Philosophy

Academic Integration Addressing the Complex Relationship of Integrating One's Christian faith to the Academic Disciplines: No abstract available for this article
The Achievement of Alasdair MacIntyre First Things, August/September 1996: Alasdair MacIntyre's many works provide thoughtful analyses about the maladies of our contemporary philosophical landscape. Although having written far more about the problems than possible solutions, he does make useful suggestions on how to convey mea
Adams on Actualism and Presentism Dr. William Lane Craig: Robert Adams has defended an argument against the pre-existence of singular propositions about oneself on the grounds that it would have been possible for them to have existed even if one had never existed, which is absurd. But the crucial assumption underlying this reasoning, namely, that the only histories of a world which are possible at any time are continuations of that history up to that time, is false, as shown by the illustration of time travel. Furthermore, if Adams were correct, fatalism would follow. The failure of Adams's argument has important implications for the Molinist doctrine of divine middle knowledge.
All That Lives Must Die First Things, May 1996: If death is inevitable, then grief is unavoidable. In this sweeping essay, the author considers various philosophical bents behind different approaches to consolation for the grieving.
A Baptism of Imagination: A Conversation with Peter Kreeft Ellen Haroutunian: The Boston College prof is well-known in academic circles for his intriguing studies on the philosophies of Blaise Pascal and Thomas Aquinas. But he is best known among evangelicals for his work in apologetics, using imaginative, dramatic dialogues between personalities as diverse as John F. Kennedy, Aldous Huxley, and C.S. Lewis to illustrate differing worldviews. In this interview, you'll meet the lively Catholic mind behind a forthcoming novel on "fat Jewish-mother substitutes [speaking] on the post-abortion trauma of Orthodox Jewish girlfriends of philosophical Muslim surfers in Boston in 1978."
Barrow and Tipler on the Anthropic Principle vs. Divine Design Dr. William Lane Craig: Barrow and Tipler's attempt to stave off the inference to divine design by appealing to the Weak Anthropic Principle is demonstrably logically fallacious unless one conjoins to it the metaphysical hypothesis of a World Ensemble. But there is no reason for such a postulate. Their misgivings about the alternative of divine design are shown to be of little significance.
Bible and Science First Things, March 1997: Fr. Stanley Jaki's "Bible and Science" acknowledges that biblical authors held a primitive view of the natural world. But it is their understanding laid the foundation for later scientific inquiry. Reviewed by Stephen M. Barr.
The Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Dr. William Lane Craig: It has been argued on the basis of Paul's testimony that Jesus's resurrection body was spiritual in the sense of being unextended, immaterial, intangible, and so forth. But neither the argument appealing to the nature of Paul's Damascus Road experience nor the argument from Paul's doctrine of the resurrection body supports such a conclusion. On the contrary, Paul's information serves to confirm the gospels' narratives of Jesus's bodily resurrection. Not only is the gospels? physicalism well-founded, but it is also, like Paul's doctrine, a nuanced physicalism.
The Breakdown of Religious Knowledge Todd Kappelman: What constitutes truth? The way we answer that question has greatly changed since the Middle Ages. This essay provides an overview of three areas in philosophical thought, with their impact on Western culture: premodernism (the belief that truth corresponds to reality), modernism (the belief that human reason is the only way to obtain truth), and postmodernism (the belief that there is no such thing as objective truth).
Business and Ethics Ray Cotton: This essay grapples with some of the problems Christians face trying to operate ethically in today's business world. It examines the question, Who makes the rules?, ethical guidelines for the real world, the cost of living ethically, and offers ten global principles for success.
Can a Loving God Send People to Hell? A Debate between Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Ray Bradley: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Ray Bradley, a philosophy professor at Simon Frasier University debate "Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?" Dr. Craig defends the position that the existence of God and the doctrine of hell are logically compatible. Dr. Bradley argues that the existence of God and the doctrine of hell are logically and theologically incompatible.
The Caused Beginning of the Universe A Response to Quentin Smith: Quentin Smith has recently argued that (I) the universe began to exist and (II) its beginning was uncaused. In support of (II), he argues that (i) there is no reason to think that the beginning was caused by God and (ii) it is unreasonable to think so. I dispute both claims. His case for (i) misconstrues the causal principle, appeals to false analogies of ex nihilo creation, fails to show how the origin of the universe ex nihilo is naturally plausible, and reduces to triviality by construing causality as predictability in principle. His case for (ii) ignores important epistemological questions and fails to show either that vacuum fluctuation models are empirically plausible or that they support his second claim.
Century of Cruelty: Making Sense or Our Era Nancy Pearcey: For making sense of any of the modern ideologies, nothing works better than identifying its view of creation. One's view of ultimate origins shapes the rest of one's thinking, as Nancy Pearcey shows in this catalog of worldviews, published in Boundless (December 1999 ) and based on her new book "How Now Shall We Live?" (coauthored by Chuck Colson).
A Clash of Orthodoxies First Things, August/September 1999: George advances an argument that Christian morality is rationally defensible and can be proven superior to secular morality.
A Classic Debate on the Existence of God: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Michael Tooley Introduction: In November of 1994 Dr. Michael Tooley and Dr. William Lane Craig debated on the campus of the University of Colorado at Boulder. These scholars discussed the evidence for and against the existence of God, presenting some of the most current thinking on the issues. The speakers followed a diverse range of materials, from the most recent scientific findings and theories to the most ancient philosophical arguments to some of the most novel insights imaginable. This is the transcript of that debate.
Climbing Mount Improbable & Darwin's Black Box First Things, October 1996: Two books which take opposite views on Darwinism are examined by reviewer Phillip E. Johnson. "Climbing Mount Improbable" by Richard Dawkins presents the orthodox case for evolution. On the other side, "Darwin's Black Box" by Michael Behe challenges thi
A Conversation with an Atheist: Rick Wade distills an in-depth e-mail "conversation" with an atheist in which he addresses her doubts and arguments concerning the existence of God.
Craig, William Lane Theologian, Philosopher: Research Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology. This site features several of Dr. Craig's publications in philosophy and theology, as well as his speaking schedule, curriculum vitae, and resource center.
Creation and Big Bang Cosmology Dr. William Lane Craig: Recent discussions have raised the issue of the metaphysical implications of standard Big Bang cosmology. Grunbaum's argument that the causal principle cannot be applied to the origin of the universe rests on a pseudo-dilemma, since the cause could act neither before nor after t=0, but at t=0. Levy-Leblond's advocacy of a remetrication of cosmic time to push the singularity to - involves various conceptual difficulties and is in any case unavailing, since the universe's beginning is not eliminated. Maddox's aversion to the possible metaphysical implications of the standard model evinces a narrow scientism. Standard Big Bang cosmogeny does therefore seem to have those metaphysical implications which some have found so discomfiting.
Creation, Providence, and Miracle William Lane Craig: In treating divine action in the world, we must distinguish between creation, providence, and miracle. Creation has typically been taken to involve God's originating the world (creatio originans) and His sustaining the world in being (creatio continuans). A careful analysis of these two notions serves to differentiate creation from conservation. Providence is God's control of the world, either through secondary causes (providentia ordinaria) or supernaturally (providentia extraordinaria). A doctrine of divine middle knowledge supplies the key to understanding God's providence over the world mediated through secondary causes. Miracles are extraordinary acts of providence which should not be conceived, properly speaking, as violations of the laws of nature, but as the production of events which are beyond the causal powers of the natural entities existing at the relevant time and place.
DNA: The Message in the Message First Things, June/July 1996: How might one, creationist Christian or not, explain the origin of the complex message structure in DNA? The author briefly reviews recent literature on the subject. Current researchers basically attempt to explain the genetic code phenomena strictly in
Darwin on Trial Raymond Bohlin, Ph.D.: A review of Philip Johnson's book "Darwin on Trial." The author explores Johnson?s review of the weaknesses of evolutionary theory and the impact of materialistic philosophy on science education.
Darwinism and Theism Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Darwinism's Rules of Reasoning Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Debriefing the Philosophers First Things, June/July 1997: This "Philosopher's Brief" advocates legalization of physician-assisted suicide based on the Supreme Court's Casey decision which strongly reaffirmed abortion rights.
Defeasible Reasoning, Special Pleading and the Cosmological Argument Robert C. Koons: A reply to Graham Oppy of Monash University, who recently published a critique of the author's cosmological argument in "Faith & Philosophy". The rehabilitation of causation and modal realism in recent analytic philosophy have made possible the revival of the argument from contingency to the existence of a necessary first cause. Recent work in defeasible or nonmonotonic logic means that this argument can be cast in such a way that it does not presuppose that every contingent situation, without exception, has a cause.
Defeating Darwinism Rick Wade: Phillip Johnson?s important book, Defeating Darwinism, explains how evolution gained dominance as a theory of origins, and exposes its UNscientific foundations.
Defending the Faith Christian Apologetics in a Non-Christian World: A report on the 1995 Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting compiled by Probe Staff. Included are "Defending the Faith Philosophically" by Dr. J. P. Moreland, Talbot Seminary; "Defending the Faith Historically" by Dr. Gary Habermas, Liberty University; "Defending the Faith Scientifically" by Dr. Charles Thaxton Charles University, Prague, The Czech Republic; "Defending the Faith Theologically" by Dr. Thomas C. Oden, Drew University Theological School; and summary by Dr. Ray Bohlin.
Derrida, Death, and Forgiveness First Things, March 1997: Reviewer Andrew J. McKenna considers the philosophy of Derrida with the examination of two works: "Barth, Derrida, and the Language of Theology" by Graham Ward and "The Gift of Death" by Jacques Derrida.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Todd Kappelman: Todd Kappelman provides an introduction to the life and thinking of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an important twentieth century martyr who emphasized radical commitment to Jesus Christ.
Discerning and Defining the Essentials of Postmodernism The Real Issue, March 1998: Stan Wallace has done original research on the essential properties of the postmodern way of thinking.
The Disciples' Inspection of the Empty Tomb Dr. William Lane Craig: There are three alternatives concerning the relation of Luke and John's stories of the disciples' inspection of Jesus's empty tomb: (1) Luke is dependent upon John, (2) John is dependent upon Luke, or (3) Luke and John are dependent upon a common tradition. (1) is not a plausible hypothesis because in light of Luke 24:24, a later scribe borrowing from John would have had another disciple accompany Peter. (2) is not plausible in view of the non-Lukan elements in 24:12 which are characteristic of Johannine tradition. Moreover, good grounds exist for positing pre-Lukan tradition. (3) is most plausible in view of its ability to explain all the relevant data, the improbability of Luke's dependence on John, and the improbability of John's dependence on Luke.
Divine Discourse: Philosophical Reflections on the Claim that God Speaks First Things, December 1996: "Divine Discourse: Philosophical Reflections on the Claim that God Speaks" was authored by Nicholus Wolterstorff and reviewed in this article by Mark Talbot. This book presents a theoretical reflection about how God communicates to human beings. The a
Divine Foreknowledge and Newcomb's Paradox Dr. William Lane Craig: Newcomb's Paradox provides an illuminating non-theological illustration of the problem of divine foreknowledge and human freedom. We are to imagine a being with great predictive powers and to suppose we are confronted with two boxes, B1 and B2. B1 contains $1,000; B2 contains either $1,000,000 or nothing. We may choose either B2 alone or B1 and B2 together. If the being predicts that you choose both boxes, he does not put anything in B2; if he predicts that you choose B2 only, he puts $1,000,000 in B2. What should you choose? A proper construction of the pay-off matrix for the decision vindicates the one-box choice. If this is correct, then those who claim that God?s knowledge is counterfactually dependent on future contingents foreknown by Him are likewise vindicated.
Divine Timelessness and Necessary Existence William Lane Craig: Brian Leftow argues that if God is temporal, He is essentially temporal; and that since He is a necessary being, time therefore exists necessarily, but that since time is in fact contingent, God is therefore atemporal. Leftow's arguments for time's contingency are, however, ineffective against the Newtonian, who holds that time and space are emanative effects of God's being. An untenable reductionism vitiates Leftow's claim that God cannot be temporal, yet non-spatial. Leftow's argument that God cannot be contingently temporal is undermined by the coherence of suggested scenarios illustrating such a state of affairs.
Does God Exist? A Debate Between Dr. William Lane Craig & Dr. Corey Washington: The transcript of a debate on the existence of God, between Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington, which took place on 9 February 1995 at the University of Washington, before an audience well over 1500 people.
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Third Rebuttal: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's third rebuttal..
Does God Exist? Question and Answer Session: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is the question and answer session
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Opening Argument: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Third Rebuttal: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Second Rebuttal: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's First Rebuttal: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? Moderator's Opening Comments: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? A Debate between Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Douglas M. Jesseph: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Second Rebuttal: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's second rebuttal..
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Opening Argument: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's opening argument.
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's First Rebuttal: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's first rebuttal.
Does God Exist? A Debate between William Lane Craig and Quentin Smith: The transcript of a 1996 debate between emminent Christian theist philosopher Dr. William Lane Craig and prolific atheist Dr. Quentin Smith on the topic, "Does God Exist?" The debate was held at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, in March, 1996. Drs. Craig and Smith collaborated on a book, "Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology."
Dr. William Lane Craig Resources: Recommended books and tapes from Dr. William Lane Craig.
Economics as Humanism First Things, October 1997: Michael Novak argues that the discipline of economics, particularly in its manifestation through the Austrian School, is more than a science of mathematical models.
The Election of Israel First Things, April 1996: "The Election of Israel: The Idea of the Chosen People" is authored by David Novak and reviewed by John T. Pawlikowski. This book addresses the issue of Jewish religious identity in the midst of modernity's challenges. The author, as in his previous wo
The Epidemic of Sexually Transmitted Diseases: The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. The author examines what's really happening with STDs and offers a solution.
Escape from Nihilism The Real Issue, January 1998: The story of one professor's journey to the abandonment of any moral or ethical code, and back to faith in Christ.
The Eternal Present and Stump-Kretzmann Eternity William Lane Craig: A classic difficulty of the conception of divine eternity as timelessness is that it seems impossible for an atemporal deity to be causally active in the world. Stump and Kretzmann, in their seminal article "Eternity," claimed to be able to resolve this problem by formulating a new species of simultaneity, viz., eternal-temporal simultaneity. Although their proposal has received extensive criticism, little has been said concerning the notion of the "eternal present" which underlies their analysis. It is argued that apart from construing divine eternity as a sort of embedding hyper-time, it does not seem possible to make sense of Stump and Kretzmann's description of the eternal present.
Ethics: Pick or Choose? Ray Cotton: A look at the ethics flowing out of humanistic existentialism which states that morality is rooted in human choice. This perspective seeks to show how rejection of Biblical truth in the realm of ethics and morals ultimately leads to despair.
Evidence of God in Human Physiology Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: A cursory examination of human physiology reveals: 1) the complexity of man and what it suggests about man's origins, 2) the efficient and versatile operation of man compared with machine, and 3) the depth of our ignorance about how man's physiological systems operate.
Evolution Issues Tearing Our Nation's Fabric: Chapter 5 of "Issues Tearing Our Nation's Fabric", exploring 25 key issues dividing the nation of America.
Faith and Reason Tim Garrett: Are faith and reason friends or foes? Does faith in Christ require checking your brain at the door? This essay presents 3 positions on faith and reason, from Tertullian, Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.
Faithful Wounds of an Enemy: Nietzsche's "Death of God" Invective Liam Atchison: Were Friedrich Nietzsche's towering intellectual works the achievements of a madman or one of Christianity's best friends? Or-dare we suggest it-both? A look at the philosopher's most pointed criticisms of the church reveals some surprising answers.
The Fire in the Equations: Science, Religion, and the Search for God First Things, August/September 1996: "The Fire in the Equation: Science, Religion and the Search for God" was written by Kitty Ferguson. It is reviewed here by Stephen Barr. This book seeks to reconcile religion and science. A non-scientist herself, the author is generally able to to br
The First Enemy of Truth Monday Ministry Minute Tip: Explores the first enemy of truth -- a skepticism which assumes there is no truth or that if truth exists, it can't be found.
Forbidden Knowledge First Things, February 1997: "Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography" was authored by Roger Shattuck. It is reviewed here by Matthew Scully. It might be said that there are some forms of knowledge that are best left unexplored.
From Easter to Valentinus and the Apostles' Creed Once More Examination of James Robinson's Proposed Resurrection Appearance Trajectories: James Robinson argues that parallel trajectories, springing from primitive Christian experiences of post-resurrection appearances of Christ as a luminous bodily form, issued in the second-century Gnostic understanding of the appearance as unembodied radiance and in the second-century orthodox view of the appearances as nonluminous physical encounter. Craig examines his four arguments in support of these hypothesized trajectories and finds them unconvincing. Them is no mason to think that the primitive experiences always involved luminosity or that if they did, this was taken to imply non-physicality. Nor does the evidence support the view that Gnostics rejected corporal or even physical resurrection appearances of Christ.
The Future of Belief First Things, May 1996: The author considers the current possiblities for knowledge and belief in this age of skepticism. He pursues this inquiry by reflecting on the effects of modern philosophy, experience and technology.
God and the Initial Cosmological Singularity A Reply to Quentin Smith: Quentin Smith contends (i) an atheistic interpretation of the Big Bang is better justified than a theistic interpretation because the latter is inconsistent with the standard Big Bang model and (ii) his atheistic interpretation offers a coherent and plausible account of the origin of the universe. But Smith's argument for (i) is multiply flawed, depending on premisses which are false or at least mootable and a key invalid inference. Smith's attempt to demonstrate the plausibility of the atheistic interpretation on the basis of its greater simplicity is based on false parallels between God and the initial cosmological singularity. Smith's effort to prove that the atheist's contention that the universe came into being uncaused out of absolutely nothing is coherent rests upon a confusion between inconceivability and unimaginability and assumes without argument that the causal principle could not be a metaphysically necessary a posteriori truth. In any case, there are good grounds for taking the principle to be a metaphysically necessary, synthetic, a priori truth, in which case the atheistic interpretation is incoherent.
God in the Public Square Nancy Pearcey: In his latest book, "The Wedge of Truth," Phil Johnson offers an intriguing new perspective on how the evolution controversy shapes today's "culture war"--and suggests the best intellectual strategy for fighting it. For more, read this in-depth review by Nancy Pearcey, published in Human Events, September 15, 2000.
God, Time, and Eternity Dr. William Lane Craig: Is God's eternity to be construed as timeless or temporal? Given that the universe began to exist, a relational view of time suggests that time also began to exist. God's existence "prior to" or sans creation would not entail the existence of time if God in such a state is changeless. But if God sustains real relations with the world, the co-existence of God and the world imply that God is temporal subsequent to the moment of creation. Given the superiority of a relational over a non-relational (Newtonian) view of time, God ought to be considered as timeless sans creation and temporal subsequent to creation.
Graham Oppy on the Kalam Cosmological Argument Dr. William Lane Craig: Graham Oppy has attempted to re-support J. L. Mackie's objections to the kalam cosmological argument, to which I responded in my article "Professor Mackie and the Kalam Cosmological Argument." Oppy's attempt to defend the possibility of the existence of an actual infinite is vitiated by his conflation of narrowly and broadly logical possibility. Oppy's attempt to defend the possibility of the formation of an actual infinite by successive addition founders on misinterpretations. Oppy's objections to the premiss that whatever begins to exist has a cause and to God's being that cause are based on modal confusions.
The Growth of the Liberal Soul (Book Review) First Things, November 1997: David Walsh in "The Growth of the Liberal Soul" criticizes contemporary liberalism for having no moral foundation. Reviewed by Peter Berkowitz.
The Guard at the Tomb Dr. William Lane Craig: Matthew's story of the guard at the tomb of Jesus is widely regarded as an apologetic legend. Although some of the reasons given in support of this judgement are not weighty, two are more serious: (1) the story is found only in Matthew, and (2) the story presupposes that Jesus predicted his resurrection and that only the Jewish leaders understood those predictions. But the absence of the story from the other gospels may be due to their lack of interest in Jewish-Christian polemics. There are no good reasons to deny that Jesus predicted his resurrection, in which case the second objection becomes basically an argument from silence. On the positive side, the historicity of the story is supported by two considerations: (1) as an apologetic, the story is not a fail-safe answer to the charge of body-snatching, and (2) a reconstruction of the history of tradition lying behind Jewish-Christian polemic makes the fictitiousness of the guard unlikely.
Hasker on Divine Knowledge William Lane Craig: William Hasker has presented influential arguments against divine foreknowledge and middle knowledge. I argue that his objections are fallacious. With respect to divine foreknowledge, three central issues arise: temporal necessity, power entailment principles, and the nature of free will. In each case Hasker's analysis is defective. With respect to divine middle knowledge, Hasker presents four objections concerning the truth of counterfactuals of freedom. Against Hasker I argue that such propositions are grounded in states of affairs belonging to the actual world logically prior to its full instantiation and are contingently true or false.
The Hipness Unto Death: Soren Kierkegaard and David Letterman-Ironic Apologists to Generation X Mark C. Miller: Denmark in the mid-1800s and late twentieth-century America might appear to have little in common. But the two cultures share common influences-and perhaps a common future. In this essay, the author points out how the eighteenth-century philosopher Kierkegaard, a man ahead of his time in the truest sense, may be the contemporary church's best model for reaching Generation X.
The Historicity of the Empty Tomb of Jesus: An examination of both Pauline and gospel material leads to eight lines of evidence in support of the conclusion that Jesus's tomb was discovered empty: (1) Paul's testimony implies the historicity of the empty tomb, (2) the presence of the empty tomb pericope in the pre-Markan passion story supports its historicity, (3) the use of 'on the first day of the week' instead of 'on the third day' points to the primitiveness of the tradition, (4) the narrative is theologically unadorned and non-apologetic, (5) the discovery of the tomb by women is highly probable, (6) the investigation of the empty tomb by the disciples is historically probable, (7) it would have been impossible for the disciples to proclaim the resurrection in Jerusalem had the tomb not been empty, (8) the Jewish polemic presupposes the empty tomb.
How Do You Spell Truth? Don Closson: A discussion of apologetics and different ways to view truth. The question of how Christians might handle both modernist and post-modernist arguments is considered.
How to Sink a Battleship The Real Issue, November/December 1996: Phillip E. Johnson issues a call to separate materialist philosophy from empirical science. This article is edited from the final address at the Mere Creation Conference.
Humanism After Tillich First Things, April 1997: Paul Tillich explored the relation of religion to culture. His writing expressed concern about the balance of this relationship in the face of radical ideology. Could a strain of Protestantism have paved the way for totalitarianism?
The Idea of Moral Progress First Things, August/September 1999: Neuhaus revisits the question of whether progress--especially moral progress--is occurring and whether it will.
Idols of the Century First Things, March 1996: The author discusses the academic influence of Marx and Freud in this century. Their claims of scientific authority have all been debunked. What is the current intellectual fashion for secularists?
In Defense of the Kalam Cosmological Argument William Lane Craig: Graham Oppy's attempt to show that the critiques of the kalam cosmological argument offered by Grunbaum, Davies, and Hawking are successful is predicated upon a misunderstanding of the nature of defeaters in rational belief. Neither Grunbaum nor Oppy succeed in showing an incoherence in the Christian doctrine of creation. Oppy's attempts to rehabilitate Davies's critique founders on spurious counter-examples and unsubstantiated claims. Oppy's defense of Hawking's critique fails to allay suspicions about the reality of imaginary time and finally results in the denial of tense and temporal becoming.
The Incompatibility of Naturalism and Scientific Realism Robert C. Koons: In this essay, Koons argues that scientific realism can provide no support to philosophical naturalism. In fact, the situation is precisely the reverse: naturalism and scientific realism are incompatible.
The Indispensability of Theological Meta-Ethical Foundations for Morality William Lane Craig: Theism and naturalism are contrasted with respect to furnishing an adequate foundation for the moral life. It is shown that on a theistic worldview an adequate foundation exists for the affirmation of objective moral values, moral duties, and moral accountability. By contrast, naturalism fails in all three respects. Insofar as we believe that moral values and duties do exist, we therefore have good grounds for believing that God exists. Moreover, a practical argument for believing in God is offered on the basis of moral accountability.
Integrity First Things, May 1996: "Intregrity" is a book by Stephen L. Carter. It is reviewed here by Gilbert Meilaender. This book examines the components of human integrity. A key question, raised by the reviewer, is whether or not the discernment of right from wrong is one of these
Is God Unconstitutional The Real Issue, Introductory Issue: Dr. Phillip E. Johnson brings his acute legal mind to the many issues surrounding Darwinism. He exposes the deeply philosophical bias for faith in evolution held by the theory's advocates.
Is God Unconstitutional? (Part 1) The Real Issue, September/October 1994: Dr. Phillip E. Johnson brings his acute legal mind to the many issues surrounding Darwinism. He exposes the deeply philosophical bias for faith in evolution held by the theory's advocates.
Is God Unconstitutional? (Part 2) The Real Issue, November/December 1994: Dr. Phillip E. Johnson brings his acute legal mind to the many issues surrounding Darwinism. He concludes his exposition of the deeply philosophical bias for faith in evolution held by the theory's advocates.
Is The Basis Of Morality Natural Or Supernatural? A Debate between William Lane Craig and Richard Taylor: Eminent philosophers and debaters Dr. William Lane Craig and Richard Taylor explored the issues of morality's origins at Union College, Schenectady, New York, on October 8, 1993. Dr. Craig took the theists' position that morality is based on one's creation in God's image, while Dr. Taylor took the atheist's position that morality is inborne. This is the table of contents for the various parts of the debate.
Is There Meaning in Evil and Suffering? A Discussion Forum with Dr. Ravi Zacharias, Dr. William Lane Craig, Dr. Bernard Leikind, and Dr. Jitendra Mohanty: On February 11, 1999, Drs. Ravi Zacharias, William Lane Craig, Bernard Leikind, and Jitendra Mohanty, explored the question, "Is there meaning in evil and suffering?" Visit the online RealMedia archive to hear this forum again.
Jean Jacques Rousseau: An Interesting Madman Don Closson: No abstract available for this article
Johnson, Phillip E. Law, Author of Darwin On Trial and other books: Phillip Johnson has been a professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, for 26 years. He received his B.A. from Harvard and his J.D. from the University of Chicago. Johnson is the author of Darwin on Trial, Reason in the Balance, and Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds. Since the writing of his books, Johnson has spoken and debated extensively with other experts on these issues.
Killing As Caring Critical Issues: Volume 1, Issue 1: Richard Rotondi discusses the false charity of euthanasia. Along with the growing acceptance, even welcoming, of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, have come increasingly dire warnings about the practice from ethicists and thinkers. The "mercy" offered by euthanasia can only be offered by those who, logically and emotionally, hold to a conception of the human person radically different from that of traditional medicine: the price of accepting euthanasia?s "compassion" is denying that humans have any inherent worth apart from their productivity or utility.
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity First Things, October 1997: Liberty, equality and fraternity were the aspirations of modern radical ideologies. These ideas ended up trampling the very things they sought to advance. They were rooted in a false understanding of the nature of freedom and society.
Looking at the Liturgy First Things, May 1997: Aidan Nichols explores liturgical reform in the Catholic Church in his book "Looking at the Liturgy: A Critical View of Its Contemporary Form." Reviewd by Jeremy Driscoll.
Making Progress in the Origins Debate: The philosophers, scientists and scholars who met together at the Naturalism, Theism and the Scientific Enterprise conference made substantial progress on the very important question: Is methodological naturalism an essential part of science?
Measuring Morality: A Comparison of Ethical Systems Erwin Lutzer: What makes an action right or wrong? The answer to this question, when asked of various ethical systems, helps sort through the maze of beliefs that muddy the ethical waters. A condensation of Erwin Lutzer's book "Measuring Morality: A Comparison of Ethical Systems."
Mere Creation: Science, Faith, and Intelligent Design [Book Review] Reviewed by Jim Miller: A review of "Mere Creation: Science, Faith, and Intelligent Design," written by William A. Dembski and published by InterVarsity Press (Downer's Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1998. 475p.). This review is by Jim Miller.
Middle Knowledge and Christian Exclusivism Dr. William Lane Craig: David Hunt has criticized a middle knowledge perspective on Christian exclusivism on evangelistic and metaphysical grounds. He argues that from a middle knowledge perspective attempts to evangelize another person are either futile or superfluous and that an omnibenevolent God would have created a post-mortem state of the blessed without ever creating any of the damned. Hunt?s evangelistic objection is unfounded because by our evangelistic efforts we may bring it about that people are saved who otherwise would not have been saved. Hunt?s metaphysical objection errs in thinking that God judges people on the basis of what they would do rather than what they in fact do.
The Moral Gap: Kantian Ethics, Human Limits, and God's Assistance (Book Review) First Things, March 1998: Book review of "The Moral Gap: Kantian Ethics, Human Limits, and God's Assistance" by John E. Hare.
Morality Apart From God Ray Cotton: Is God necessary for ethical systems? Some modern philosophers argue He isn?t, but Ray Cotton insists that there is no point to morality without God.
The New Age Movement Dr. Bob Pyne: An evaluation of what characterizes New Age thought from a biblically Christian perspective.
A New Look at the Cosmological Argument (pdf file) Robert C Koons: The cosmological argument for God's existence has a long history, but perhaps the most influential version of it has been the argument from contingency.
Nietzsche: The Ethics of an Immoralist First Things, February 1996: The strongest defenses of Nietzsche at one time came from the right. Now relativists and skeptics of all persuasions admire his ways of not knowing. In his book "Nietzsche: The Ethics of an Immoralist," Peter Berkowitz provides a fresh look at this (n
"No Other Name" A Middle Knowledge Perspective on the Exclusivity of Salvation Through Christ: The conviction of the New Testament writers was that there is no salvation apart from Jesus. This orthodox doctrine is widely rejected today because God's condemnation of persons in other world religions seems incompatible with various attributes of God. Analysis reveals the real problem to involve certain counterfactuals of freedom, e.g., why did not God create a world in which all people would freely believe in Christ and be saved? Such questions presuppose that God possesses middle knowledge. But it can be shown that no inconsistency exists between God's having middle knowledge and certain persons' being damned; on the contrary it can be positively shown that these two notions are compatible.
Not So Christian America First Things, October 1996: Should America be considered a religious or secular society? Polls indicate that many Americans claim to believe in bibllical truths and yet think human choices should be made apart from those beliefs. Is religion in America simply another convenience?
On Creation and Big Bang Cosmology A Response to Grunbaum: In response to my article "Creation and Big Bang Cosmology" Adolf Grunbaum argues against God's being a simultaneous cause of the Big Bang and against the inference that the Big Bang had a cause. His critique of simultaneous causation, once validly formulated, is based on an obviously false premiss, namely, that in order for simultaneous causation to be possible we must have a generally accepted criterion for discerning such causes. His most important reason for rejecting the causal inference with respect to the Big Bang is predicated on a B-Theory of time, which I find good reasons to reject.
On the Argument for Divine Timelessness from the Incompleteness of Temporal Life William Lane Craig: A promising argument for divine timelessness is that temporal life is possessed only moment by moment, which is incompatible with the existence of a perfect being. Since the argument is based on the experience of time's passage, it cannot be circumvented by appeal to a tenseless theory of time. Neither can the argument be subverted by appeals to a temporal deity's possession of a specious present of infinite duration. Nonetheless, because the argument concerns one's experience of time's passage rather than the objective reality of temporal becoming itself, it is considerably weakened by the fact that an omniscient being possessing perfect memory and foreknowledge, need not find such experience to be an imperfection.
Open Forums for Postmoderns Mike Metzger: An experienced leader of open discussion forums and frequent personal witness to postmodern skeptics leads the reader through the basic worldview of postmoderns, common ground they share with biblical Christians and how to use it effectively to bring them closer to a saving knowledge and faith in Christ. Casual and conversational, this transcript will help bridge the gap between postmoderns and traditional witnessing methods that assume biblical knowledge and belief in transcendant truth and God.
Opinion: A Stake in the Enlightenment; To Murmur Upon Name; Faithful for Life First Things, March 1996: Should the Enlightenment be blamed for shattering ethical certitudes and ushering in the moral relativism of our day? The author believes that this is largely the case. He also points out, however, that the Enlightenment brought an end to certain brutal
The Origin And Creation Of The Universe A Response To Adolf Grunbaum: Adolf Grunbaum argues that the creation, as distinct from the origin, of the universe is a pseudo-problem. Grunbaum, however, seriously misconstrues the traditional argument for creation and his three groups of objections are therefore largely aimed at straw men or else misconceived. His objections to the scientific argument for creation are based on idiosyncratic definitions or deeper presuppositions which need to be surfaced and explored. He therefore falls short in his attempt to show that the question of creation is not a genuine philosophical problem.
Pascal: The First Modern Christian First Things, August/September 1999: Oakes gives an account of the impassioned life and work of Blaise Pascal and his original defense of the faith.
The Place of Religiously Informed Scholarship in the Contemporary Academy Michael Murray: This paper is a transcript of a presentation made at the Institute for Research in the Humanities, University of Wisconsin-Madison, in April of 1998 about the potential role of faith-based perspectives in philosophical theorizing and in academic research programs generally.
The Politics of Architecture First Things, November 1996: A man shares his most cherished beliefs with three friends while on a scenic drive. As each reveals his polical and religious convictions, four distinct American archetypes emerge.
The Possibility of Extra-Terrestrial Life Leadership University Special Focus: The Pathfinder's exploration of Mars, following on the heels of the Roswell anniversary, has turned our attention and imagination to space once more. The question of extraterrestrial life looms again as an issue of great interest. Underlying questions about the origin of the of the universe and its relation to the God of faith are being raised again with renewed vigor. Leadership University offers a special focus to discuss some questions relating to these issues.
Post-Agnostic Science: How Physics is Reviving the Argument from Design Robert C. Koons: If physics and cosmology have led us to a revival of the argument from design, legitimating references to the activity of an intelligent creator of nature, this fact has implications for the practice of other sciences and disciplines.According to Koons, research on the origin of life may be overdue for some fundamental rethinking. In recent years, science has been wedded to a philosophy of materialism. The time has come for a trial separation, at the very least.
Post-Communism and Its Discontents First Things, January 1996: In 1989, citizens of the former Communist regimes embraced the study of religious faith. Many soon displayed symptoms of the same intellectual diseases which had long infected the West: neo-gnosticism, deconstructionism and moral relativism.
The Postmodern Puzzle: When there are no absolute truths and no rules of logic, how do we defend the gospel? The Real Issue, March 1998: Dennis McCallum, Senior Pastor, Xenos Christian Fellowship, uses keen insight to dissect the postmodern culture. He explains how to help this new generation see its need for Christ.
Private Assurances Kim Hutchins: How man goes about finding God, with reference to French philosopher Gabriel Marcel.
The Problem Of Miracles A Historical And Philosophical Perspective: Modern skepticism concerning the gospel miracles first asserted itself by denying the miraculous nature of the events. Soon, however, the historicity of the events themselves was denied. Behind this skepticism lay the broad conception of a Newtonian world-machine, the arguments of Spinoza against the possibility of miracles, and the arguments of Hume against the identification of miracles. Counterpoised to these attacks were the defenses of miracles written by Le Clerc, Clarke, Less, Paley, and others. An assessment of the debate shows that, contra the Newtonian conception, miracles should not be understood as violations of the laws of nature, but as naturally impossible events. Contra Spinoza, admission of miracles would not serve to subvert natural law, and the possibility that a miracle is a result of an unknown natural law is minimized when the miracles are numerous, various, momentous, and unique. Contra Hume, it is question-begging or invalid to claim that uniform experience is against miracles.
The Problem of "Buried" Research: NARTH Member Speaks Out: In its August issue, the American Psychological Association's Monitor published a surprisingly candid front-page article describing the problem of politically-motivated research, and of the burying of research findings which are unnattractive to certain special-interest groups. NARTH Scientific Advisory Board member A. Dean Byrd, Ph.D., responds.
The Problem of Evil Rick Rood: The problem is discussed of how a good and powerful God could allow evil and suffering in His creation--both from a philosophical and religious perspective.
Prof. Grunbaum on Creation William Lane Craig: Adolf Grunbaum claims that the question of creation is a pseudo-problem because it is incoherent to seek an external, prior cause of the Big Bang, which marks the beginning of time. This claim is unwarranted, however, for the theological creationist has a number of options available: (i) The Creator may be conceived to be causally, but not temporally, prior to the origin of the universe, such that the act of creating is simultaneous with the universe's beginning to exist; (ii) The Creator may be conceived to exist in a metaphysical time of which physical time is but a sensible measure and so to exist temporally prior to the inception of physical time; or (iii) The Creator may be conceived to exist timelessly and to cause tenselessly the origin of the universe at the Big Bang singularity. Grunbaum also claims that theological creationism is pseudo-explanatory because it is in principle impossible to specify the causal linkage between the cause and the effect in this case. At best this objection only shows that theological creationism is not a scientific explanation. In fact Grunbaum's objection strikes not against theology per se, but against all appeals to personal agency as explanatory, which evinces a narrow scientism.
Professor Mackie and the Kalam Cosmological Argument Dr. William Lane Craig: Against the second premiss of the kalam cosmological argument, that the universe began to exist, J. L. Mackie objects that the arguments for it either assume an infinitely distant beginning point or fail to understand the nature of infinity. In fact, the argument does not assume any sort of beginning point, whereas Mackie himself commits the fallacy of composition. Mackie fails to show that infinite collections can be instantiated in the real world. Against the first premiss, that whatever begins to exist has a cause, Mackie objects that there is no good reason to accept a priori this premiss and that creatio ex nihilo is problematic. But Mackie does not refute the premiss and even admits its plausibility. One can resolve the conundrums of creatio ex nihilo by holding God to be timeless sans creation and temporal with creation.
The Project of Apologetics Michael Murray: Apologetics is the defense of the Christian faith. It is of the utmost importance that we identify exactly what it is that a "defense of the Christian faith" is supposed to do. Is it supposed to present us with arguments that will bring all non-Christians to their intellectual knees? Is is supposed to show without question that the Christian world view is more compelling than any other world view? This paper answers these questions.
Purtill on Fatalism and Truth Dr. William Lane Craig: Richard Purtill's recent contribution to the fatalism debate does not, I think, succeed in the author's intent of proving that the omnitemporality of truth implies fatalism, nor that the past is unchangeable in a non-trivial sense, nor that the consequences of his argument are not detrimental to logic and theology.
The Puzzle of Our Lives Douglas Yeo: Douglas Yeo, Bass Trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and faculty rnember at Boston University School for the Arts relates his answer to the frequently asked question, "How did you get where you are today?" His message of challenge, hope and comfort is an encouragement to all who seek fulfillment and balance in life whether in music or other disciplines.
Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of Animal Rights First Things, October 1997: Book review of "Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement" by Gary L. Francione. The author believes that the animal rights movement is not radical enough. Reviewed by Thomas Sieger Derr.
Reaching Youth Today Josh McDowell: This is the text of a speech by Josh McDowell on how to minister to contemporary youth. Its message of reaching young people in an post-modern culture conveys many of the ideas from his recent book, "Right from Wrong". Although it is addressed specifically to pastors, this presentation is also relevant for youth ministers, teachers, parents and all who are concerned about issues pertaining to young people.
The Religion of the Blind Watchmaker The Real Issue, September/October 1992: Phillip Johnson has authored Darwin on Trial, contending theories of evolution are based on philosophical naturalism. Dr. Stephen Jay Gould responded to Johnson's book. This is Johnson's reply.
The Religious Origins of the French Revolution First Things, February 1997: "The Religious Origins of the French Revolution: From Calvin to the Civil Constitution, 1560-1791" is authored by Dale K. Van Kley. It is reviewed here by Norman Ravitch. Did the Reformation or the Enlightenment lead to the French Revolution?
A Reply to Richard John Neuhaus First Things, February 1996: Both Christians and non-Christians think critically. Christians, however, begin with a different premise and therefore end with a different conclusion. This essay was written as a response to a previously written article.
Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments First Things, January 1996: Daniel N. Robinson reviews "Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments" by R. Jay Wallace. In this book, the author attempts a theoretical and practical reconciliation between human emotions and moral reasoning.
Review Essay: Martha Nussbaum, Poet's Defender First Things, October 1996: "Poetic Justice: The Literary Imagination and Public Life" by Martha Nussbaum is the subject of this review by Alan Jacobs. The author carefully addresses Socrates' argument in Plato's "Republic" regarding poetry's relationship to civil life. The revie
Review Essay: Ralph Reed's Real Agenda First Things, October 1996: This essay is a review of Ralph Reed's book "Active Faith: How Christians Are Changing The Soul of American Politics." Richard John Neuhaus provides a sympathetic look at this activist's views on the relation between religion and politics.
Rights Without Right First Things, November 1996: The movement in modern society towards subjectivity in moral and legal issues is most disturbing. How do we reign in our most dangerous passions in an atmosphere of unrestrained permissiveness? We must, the author contends, look back to one of our grea
Robert Adams's New Anti-Molinist Argument Dr. William Lane Craig: Robert Adams has presented a new argument to show the logical impossibility of divine middle knowledge of counterfactuals of creaturely freedom. However, Adams's reasoning is unsound because the notion of "explanatory priority" as it plays a role in the argument is either equivocal or not demonstrably transitive. Moreover, his argument contains a false (fatalistic) premiss.
The Scandal of Pleasure First Things, February 1996: Is art only what a particular critic thinks it is? Is there a criteria for beauty that transends opinion? These and other issues are discussed in this essay as Hilton Kramer reviews "The Scandal of Pleasure: Art in an Age of Fundamentalism" by Wendy S
Science and Religion Chris Stamper: Despite evidence of God's creation, the newest worldview may be closer to paganism than to the Bible.
Science and the Story that We Need First Things, January 1997: Current technology tranfers messages at a blistering pace. Modern science provides guidance on where we came from and how we should live. But what genuine human purpose is served by this glut of information?
Scientific Facts and Christian Faith: How Are They Compatible? Otto J. Helweg: Explores the battle between science and Christianity. The causes of the science versus Christianity battle may be traced to three errors. First, the proponents on both sides often fail to define the term, "evolution." Second, both sides have failed to see science as a product of a Christian world view. And, finally, both sides confuse the realms (limits) of science and theology.
The Second Enemy of Truth Monday Ministry Minute Tip: Explores the second enemy of truth -- to assume that you know all of it.
Should Peter Go to the Mission Field? Dr. William Lane Craig: In a recent article in Faith and Philosophy 8 (1991), pp. 380-89, William Hasker related the cases of a veteran missionary, Paul, and a prospective missionary, Peter, who were each reflecting upon the implications of a middle knowledge perspective on the exclusivity of salvation through Christ for their missionary tasks. Peter, in some confusion, wrote to Paul for advice concerning whether he should leave his successful pastorate for the foreign field. Paul's response to Peter's letter has been obtained and is here published.
The Special Theory of Relativity and Theories of Divine Eternity Dr. William Lane Craig: Contemporary analyses of divine eternity often make explicit appeal to to the Special Theory of Relativity in support of the doctrine of divine timelessness. For example, two fundamental tenets of Leftow's theory, namely, (i) that temporal things exist both in time and in timeless eternity and (ii) that the timeless presence of all things to God in eternity is compatible with objective temporal becoming, depend essentially upon the legitimacy of the application of Einsteinian relativity to temporal events in relation to God. I argue that the first of these rests upon category mistakes, presupposes a reductionist view of time, and seems incompatible with a tensed theory of time. The second involves the same conceptual mistakes, but also hinges upon a particular interpretation of STR which, though widespread, is by no means the most plausible.
Sympathetic Attractions First Things, May 1997: Patricia Fara studies the historical development of science in a society in her book "Sympathetic Attractions: Magnetic Practices, Beliefs, and Symbolism in Eighteenth Century England." Reviewed by Hugh Ormsby-Lennon.
Tachyons, Time Travel, and Divine Omniscience Dr. William Lane Craig: The problem of divine foreknowledge and human freedom is parallel to the problems raised by tachyons and time travel. Both tachyons and time travel would seem to engender logically pernicious self-inhibiting situations. Solutions can be found parallel to the solution to theological fatalism; namely, backtracking counterfactuals are allowed such that past states are counterfactually dependent upon future states. The inquietude which this move occasions with respect to tachyons and time travel can be alleviated by a proper analysis of conditionship and personal power.
The Teleological Argument And The Anthropic Principle William Lane Craig: The discovery during our generation of the so-called anthropic coincidences in the initial conditions of the universe has breathed new life into the teleological argument. Use of the Anthropic Principle to nullify our wonder at these coincidences is logically fallacious unless conjoined with the metaphysical hypothesis of a World Ensemble. There are no reasons to believe that such an Ensemble exists nor that, if it does, it has the properties necessary for the Anthropic Principle to function. Typical objections to the alternative hypothesis of divine design are not probative.
A Theodicy Brad Johnson: The author examines the classical understanding theodicy, with emphasis on the relationship between the defender and that which is defended. He examines the Logical and Evidental Problems of Evil, as well as the classical resolutions to such problems. He posits the problem of evil as an existential "pastoral" problem whose answer lies in faith in the person and work of Christ.
Timelessness and Creation William Lane Craig: Brian Leftow argues that a temporal God could not be the creator of time and that therefore God should be conceived as timeless. Leftow's first argument, that there is no time at which a temporal God could act to create time fails because God could act at any time t to create t or, alternatively, could act at t in such a way as to be responsible for time existing prior to t. Leftow's second argument, that a temporal God could not have decided at any time t whether time should have a beginning or not fails because Leftow erroneously presupposes that in order for God to be responsible for times topological properties, there must have been a time at which He made such a decision.
Timelessness and Omnitemporality William Lane Craig: How shall we construe divine eternity and God's relationship to time? The view that God is simply timeless faces two insuperable difficulties: (1) an atemporal deity cannot be causally related to the temporal world, if temporal becoming is real, and (2) timelessness is incompatible with divine omniscience, if there are tensed facts about the world. On the other hand, we have good reasons to think that time and the universe had a beginning. Therefore, God cannot be infinitely temporal in the past. Perhaps we could say that God sans the universe existed in a topologically amorphous time in which temporally ordered intervals could not be distinguished. But such a state is not different from a state of timelessness. Therefore, the best understanding of eternity and time is that God is timeless sans creation and temporal since creation.
To Be A Prophet for the People First Things, January 1996: In the late twelfth century, Moroccan Jews were faced with a terrible choice: affirm Islam or perish. But could those who had publicly renounced their faith under persecution still practice it privately and remain a Jew in good standing?
Tobacco and the Soul First Things, April 1997: What does smoking reveal about a person? Do the different ways of using tobacco signify a great variety of psychological meanings? This philosophical reflection provides a more traditional perspective on this timely topic.
The Ultimate Question of Origins: God and the Beginning of the Universe William Lane Craig: The absolute origin of the universe, of all matter and energy, even of physical space and time themselves, in the Big Bang singularity contradicts the perennial naturalistic assumption that the universe has always existed. One after another, models designed to avert the initial cosmological singularity--the Steady State model, the Oscillating model, Vacuum Fluctuation models--have come and gone. Current quantum gravity models, such as the Hartle-Hawking model and the Vilenkin model, must appeal to the physically unintelligible and metaphysically dubious device of "imaginary time" to avoid the universe's beginning. The contingency implied by an absolute beginning ex nihilo points to a transcendent cause of the universe beyond space and time. Philosophical objections to a cause of the universe fail to carry conviction.
The Unraveling of Scientific Materialism First Things, November 1997: Is Darwinian evolution an irrefutable fact or materialistic philosophy disguised as science? Professor Johnson addresses this question as he considers the writings and career of Carl Sagan with regard to this matter.
Using God's Design to Communicate Faith John Studebaker: We can use evidence of several kinds of God's design to communicate the reasonableness of the Christian faith: the design of the earth, of biological life, of history, and moral design.
Values, Virtues, and John Paul II First Things, April 1997: Today politicians of every stripe seek to promote "values." But the term "values" itself is a problematic one. Pope John Paul II speaks of "values" fairly frequently. What does he mean when he uses this term?
Very Intelligent Design Joel Belz: Article by Joel Belz from World magazine concerning Phil Johnson and the 1996 Mere Creation Conference.
The View from the Back Row Douglas Yeo: Douglas Yeo, Bass Trombonist of the boston Symphony Orchestra, discusses his philosophy of music and music performance from his vantage point in the back row of a professional symphony orchestra. Beginning with the premise that music is an intense spiritual experience that brings man closer to God, he speaks of the great privilege, responsibility and joy that comes from making music as an offering to the Creator of all things.
Wallace Matson and the Crude Cosmological Argument Dr. William Lane Craig: Wallace Matson objects to the second premiss of the "crude" cosmological argument, that the universe began to exist, by pointing out that the natural number series shows the logical possibility of an infinite collection of things. The cosmological argument proves only that an infinite collection cannot be formed in a finite time. But the argument asserts the real, not the logical, impossibility of an actual infinite. Nor does it assume that time is finite: one cannot explain how one infinite collection (the series of events) can be formed by successive addition merely by superimposing another (the series of moments) upon it. Matson objects to the first premiss, that everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence, by asserting that if it were true, then God would also need a cause. But Matson misconstrues the premiss to state everything has a cause of its existence. The correct premiss does not imply a cause of God, since He did not begin to exist.
Wedge Issues - An Intelligent Discussion with Intelligent Design's Designer Nancy Pearcey: The person who has done most to revive and refine criticisms of Darwinian evolution in recent years is easily Phillip Johnson. His book, "The Wedge of Truth," explains why evolution is having a destructive effect in ethics, philosophy, and even the humanities. This interview with Nancy Pearcey gives a brief and readable introduction to the book's themes.
Western Theism Lecture Notes (Phl 356): Spring 1998, University of Texas Robert C. Koons: Lecture notes and bibliography from Dr. Koons' Western Theism course (Phl 356) at the University of Texas at Austin, Spring 1998.
What Do I Say Now? Responding to the Slogans of Critics Rick Wade: Rick Wade exposes the thinking behind cliched objections to Christianity with a view toward encouraging believers not to fear these prefabricated phrases.
What is Truth? Douglas Groothuis: This essay explores the nature of truth in relation to our postmodern setting. Groothuis advances the correspondence view of truth, explain its importance to Christians, and defend it several rivals.
What is the Evidence For/Against the Existence of God? A Debate between Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Peter W. Atkins moderated by William F. Buckley, Jr.: Recently at the University of Wisconsin, William Lane Craig debated Anthony Flew, a world-renowned atheistic philosopher on the topic "Does God Exist?" The audience (both theist and atheist) and the press agreed that Craig "won" the debate by more clearly presenting the case FOR the existence of God. Now you can hear Dr. Craig debate Peter W. Atkins with William F. Buckley, Jr. moderating. You can participate in the debate as it happens live from The Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, April 3, 1998 8pm-10:30pm Eastern Time, via satellite and RealAudio. During a debate, a link on this page will allow you to listen to the debate via RealAudio.
What is the Evidence For/Against the Existence of God? A Debate between Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Peter W. Atkins: Dr. Craig argues the affirmative and Dr. Atkins argues against the affirmative in this classic debate. Moderated by William F. Buckley and originally held in The Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, Georgia, April 3, 1998, this debate is available online in RealAudio and RealVideo formats.
When Worldviews Collide: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud: a comparison of their thoughts and viewpoints on life; pain and death (Part Two) The Real Issue, March 1998: Armand Nicholi, Jr., M.D. concludes his anaylsis can comparison of the worldviews of Freud and Lewis by writing of their thoughts on death and life. Nicholi has done much original work in his research on the two personalities.
Where Are You, Adam? First Things, May 1996: After the consumption of the forbidden fruit, God finds the first man filled with shame and excuses. We frequently have excuses about our own shortcomings, often claiming the role of victim. But do we any longer have shame about our failures?
Where Did "I" Go? The Loss of Self in Postmodern Times: One of the problems with postmodern thought is the loss of personal identity. Rick Wade analyzes the situation and offers biblical remedies for our postmodern malaise.
Why Care About Ideas? The Real Issue, March 1998: Jim Cook briefly outlines why Christians should care about worldviews other than Christianity, considering what they might need to know in order to be a witness in this new age of postmodernism.
Why We Can Get Along First Things, February 1996: The author points out the fine distinctions in the relationship between critical thinking, religious belief and tolerance. This essay was written in response to a previously published essay.
Why We Can't All Just Get Along First Things, February 1996: Liberalism neither accepts faith nor God as standards for thought. Without any such restrictions, all questions are open. But are those who do believe in God allowed to participate in public discussions, or has their faith marginalized them? How tolera
William Lane Craig Speaking Schedule Speaking Engagements: See if Dr. William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology, will be speaking in your area.
Witnesses for the Prosecution Joel Belz: Article by Joel Belz from World magazine concerning Phil Johnson and the 1996 Mere Creation Conference.
The World of the Apostle Paul Rick Wade: This essay examines different aspects of life in the day of the Apostle Paul: religion, philosophy, the family unity, social morality, and Christians? conflict with the culture.
"Written on the Heart" and "A Preserving Grace" (Book Review) First Things, November 1997: Reviewer Dean C. Curry considers two books on philosophical tradition of natural law: "Written on the Heart: The Case for Natural Law" by J. Budziszewski and "A Preserving Grace: Prostestants, Catholics and Natural Law" edited by Michael Cromarite.
"You Guys Lost": Is Design a Closed Issue? Nancy Pearcey: Design theorists are sometimes criticized for flogging a dead horse, resurrecting a debate that was settled in the 19th century by Darwin. But was debate really settled? This article from "Mere Creation" looks at the historical record and finds that Darwin and his colleagues accepted his theory less because it was scientifically persuasive than because it was philosophically attractive.
Your Truth, My Truth Leadership University Special Feature: In his video testimony, President Clinton said he thought both Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas had been telling the truth. Is such a statement indicative of our postmodern society? Mutually exclusive testimonies that are both true?