Today, I was a guest on John Petersen’s YouTube channel to talk about God as a necessary being. I parachuted into the conversation about 20 minutes in (I had another meeting before then) and then I had to leave early. But I had a great time while it lasted!
perfect being theology
An Argument against Islam and Calvinism
I was recently asked by a friend to watch and respond to this short clip in which William Lane Craig offers an argument against God as defined in Islam: In that clip, Craig appears to present an argument like this: (1) If God exists, God is the greatest conceivable being. (2) For any being to […]
If the God of Calvinism exists, would you worship him?
Yesterday I wrote an article critiquing Justin Schieber’s tweeted declaration “I refuse to repent to a god who, if real, has far more to repent about than I.” It turns out that by “god” Justin was referring to a morally monstrous deity which lacks the moral perfection of God as defined in classical theism and […]
I refuse to repent to a god who…? A response to Justin Schieber
Let’s take a look at one of Justin Schieber’s tweets from this morning: I replied: Let me unpack my tweet. Justin claims that if God exists then he needs to repent. (Repent of what? Justin doesn’t say. But we can assume this is a reference to the many evils in the world.) The problem is that Christians […]
8. The 59-Second Apologist: Perfect Being Theology
Anselm famously described God as that being than which none greater can be conceived. That definition, both simple and profound, is the inspiration for the contemporary project of perfect being theology which is among the most vigorous areas of research in contemporary philosophy of religion. After you’ve listened to the 59 Second podcast at the […]
God and the arbitrary attribute charge: A response to Jason Thibodeau
Jason Thibodeau has been offering a series of critiques of my views on God and explanation over at his blog. Here’s the most recent entry: “Do theists need to explain God’s existence? Part 3“. In case you were wondering, Jason has a PhD in philosophy from the University of California and is a professor in philosophy […]
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 […]
Why is God necessary?
How many things do we just accept without ever reflecting on them? For instance, why do clouds, supposedly made up of water vapor, look like vast cotton balls floating in the sky? (Alas, I have discovered that a close up view looking out the window of a Delta flight does little to dispell the mystery.) As puzzling as […]
