Must-Read Paper on the Confusing Terminology in the Philosophy of Religion
Philosopher Dale Tuggy has written an incredibly helpful paper which seeks to help clarify some of the confusing terminology in the philosophy of religion regarding God vs. gods. Key terms defined in this paper include deity, godhood, ultimate, the Ultimate. So far as I can tell, his modest proposal for terminology does not appear to … Must-Read Paper on the Confusing Terminology in the Philosophy of Religion
Hinman’s ABEAN Argument – Part 1: “Eternal and Necessary”
Joe Hinman wants me to seriously consider two arguments for the conclusion that “God is real”. I’m going to focus on his ABEAN argument for a number of posts, before I examine his argument from religious experience. I have attempted to summarize Hinman’s first argument in a brief standard form argument: Hinman’s ABEAN Argument 1. … Hinman’s ABEAN Argument – Part 1: “Eternal and Necessary”
Does William Lane Craig Actually Believe in Evil?
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Taylor Carr republished on The Secular Outpost with permission. The original post may be found on his blog, The Godless Skeptic. If it’s right for someone to permit some event, then his action is just right… On my view, the wrongness of an action is determined by its being forbidden by God. An … Does William Lane Craig Actually Believe in Evil?
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
Religious Experience – Recognizing God
Sam said to me and our gathered friends: Give me someone who is willing to sit down and take a three-hour Chemistry test, and another hour to review the test after it is completed, then I will be able to give you a reliable estimation of how much that person knows about chemistry. This claim … Religious Experience – Recognizing God
God as a ‘Necessary Being’ – Part 4
Previously, I argued that it is not possible to become eternal. Recall that a person P is eternal if and only if P has always existed and P will always continue to exist. Here is a step-by-step proof showing that it is impossible for a person to become eternal: <————|———–|————–> …………….t1………..t2 1. At time t1 … God as a ‘Necessary Being’ – Part 4
God as a ‘Necessary Being’ – Part 3
Richard Swinburne analyzes the concept of ‘necessary being’ into two implications (COT, p.241-242): 1. It is not a matter of fortunate accident that there is a God; he exists necessarily. 2. God is necessarily the kind of being which he is; God does not just happen to have the properties which he does. In his … God as a ‘Necessary Being’ – Part 3
God as a ‘Necessary Being’ – Part 2
Although there is an extensive discussion of the meaning of the claim ‘God is a necessary being’ by Richard Swinburne in his bookThe Coherence of Theism (revised edition, hereafter: COT), the main passages that I’m interested in understanding are found in a shorter and more popular book: Is There a God? (hereafter: ITAG), also by … God as a ‘Necessary Being’ – Part 2
God as a ‘Necessary Being’ – Part 1
In his book The Coherence of Theism (Revised edition, hereafter: COT), Swinburne defends the claim that the sentence ‘God exists’ makes a coherent statement. In Part II of COT, Swinburne defends the coherence of the concept of “a contingent God”, which is basically the traditional concept of God minus the attribute of ‘necessary being’. In … God as a ‘Necessary Being’ – Part 1
Atheistic Moral Realism – Part 11
If I understand William Craig’s third objection to AMR, then he is basically offering an inductive teleological argument for the existence of God (similar to how Richard Swinburne argues for God) based on the assumption that there are objective moral values plus the claim that humans and the circumstances in which humans find themselves are … Atheistic Moral Realism – Part 11