What is Christianity? Part 12
Sire’s First Two Objections Shortly after the turn of the century, the Christian apologist James Sire revised his understanding of the concept of a “worldview” and wrote a book advocating this revised understanding: Naming the Elephant (hereafter: NTE). Some of the the key changes that Sire makes to his conception of a “worldview” are defended in Chapter … What is Christianity? Part 12
What is Faith? – Part 9
Here are some key points from the first section (Relation of Faith to Reason) of Geisler’s article “Faith and Reason” (Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, p. 239; hereafter: BECA): If we take the second point in a straightforward manner, then there appears to be no conflict between faith and reason, at least in terms of the … What is Faith? – Part 9
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