book that was written many centuries ago that is purported to be a divine revelation, and that is widely known about, and that is filled with nothing but true facts and … One Man’s Modus Ponens…
Did Jesus Exit? – Part 18
When I was a young boy, I enjoyed watching many episodes of Superman on a black-and-white television. When I was about ten or eleven years old, my family would gather on evenings when the TV show Batman was on; we would eat hot-buttered popcorn while watching the show together. Later in my life Hollywood began … Did Jesus Exit? – Part 18
The Christian Doctrine of the Resurrection of Jesus
Let’s represent the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus as follows: (C) The Christian doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus is true. Sometimes the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus is summed up this way: (R) God raised Jesus from the dead. The Christian doctrine of the resurrection asserts that the resurrection of … The Christian Doctrine of the Resurrection of Jesus
Did Jesus Exit? – Part 17
Does L, the special source used by the author of the Gospel of Luke, represent Jesus as a male descendant of the Hebrew people? Like Mark and Q, L uses masculine nouns, pronouns and verbs of Jesus: L 7:11b-15 “his disciples” “with him” “As he approached” “When the Lord saw her, he had compassion” “he … Did Jesus Exit? – Part 17
Did Jesus Exit? – Part 16
Did Q represent Jesus as a male descendant of the Hebrew people? We have previously seen that both Mark and Q represent Jesus as a devout Jew, i.e. as a devout follower of the religion of Judaism. But someone can be Jewish in this sense of being an adherent of the Jewish faith without being … Did Jesus Exit? – Part 16