Problems With TASO – Part 2: My Favorite Objection
TASO The third inductive argument in Swinburne’s case for God is TASO (the Teleological Argument from Spatial Order): Teleological Argument from Spatial Order (e3) There exists a complex physical universe which is governed by simple natural laws, and in which the structure of the natural laws and of the initial conditions are such that they make the … Problems With TASO – Part 2: My Favorite Objection
Problems With TASO: Part 1
INTRO TO TASO For several years, I have been working on an article about Richard Swinburne’s case for God. I’m currently revising the section of that article dealing with the third argument in Swinburne’s case: TASO (the Teleological Argument from Spatial Order). In working on that section of the article, I noticed that my favorite … Problems With TASO: Part 1
Does “Science” Make Theism Likelier than Atheism?
Victor Reppert recently linked to an article on the blog Saints and Sceptics (S&S), “Why Science Makes Theism Likelier than Atheism.” In this blog post, I’m going to critically assess that article. 1. What is the Evidence to be Explained? S&S begin their article as follows: Should we view the order of the universe, and our ability … Does “Science” Make Theism Likelier than Atheism?
Cases for God
I’m thinking about which cases for the existence of God to focus in on, for my evaluation of Christianity. Right now, I’m thinking about examining the cases of four well-known Christian apologists: I just realized that two of these philosophers are Thomists, and two are not Thomists. Geisler is a conservative Evangelical Christian, but his … Cases for God
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
Does God Exist? Part 2
Here is a third option for breaking down the question “Does God exist?” (click on the image below to get a clearer view of the chart): This is a variation on Option 2 (see the previous post in this series). In this analysis I stick with the process of simply adding on divine attributes to … Does God Exist? Part 2
Does God Exist? Part 1
The overarching question for my ten-year plan is: Is Christianity true or false? After I clarify this overarching question, the first major question to investigate is this: Does God exist? I will, of course, at some point need to address the traditional arguments for the existence of God (ontological, cosmological, teleological, and moral arguments). But I … Does God Exist? Part 1
In Defense of Dwindling Probability – Part 2
I see that Plantinga’s skeptical argument refers to “Dwindling Probabilities” rather than “Dwindling Probability”. Sorry about my failure to get the name of this topic quite right. I should mention that I did not learn about this sort of skeptical argument from the Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga. I learned about the Multiplication Rule of probablity … In Defense of Dwindling Probability – Part 2
In Defense of Dwindling Probability
One claim involved in the case for the resurrection of Jesus is this: D. Jesus died on the same day he was crucified. The truth of this claim depends on the truth of some prior claims: E. Jesus existed. C. Jesus was crucified. A probability tree diagram can illustrate how claim (D) involves dwindling probability … In Defense of Dwindling Probability
How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’ – Part 7
My last post on this subject (How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’ – Part 6) was from way back in February of 2011. In that post I claimed that one can generate over 233 million definitions of ‘divine person’ from a set of just four attributes: 1. power 2. knowledge 3. freedom 4. goodness Since … How Many Ways to Analyze the Word ‘God’ – Part 7