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37Evil as Evidence Against the Existence of GodPhilosophy Research Archives 4 55-67. 1978.Robert Pargetter has recently argued that, even if the theist cannot produce plausible explanations for the evil we experience, the atheologian has no justifiable basis for claiming that evil can in any sense count as strong evidence against God's existence. His strategy is to challenge as question-begging (1) the atheologian's assumption that a prima facie conflict between God and evil exists and (2) the atheologian's claim that God's nonexistence is a more plausible explanation for unresolved …Read more
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68Petitionary Prayer: A Response to Murray and MeyersReligious Studies 31 (4): 475-484. 1995.In a recent article in this journal, Michael Murray and Kurt Meyers offer us two innovative and thought-provoking responses to the important question of why God would, even occasionally, refrain from giving us that which he can and would like to give us until we request that he do so: to help the believer learn more about God and thus become more like him and to help the believer realize she is dependent on God. I argue that neither explanation is adequate and thus that more work on this signifi…Read more
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90Omniscience and Deliberation: A Response to Reichenbach (review)International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 20 (2/3). 1986.
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58Miracles as violations: Some clarificationsSouthern Journal of Philosophy 22 (1): 1-7. 1984.SINCE THE TIME OF HUME, A MIRACLE HAS MOST FREQUENTLY BEEN DEFINED IN PHILOSOPHICAL CIRCLES AS A VIOLATION OF A NATURAL LAW CAUSED BY A GOD. I ARGUE THAT THERE IS A MEANINGFUL SENSE IN WHICH IT CAN BE SAID THAT A NATURAL LAW HAS BEEN VIOLATED. BUT I FURTHER ARGUE THAT SINCE AN EVENT CAN ONLY BE A VIOLATION IN THIS SENSE IF IT IS NOT CAUSED BY A GOD, NO MIRACLE CAN BE SAID TO BE A VIOLATION OF A NATURAL LAW
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49Divine Determinateness and the Free Will DefensePhilosophy Research Archives 8 531-534. 1982.Proponents of The Free Will Defense frequently argue that it is necessary for God to create self-directing beings who possess the capacity for producing evil because, in the words of F.R. Tennant, “moral goodness must be the result of a self-directing developmental process.” But if this is true, David Paulsen has recently argued, then the proponent of the Free Will Defense cannot claim that God has an eternally determinate nature. For if God has an eternally determinatenature and moral goodness …Read more
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19Human freedom and divine providence: Some new thoughts on an old problem: David BasingerReligious Studies 15 (4): 491-510. 1979.Christian theists have not normally wished to deny either of the following tenets: T1 God creates human agents such that they are free with respect to certain actions and, therefore, morally responsible for them. T2 God is an omniscient, wholly good being who is omnipotent in the sense that he has control over all existent states of affairs
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13Anderson on PlantingaPhilosophy Research Archives 8 315-320. 1982.In a recent discussion, Susan Anderson argues that Alvin Plantinga’s version of the Free Will Defense has not shown that the existence of God is neither precluded nor rendered improbable by the existence of evil. She grants Plantinga that God cannot control free actions and that only free actions have moral worth but denies that this entails that God cannot insure a world containing only moral good. God could do so, she argues, simply by taking away the freedom of persons when he foresees they w…Read more
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27Flew, miracles and historySophia 22 (2). 1983.ANTONY FLEW HAS ARGUED THAT THE HISTORIAN MUST MAINTAIN WITH RESPECT TO ANY ALLEGED MIRACLE WHICH IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH CURRENT NOMOLOGICALS THAT THE EVENT DID NOT IN FACT OCCUR AS REPORTED. I ARGUE THAT THE LINE OF REASONING HE USES TO SUPPORT THIS STANCE IS MUCH MORE SUBTLE AND CONVINCING THAN MOST OF HIS CRITICS HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED. BUT I CONCLUDE IN THE LAST ANALYSIS THAT HIS ARGUMENT IS UNSOUND
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67Religious diversity: Where exclusivists often go wrong (review)International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 47 (1): 43-55. 2000.
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37Divine Providence: The Molinist AccountPhilosophical Review 109 (2): 274. 2000.Christian theists have always been concerned with the relationship between God’s providential control and human freedom. Flint’s book is an explication and defense of what he sees as the best way for orthodox Christians to conceive of this relationship: the Molinist account.
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129Middle knowledge and divine control: Some clarifications (review)International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 30 (3). 1991.What then have we discovered? The general issue under discussion, remember, is whether it is advantageous or disadvantageous for the theist to affirm MK, especially as this form of knowledge relates to God's control over earthly affairs. As we have seen, both proponents and opponents of MK have claimed that this form of knowledge gives God significant power over earthly affairs, including control over the (indeterministically) free choices of humans.We have seen, though, that such a contention i…Read more
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41In what sense must God do his best: A response to Hasker (review)International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 18 (3). 1985.
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31Petitionary prayer: A response to Murray and Meyers: David BasingerReligious Studies 31 (4): 475-484. 1995.In a recent article in this journal, Michael Murray and Kurt Meyers offer us two innovative and thought-provoking responses to the important question of why God would, even occasionally, refrain from giving us that which he can and would like to give us until we request that he do so: to help the believer learn more about God and thus become more like him and to help the believer realize she is dependent on God. I argue that neither explanation is adequate and thus that more work on this signifi…Read more
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21Predestination and Free Will: Four Views of Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom (edited book)Intervarsity Press. 1986.David Basinger and Randall Basinger present four different answers to the question "If God is in control, are people really free?" Contributors include John Feinberg, Norman Geisler, Bruce Reichenbach and Clark Pinnock.
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25Divine Power in Process Theism: A Philosophical CritiqueState University of New York Press. 1988.Process theology likes to compare itself favorably to what it calls classical theism. This book takes that comparison seriously and examines process theology's claim to do better than classical theism.
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11Anderson on PlantingaPhilosophy Research Archives 8 315-320. 1982.In a recent discussion, Susan Anderson argues that Alvin Plantinga’s version of the Free Will Defense has not shown that the existence of God is neither precluded nor rendered improbable by the existence of evil. She grants Plantinga that God cannot control free actions and that only free actions have moral worth but denies that this entails that God cannot insure a world containing only moral good. God could do so, she argues, simply by taking away the freedom of persons when he foresees they w…Read more
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126Hick’s Religious Pluralism and “Reformed Epistemology”Faith and Philosophy 5 (4): 421-432. 1988.The purpose of this discussion is to analyze comparatively the influential argument for religious pluralism offered by John Hick and the argument for religious exclusivism (sectarianism) which can be generated by proponents of what has come to be labeled ‘Reformed Epistemology.’ I argue that while Hick and the Reformed exclusivist appear to be giving us incompatible responses to the same question about the true nature of ‘religious’ reality, they are actually responding to related, but distinct …Read more
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28Alvin Plantinga. Edited by James D. Tomberlin and Peter van Inwagen (review)Modern Schoolman 65 (4): 265-267. 1988.
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40Griffin and Pike on Divine PowerPhilosophy Research Archives 10 347-352. 1984.David Griffin and Nelson Pike recently had a spirited discussion on divine power. The essence of the discussion centered around what was labelled Premise X: “It is possible for one actual being's condition to be completely determined by a being or beings other than itself.” Pike maintains that ‘traditional’ theists have affirmed Premise X but denies that this entails that God has all the power there is and thus denies that Premise X can be considered incoherent for this reason. Griffin maintains…Read more
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16Review of Stephen R. L. Clark, Understanding Faith: Religious Belief and its Place in Society (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2010 (8). 2010.