In the comment thread to my latest podcast, “Travis Dumsday on the atheist’s duty to pray,” philosopher Robert Gressis offered an objection to the practice of prayer. The objection is based on the assumption that God is a maximally perfect being (i.e. the Anselmian conception), and thus perfectly good and all knowing. Gressis explains: assuming that we’re […]
Anselm
Why biblical theologians need philosophical theology
I have enjoyed having a discussion with my colleague Jerry Shepherd. I think that the fact that we can have an irenic discussion of this type is very important and illustrates the need for more dialogue without enmity. As interesting as the convesation has been, even more interesting is discovering what the conversation is really […]
Could God be other than maximally loving? Yet another response to Jerry
Jerry asks: “You say that God is “maximally loving” and that God maximizes his glory. My question for you is, if God wasn’t maximally loving, how could you tell? In other words, what would it take for you to declare that God is not maximally loving, and therefore, not worthy of your worship. If God […]
God is maximally great, God is perfectly good, so we can thank him in every possible world
There has been much ado about the ontological argument, most of it skeptical. In response to the chorus of incredulity, it may help to put this into a more formalized type of argument. However, doing so is risky given the sharp minds out there waiting to trip me up. But I care more about corporate illumination […]
That theologian from which greater behavior could be conceived
Over the last few days we’ve had some substantial conversation over the great Anselm’s ontological argument and the accompanying definition of God as that than which none greater can be conceived. There is no doubt that Anselm was an enormously important, seminal thinker. But like all of us he was also human. And like all […]
Is God as perfect as I think he is?
Walter asks: “Why must divine equal perfection? Why is it not possible for a transcendental Creator to be vastly more powerful and intelligent than us, yet still be short of perfection?” There are two questions here. Let’s number them for ease of reference. (1) Why must divine equal perfection? (2) Why is it not possible for a […]
