Rosaria Champagne Butterfield was a contented, tenured English professor at Syracuse University specializing in Queer Theory and Gay and Lesbian Studies when she set out to write a book on the Religious Right. Why did they hate her and her gay and lesbian community? she wanted to know. An intelligent, thirty-six year old lesbian who considered herself a fine, moral human being, … [Read more...]
Naturalness of Theism
I believe you have a mind of your own. I believe a bottle of water can only spinning in one direction at any give time. I believe a bottle of water cannot be full and empty at the same time. I believe that an unsupported bottle of water falls. These beliefs I hold implicitly without cognitive reflection. These beliefs spontaneously develop without special cultural … [Read more...]
Objection(s) to the Ontological Argument
It may be strange to some that there are philosophical objections raised by Christians against arguments for belief in God. For example, St. Anselm's "Ontological Proof" (as it would come to be called) was taken under a critical lens when Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) took consideration of the argument in his epic Summa Theologiae (ST hereafter). Over the last year or so, I have … [Read more...]
Is the Ontological Argument Valid? – Part 2
(I continue from Part 1 last month into Aquinas' response to the argument.) Almost two hundred years later, St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) rejected the ontological argument; he believed that God’s existence was self-evident in itself, but not to us. Aquinas asserted that we cannot know God’s essence directly, but only through his effects, thus all valid arguments for his … [Read more...]
Quality of Life in the Multiverse
The universe appears to be fine-tuned for life. For example, seemingly infinitesimal adjustments to the dark-energy density or gravitational constant would render most conceivable forms of life impossible. Adjusting the dark energy, for example, would result in either no planets or a collapsed universe.[1] Clearly, cosmic fine-tuning is necessary (although not sufficient) … [Read more...]
Is the Ontological Argument Valid?
The ontological argument has fascinated philosophers for centuries in attempting to prove God’s existence from the concept of God. The argument does not appeal to any facts of experience, but solely on the implications of conceiving of God a priori. This differs from other a posteriori arguments for God’s existence such as the cosmological (creation), teleology (design), or … [Read more...]
The Argument of the Shadows
In June, 2002, in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attack, 25-year-old Pat Tillman abruptly left a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals and enlisted in the US Army. He declined all interview requests, asking to be looked upon as any other soldier. Nevertheless, the news turned him into a national phenom overnight. Two years later, he was shot and … [Read more...]
Unnaturalness of Atheism
The idea that atheism ought be assumed by default is a chimera. Atheism cannot be assumed by default, it must be demonstrated. The belief that given the failure of theistic case for God, atheism ought be assumed does not only commit an appeal to ignorance but is also against the picture painted by modern discoveries in Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR). Several recent … [Read more...]
Theories about the Mystery of Christ Crucified
What did Jesus’ death accomplish, and how did it accomplish it? Although Christians regard Jesus’ death as tremendously significant, there’s some disagreement as to why and how that is so. This being Good Friday, it might be appropriate to reflect on the following C.S. Lewis quotation: The central Christian belief is that Christ's death has somehow put us right with God and … [Read more...]
Understanding the arguments in God’s not Dead: Part III of III
In part one we looked at Professor Radisson's arguments in detail, and in part two we dug into Josh's first and second lectures to his class. In the final part we will discuss the final talk, and the importance of Philosophy for Christians. Josh's third lesson begins with the problem of evil and suffering. This is one of the most difficult questions for the Christian to … [Read more...]