Samuel Clarke In Paul Russell’s masterful analysis of the irreligious nature of Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature entitled, The Riddle of Hume’s Treatise, Russell recounts an argument for theism by Samuel Clarke and Hume’s refutation. Russell shows how, in his efforts to defend a natural science of human knowledge, Hume is also attacking common theistic proofs. Clarke’s argument is as follows: Something existed from all eternity. If something had not existed from all eternity then something would have come from nothing. That which has existed from all eternity is unchangeable and independent. If there had not existed from all eternity something unchangeable and independent then everything that has ever existed would be changeable and dependent. If everything is changeable and dependent then it…
-
-
Persuasive Modes
Imagine you are gathered at a family reunion (or any other social event). Your family comprises of atheists, mystics, agnostics and whatever else you can think of. As the discussion gets going everyone seems very appreciative of one another’s views. “One just has to do one’s best in life,” grandma says. “I find divinity in everything,” a great aunt remarks. “Just because he’s gay doesn’t make him wrong,” your brother says to nods of approval. The conversation is pleasant. Pleasant, that is, while you, the exclusivist Christian, remain silent. For, you know that, when challenged to comment, you will very likely be received as judgmental, harsh, thoroughly anti-party-mood. But to stay silent pricks…
-
Horrendous Evil Always Begins in the Human Heart
There will be psychology – what was his mental state? Who was caring for him? There will be chemistry – what was he on? Did he abuse? There will be technology – what computer games did he play? How long every day? There will be politics- should we ban guns? There will be sociology – do affluent sons of broken families need help? And there will be biology – what gene causes violence? But an explanation of evil, if it starts anywhere, starts in the deceptive heart of human beings. Jeremiah writes, “the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” There is no…
-
Economic Anti-Realism
Just what is economic anti-realism? I began to think about this during, and especially after, the last election. For me, it has to do with that number, the number we kept hearing about, ignoring and not really understanding, the number sixteen. It appeared, to me, that the last election was a simple, no-brainer. Whatever social position one takes and whether or not one likes a candidate or not, the question was: can we afford to spend any more money we don’t have? It doesn’t matter much if you think it is a human right to have health care if there is no way you can pay for it. Keeping Big…
-
Delineating Disciplines
What is the difference between Philosophy of Religion, Philosophical Theology and Apologetics? Academicians, as a part time hobby, attempt to mark out territory. Students, on the other hand, usually don’t care about the boundaries and lump disciplines into one coherent stream. I’m afraid I am of the latter persuasion. Hence, my undergraduate degree was in Philosophical Theology and Apologetics and my graduate studies are in Philosophy of Religion. Through it all, I maintained an apologetic, and ministry, focus. My dual goals were to better root and establish believers in the Christian faith and better communicate the gospel in our culture. Okay, so my aims do not sound grandly philosophical and required the twisting of certain topics…
-
A Worldview on the Brink
Thomas Nagel argues that if you are committed to a reductive materialism/physicalism and a darwinistic historical narrative you have a problem – consciousness. A darwinist is one who holds to the evolutionary story. It is a description of history that attempts to explain how we have emerged to be rational, moral, conscious human beings through natural selection and laws of nature. A materialist holds to a set of presuppositions that imply that reality is fundamentally reducible to what is physical. Nagel says that darwinistic materialists are committed to a set of presuppositions (a constitutive account) that is reductionary (all is physical) and a story (a historical account) that is emergent (all that…
-
Too Focused on Atheism #2
It strikes me as problematic that so much effort goes into defeating something that most people don’t hold to (approximately 4% of Americans are self-describes atheists). William Lane Craig, for example, concerns himself with a strong defense of theism followed by trying to support claims of the divinity of Jesus Christ. What troubles me is that most of his work goes into the former project. In his popular apologetics book, On Guard, Craig devotes a chapter to religious pluralism (actually it is only really about soteriology) during which he recounts a telling story: I often speak at major Canadian universities on the existence of God. I typically present a cumulative case climaxing in Jesus’ resurrection After one of my talks,…
-
Darwin’s Unconviction
Charles Darwin once said: “the impossibility of conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me the chief argument for the existence of God; but whether this is an argument of real value, I have never been able to decide” (full transcript here). It strikes me that if such a clever fellow such as Darwin cannot decide if the most convincing argument for the existence of God is valid, then the rest of us mere average intellects have no chance. It points to a problem of proof and persuasion Just because there is a logically valid, sound argument for the existence of…