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1Like tears in rain : a process challengeIn Randy Ramal (ed.), Metaphysics, analysis, and the grammar of God: process and analytic voices in dialogue, Mohr Siebeck. 2010.
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8Process Theism and Theodicies for Problems of EvilIn Justin P. McBrayer & Daniel Howard‐Snyder (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to the Problem of Evil, Wiley. 2013.I delineate four problems of evil encountered by Christian traditional theists (those who believe that God is all good, all knowing, and all powerful), and I present reasons for thinking that they have no good responses to these problems. Then I delineate important features of process metaphysics and discuss how this metaphysics solves the problems of evil. As conceived by process theists, God is all‐good and all‐knowing and has the greatest power any one being could have, but is not all‐powerfu…Read more
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31On the Issues Dividing Contemporary Christian Philosophers and TheologiansFaith and Philosophy 10 (1): 68-78. 1993.
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33Should Christian Theologians Become Christian Philosophers?Faith and Philosophy 12 (2): 260-268. 1995.This paper continues a debate about the relation between Christian philosophers and theologians begun by Gordon Kaufman, who argued that Christian theologians need not be interested in “evidentialism.” In particular it replies to a paper by William Hasker charging that an earlier defense of Kaufman’s position introduced tensions because it required judgments about the merits of “evidentialism” which could be defended only by using the evidentialist arguments whose importance Kaufman denied. This…Read more
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53Comtemporary Christian Doubts About the ResurrectionFaith and Philosophy 5 (1): 40-60. 1988.In a recent issue of Faith and Philosophy, Stephen Davis argues that it is rational for supernaturalists, though not for naturalists, to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ in (roughly) the sense of an event which happened to Jesus in which Jesus, though he had truly died, was restored to life and consciousness and after which his living body left the tomb. After making some clarifications regarding supernaturalism and the concept of a miracle, I argue that Davis has not shown this. My c…Read more
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97Foundationalism, circular justification, and the levels gambitSynthese 68 (2). 1986.In Foundationalism, Coherentism, and the Levels Gambit, David Shatz argued that foundationalists must countenance a circular mediate justification of perceptual beliefs which the foundationalist holds are already immediately justified. Because the circularity of coherentist accounts of the justification of beliefs is a major basis of foundationalist criticism of coherentism, Shatz's claim is a serious challenge to foundationalism. In this paper, using a moderate foundationalism with a reliabilis…Read more
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60Comtemporary Christian Doubts About the ResurrectionFaith and Philosophy 5 (1): 40-60. 1988.In a recent issue of Faith and Philosophy, Stephen Davis argues that it is rational for supernaturalists, though not for naturalists, to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ in (roughly) the sense of an event which happened to Jesus in which Jesus, though he had truly died, was restored to life and consciousness and after which his living body left the tomb. After making some clarifications regarding supernaturalism and the concept of a miracle, I argue that Davis has not shown this. My c…Read more
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90Christianity and ConsequentialismFaith and Philosophy 6 (2): 198-206. 1989.In a recent paper, Gilbert Meilaender argues that Christian ethics must not be consequentialist. Though Meilaender does indicate some problems which may exist with certain consequentialist theories, those problems do not exclude all types of consequentialist theories from consideration as Christian ethical theories. A consequentialism like R. M. Hare’s offers virtually all the advantages Meilaender claims for his Christian deontological view. Moreover. Meilaender has overlooked certain advantage…Read more
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93The hiddenness of God and the problem of evilInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 37 (1). 1995.
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11Problems of Evil and the Power of GodRoutledge. 2007.Why do bad things happen, even to good people? If there is a God, why aren't God's existence and God's will for humans more apparent? And if God really does miracles for some people, why not for others? This book examines these three problems of evil - suffering, divine hiddenness, and unfairness if miracles happen as believers claim - to explore how different ideas of God's power relate to the problem of evil.
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37James A. Keller: Problems of Evil and the Power of God: Ashgate, Aldershot, UK, and Burlington, VT, 2007, x + 176 pp, $99.95 (review)International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 65 (2): 113-117. 2009.
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41Accepting the Authority of the BibleFaith and Philosophy 6 (4): 378-397. 1989.This paper provides an answer to this question: is the Christian of today rationally justified in using the views expressed in the Bible as a (or the) standard for what she should accept for her own beliefs and practices. I argue against trying to answer this question on thebasis of some alleged character of the biblical writings (e.g., their inerrancy or inspiredness). Such a thesis would itself have to be rationally justified, as would the interpretations and applications of biblical writings …Read more