Philosophy of Religion

A collection of 288 posts

Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?

Libertarian Free Will and the Kalam, Revisited

It seems that internet friends and atheist You Tube sensations CosmicSkeptic and Rationality Rules have either read my book at some point or are just hitting a rich vein of Kalam Cosmological Argument (KCA) criticism by mutual awesomeness. I recently posted about my thoughts concerning CosmicSkeptic's debate with

Aquinas

The Unnecessary Science

The Unnecessary Science: A Critical Analysis of Natural Law Theory (Onus Books) is a cracking book tackling the work of Edward Feser in his defences and use of Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle in trying to establish natural law theory and its connected areas of essentialism and so on. It is

evolution

"Why Science and Atheism Don't Mix". Really?

Aah, John Lennox. So long since I've considered you. I remember attending a talk you gave in Southampton years ago on your faith (I can't remember the subject exactly, but it may have had connections to you being a mathematician). Lennox has written recently in the

Consciousness

An Immaterial Mind Causing the Universe

The other day, I was sent an argument by a commenter on my video discussing the Kalam Cosmological Argument. For the full details of his arguments, please see my post here. William Lane Craig uses an extension to his Kalam Cosmological Argument to conclude that this an immaterial mind, qua

abstracts

Criticising Craig's Personal Mind As Causing the Universe

Here is an argument that a commenter on one of my recent YouTube videos on the Kalam Cosmological Argument gave me. It's actually something I have argued elsewhere (possibly even mentioning in that Kalam series itself). Before I hand over to him, let me remind you of the

creation

Craig's Reformulated Kalam & CosmicSkeptic: Free Will and Other Problems

Here is the third and final instalment of the critically acclaimed philosophical trilogy looking at criticising the Kalam Cosmological Argument. In this video, I look to continue my commentary and then go back to look at William Lane Craig's pitiful defence of the idea that God could "

conceptual nominalism

Dekonstructing the Kalam: CosmicSkeptic, William Lane Craig & Conceptual Nominalism

In my first video in this series on the Kalam as pertaining to leading light of internet atheism, CosmicSkeptic, I looked at running a commentary that hoped to highlight the need for clarity in many of the points that Alex O'Connor made in a vide debunking his former

Cosmology

Debunking CosmicSkeptic Debunking Himself Debunking the Kalam. A Rebunking? Or Something...

Okay, this isn't so much a debunking as a conversation or a use of Alex O'Connor's (CosmicSkeptic) recent video as a stimulus for discussion. It's a commentary of sorts. I've got a lot of time for O'Connor: his

Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?

The Kalamity of the Kalam Cosmological Argument

Towards the end of my book on the Kalam Cosmological Argument (Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?: Countering William Lane Craig's Kalam Cosmological Argument [UK]), I set out to succinctly list the issues I find in the three-line syllogism: Let me, for ease of reference, lay out

Cosmology

William Lane Craig vs Alex O'Connor on the Kalam

Alex O'Connor is a bit of a star in the atheist world right now, with a huge internet following, getting invited to conferences and getting huge names to discussions, from Richard Dawkins to, now, William Lane Craig. So here he is talking to William Lane Craig. And I

Consciousness

The Argument from Reason Boils down to an Argument from Intentionality or Consciousness

As I stated in order to introduce the Argument from Reason in my first post in this series (concerning doxastic voluntarism): CS Lewis fashioned the Argument from Reason and it has since been taken on by Christian philosophers and apologists such as Alvin Plantinga (in the form of the Evolutionary

God's characteristics

Oh, Skeptical Theism. Again...

God moves in mysterious ways. I've spoken to you previously about being at the place where a lot of atheist philosophers and thinkers often get to: where you think that the arguments concerning God are so obvious and so resoundingly conclusive that you kind of lose the impetus.

Consciousness

On the Argument from Reason: Rationality

As I stated in order to introduce the Argument from Reason in my first post in this series (concerning doxastic voluntarism): CS Lewis fashioned the Argument from Reason and it has since been taken on by Christian philosophers and apologists such as Alvin Plantinga (in the form of the Evolutionary

Alvin Plantinga

On the Argument from Reason: Evolution, Emergence & the Fallacy of Division

As I stated in order to introduce the Argument from Reason in my first post in this series (concerning doxastic voluntarism): CS Lewis fashioned the Argument from Reason and it has since been taken on by Christian philosophers and apologists such as Alvin Plantinga (in the form of the Evolutionary

Free Will and Determinism

On the Argument from Reason: Doxastic Voluntarism

CS Lewis fashioned the Argument from Reason and it has since been taken on by Christian philosophers and apologists such as Alvin Plantinga (in the form of the Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism - EAAN) and Victor Reppert. For a bit of background reading, it is well worth grabbing John Beversluis&

atheism

Using Common Sense to Not See God: Monty Hall Problem & Board Games

Bob Seidensticker, of Cross Examined here at Patheos, contributed a chapter to the recent book Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century. In his piece, he joins a few of us in the first section who look to philosophically dismantle the notion of God. The book is set into

bible

Using Common Sense to Not See God

Bob Seidensticker, of Cross Examined here at Patheos, contributed a chapter to the recent book Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century. In his piece, he joins a few of us in the first section who look to philosophically dismantle the notion of God. The book is set into

free will

Pearced Off! #7 - God Has No Free Will; This Is a Perfect World

I am running a series of the old podcast segments from my Pearced Off! section of the Skepticule Podcast (a British skepticism-based podcast now on hiatus) that I used to contribute to. Some of the earlier ones have some quieter audio. Apologies. They run at around ten minutes. Something to

perfection

Pearced Off! #1 - Perfection as Incoherent

I am going to run a series of the old podcast segments from my Pearced Off! section of the Skepticule Podcast (a British skepticism-based podcast now on hiatus) that I used to contribute to. Some of the earlier ones have some quieter audio. Apologies. They run at around ten minutes

apostasy

Craig on Terminating Would-Be Apostates

Here is a recent question to William Lane Craig on his Reasonable Faith website: Hi Dr Craig, I've been studying the Perseverance of the Saints and I found your paper on the subject very thought-provoking. I have been wrestling with this subject as of late and there appear

Holy Spirit

Trinity in the Spotlight: The Son of God, Begotten, Not Made.

At the heart of the Nicene Creed are these words: “And [we believe] in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the

Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?

Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?

Short answer, probably not. Long answer, read my book Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?: Countering William Lane Craig's Kalam Cosmological Argument and whilst you're at it, please post a nice review or two on Amazon to counter those typical Christian reviews that give 1

Free Will and Determinism

God Is a Consequentialist. The Theist's Defence: God Is Not Moral (II)

I spent the previous piece on this topic, laying the groundwork for establishing that God is a moral consequentialist before pointing out that some theists create a defence of this accusation by claiming that God is not moral because God is under no moral obligation. What does this mean and

consequentialism

God Is a Consequentialist. The Theist's Defence: God Is Not Moral (I)

I have written an essay that can be found variously on this site called "God Is a Consequentialist" in which I set out that God is a moral consequentialist. Some of which I will now set out or paraphrase before looking at the defence William Lane Craig and

Aquinas

Feser vs Oppy: Can We "Prove" that God Exists?

In editing a book called The Unnecessary Science, I have been looking into natural law theory and Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy. Here, natural law's big modern proponent, Ed Feser (at whom the book is aimed as a critique) locks horns with Graham Oppy. My issue for such debates like this,