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343Transworld sanctity and Plantinga's free will defenseInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 44 (1): 1-21. 1998.A critique of Plantinga's free will defense. For an updated version of this critique, with a reply to objections from William Rowe and Alvin Plantinga, see my "The logical problem of evil: Plantinga and Mackie," in Justin P. McBrayer & Daniel Howard‐Snyder (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to the Problem of Evil, Wiley-Blackwell, 2013, pp. 19-33.
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288Faith and faithfulnessFaith and Philosophy 39 1-25. 2022.Can faith be valuable and, if so, under what conditions? We know of no theory-neutral way to address this question. So, we offer a theory of relational faith, and we supplement it with a complementary theory of relational faithfulness. We then turn to relationships of mutual faith and faithfulness with an eye toward exhibiting some of the ways in which, on our theory, faith and faithfulness can be valuable and disvaluable. We then extend the theory to other manifestations of faith and faithfulne…Read more
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277Approaches to Faith, Guest Editorial PrefaceInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 81 (Special Double Issue): 1-7. 2017.Springer. We find in contemporary culture starkly contrasting estimates of the value of faith. On the one hand, for many people, faith is a virtue or positive human value, something associated with understanding, hope, and love, something to be inculcated, maintained, and cherished. On the other hand, for many people, faith is a vice, something associated with dogmatism, arrogance, and close-mindedness, something to be avoided at all costs. The papers included in this special (double) issue on…Read more
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227Theorizing about Christian Faith in God with John BishopReligious Studies 59 (Special Issue 3): 410-433. 2023.We assess John Bishop’s theory of the nature of Christian faith in God, as most recently expressed in ‘Reasonable Faith and Reasonable Fideism’, although we dip into other writings as well. We explain several concerns we have about it. However, in the end, our reflections lead us to propose a modified theory, one that avoids our concerns while remaining consonant with some of his guiding thoughts about the nature of Christian faith in God. We also briefly examine three normative issues Bishop’s …Read more
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221William P. AlstonIn Graham Oppy & Nick Trakakis (eds.), The History of Western Philosophy of Religion, Volume 5, Twentieth-Century Philosophers of Religion, Routledge. pp. 221-232. 2009.This is a 12-page article on the life and work in philosophy of religion by William P. Alston (1921-2009).
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214Normative appraisals of faith in GodReligious Studies 59 (Special Issue 3): 383-393. 2023.Many theistic religions place a high value on faith in God and some traditions regard it as a virtue. However, philosophers commonly assign either very little value to faith in God or significant negative value, or even view it as a vice. Progress in assessing whether and when faith in God can be valuable or disvaluable, virtuous or vicious, rational or irrational, or otherwise apt or inapt requires understanding what faith in God is. This Special Issue on the normative appraisal of faith in God…Read more
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212Revisionary ontologists are making a comeback. Quasi-nihilists, like Peter van Inwagen and Trenton Merricks, insist that the only composite objects that exist are living things. Unrestriced universalists, like W.V.O. Quine, David Lewis, Mark Heller, and Hud Hudson, insist that any collection of objects composes something, no matter how scattered over time and space they may be. And there are more besides. The result, says Eli Hirsch, is that many commonsense judgments about the existence or iden…Read more
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201On a “Fatal Dilemma” for Moderate FoundationalismJournal of Philosophical Research 30 251-259. 2005.Contemporary foundationalists prefer Moderate Foundationalism over Strong Foundationalism. In this paper, we assess two arguments against the former which have been recently defended by Timothy McGrew. Three theses are central to the discussion: that only beliefs can be probabilifying evidence, that justification is internal, in McGrew’s sense of the term, and that only beliefs can be nonarbitrary justifying reasons.
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198Intellectual Humility in Interdisciplinary Projects: Analysis and MeasurementJournal of Psychology and Christianity 38 (3): 160-163. 2019.
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174The Evidential Argument from EvilIndiana University Press. 1996.Is evil evidence against the existence of God? Even if God and evil are compatible, it remains hotly contested whether evil renders belief in God unreasonable. The Evidential Argument from Evil presents five classic statements on this issue by eminent philosophers and theologians and places them in dialogue with eleven original essays reflecting new thinking by these and other scholars. The volume focuses on two versions of the argument. The first affirms that there is no reason for God to permi…Read more
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166Divine Hiddenness: New EssaysCambridge University Press. 2001.For many people the existence of God is by no means a sufficiently clear feature of reality. This problem, the fact of divine hiddenness, has been a source of existential concern and has sometimes been taken as a rationale for support of atheism or agnosticism. In this collection of essays, a distinguished group of philosophers of religion explore the question of divine hiddenness in considerable detail. The issue is approached from several perspectives including Jewish, Christian, atheist and a…Read more
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160The Blackwell Companion to The Problem of Evil (edited book)Wiley. 2014.This volume has a two-fold purpose: reference and research. As a work of reference, it is designed to provide accessible, objective, and accurate summaries of contemporary developments within the problem of evil. As a work of research, it is designed to advance the dialectic within the problem of evil by offering novel insights, criticisms and responses from top scholars in the field. As such, the volume will serve as a guide to both specialists within the philosophy of religion and nonspecia…Read more
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156Response to McCain’s and Poston’s ‘Beliefs are Justified by Coherence’In Steven B. Cowan (ed.), Problems in Epistemology and Metaphysics: An Introduction to Contemporary Debates, Bloomsbury Publishing. 2020.This brief reply to McCain and Poston's chapter problematizes both their objections to my chapter on experience justifying belief and their version of epistemological coherentism.
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135Foundationalism and arbitrarinessPacific Philosophical Quarterly 86 (1). 2005.Nonskeptical foundationalists say that there are basic beliefs. But, one might object, either there is a reason why basic beliefs are likely to be true or there is not. If there is, then they are not basic; if there is not, then they are arbitrary. I argue that this dilemma is not nearly as decisive as its author, Peter Klein, would have us believe.
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135TheodicyIn Kelly Clark (ed.), Readings in the Philosophy of Religion, Broadview. 2008.This paper summarizes a version of the argument from evil for atheism and then assesses several theodicies, including those that appeal to punishment, evil as a necessary counterpart for good, free will, natural evil as natural consequence, natural law, higher-order goods, and the conjunctive "Big Reason" including all the above and more beside.
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118How an Unsurpassable Being Can Create a Surpassable WorldFaith and Philosophy 11 (2): 260-268. 1994.Imagine that there exists a good, essentially omniscient and omnipotent being named Jove, and that there exists nothing else. No possible being is more powerful or knowledgable. Out of his goodness, Jove decides to create. Since he is all-powerful, there is nothing but the bounds of possibility to prevent him from getting what he wants. Unfortunately, as he holds before his mind the host of worlds, Jove sees that for each there is a better one. Although he can create any of them, he can't create…Read more
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102On Rowe's Argument from Particular HorrorsIn Kelly Clark (ed.), Readings in Philosophy of Religion, Broadview. 2005.This article assesses Bill Rowe's 1979 version of the evidential argument from evil.
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77The Real Problem of No Best WorldFaith and Philosophy 13 (3): 422-425. 1996.This is a reply to William Rowe, "The Problem of No Best World," Faith and Philosophy (1994).
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76Hiddenness of GodStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2016.“Divine hiddenness”, as the phrase suggests, refers, most fundamentally, to the hiddenness of God, i.e., the alleged fact that God is hidden, absent, silent. In religious literature, there is a long history of expressions of annoyance, anxiety, and despair over divine hiddenness, so understood. For example, ancient Hebrew texts lament God’s failure to show up in experience or to show proper regard for God’s people or some particular person, and two Christian Gospels portray Jesus, in his cry of …Read more
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51How Does Trust Relate to Faith?Canadian Journal of Philosophy 52 (4): 411-427. 2022.How does trust relate to faith? We do not know of a theory-neutral way to answer our question. So, we begin with what we regard as a plausible theory of faith according to which, in slogan form, faith is resilient reliance. Next, we turn to contemporary theories of trust. They are not of one voice. Still, we can use them to indicate ways in which trust and faith might both differ from and resemble each other. This is what we do. Along the way, we evaluate substantive issues related to these poss…Read more
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40Special issue: approaches to faith: Guest editorial prefaceInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 81 (1-2): 1-6. 2017.According to many accounts of faith—where faith is thought of as something psychological, e.g., an attitude, state, or trait—one cannot have faith without belief of the relevant propositions. According to other accounts of faith, one can have faith without belief of the relevant propositions. Call the first sort of account doxasticism since it insists that faith requires belief; call the second nondoxasticism since it allows faith without belief. The New Testament may seem to favor doxasticism o…Read more
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39The argument from inscrutable evilIn The Evidential Argument From Evil, Indiana University Press. pp. 286--310. 1996.
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25Surplus EvilPhilosophical Quarterly 40 78-86. 1990.This is a defense of Bill Rowe's 1979 version of the evidential argument from evil.
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13On a “Fatal Dilemma” for Moderate FoundationalismJournal of Philosophical Research 30 251-259. 2005.Contemporary foundationalists prefer Moderate Foundationalism over Strong Foundationalism. In this paper, we assess two arguments against the former which have been recently defended by Timothy McGrew. Three theses are central to the discussion: that only beliefs can be probabilifying evidence, that justification is internal, in McGrew’s sense of the term, and that only beliefs can be nonarbitrary justifying reasons.
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11Czy Jezus był szaleńcem, złoczyńcą czy Bogiem? A może tylko się pomylił?Roczniki Filozoficzne 61 (2): 39-68. 2013.This is a Polish translation of "Was Jesus Mad, Bad, or God?...Or Merely Mistaken?," Faith and Philosophy 21, 2004: 456-479, reprinted in Oxford Readings in Philosophical Theology, Volume 1: Trinity, Incarnation, and Atonement (Oxford 2009), ed. Michael Rea
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8William P. AlstonIn John R. Shook (ed.), Dictionary of Modern American Philosophy, Thoemmes Press. 2005.This is an encyclopedia entry for William P. Alston.
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8BonJour’s ‘Basic Antifoundationalist Argument’The Paideia Archive: Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy 45 116-126. 1998.BonJour argues that there can be no basic empirical beliefs. But premises three and four jointly entail ‘BonJour’s Rule’ — one’s belief that p is justified only if one justifiably believes the premises of an argument that makes p highly likely — which, given human psychology, entails global skepticism. His responses to the charge of skepticism, restricting premise three to basic beliefs and noting that the Rule does not require ‘explicit’ belief, fail. Moreover, the Rule does not express an epis…Read more
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