My little book on the problem of evil, Why Is There Evil In The World (And So Much Of It?) (Christian Focus Publications, 2018) (224 pp.), has been out for a little over a month. It’s volume 3 in the ‘Big Ten’ series which James Anderson and I are editing for Christian Focus Publications. More…
To contribute a chapter to a book entitled Calvinism and the Problem of Evil just is to stoke controversy and invite replies. This is normal, and should be welcomed. How else are we to gain well-earned beliefs on important matters unless we interact with those who disagree with us? Tim Stratton, a fellow Christian brother…
My chapter, “Molinist Gunslingers: God and the Authorship of Sin,” was recently published in David E. Alexander and Daniel M. Johnson (eds.), Calvinism and the Problem of Evil (Wipf and Stock, 2016). That chapter grew out of a couple of conference presentations I made at the Molinism Study Group at ETS in 2010 and 2013,…
My review of Reason and Faith: Themes from Richard Swinburne (Oxford Univ. Press, 2016) can be found in Themelios Volume 41 Issue 2 (August 2016). The book “consists of ten papers presented by distinguished philosophers of religion at a conference held in September 2014 at Purdue University, in order to reflect upon Swinburne’s work and…
Donald Hoffman is a Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of California, Irvine. He is known for his studies in visual perception and optical illusion, as documented in his 1998 book Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See, and at his webpage. These optical illusions got him interested in thinking about whether our visual perceptions are veridical at…
A couple of months ago (February 2016), Philosophia Christi published my and Steve Cowan’s rejoinder to Jerry Walls’s reply to our response to his original article on Christian compatibilism. Our abstract: Jerry Walls has attempted to make the case that no orthodox Christian should embrace compatibilism. We responded to his arguments, challenging four key premises. In his most…
A comment on “Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Molinism.” In Acts 7, Stephen preaches a narrative that culminates in the prophetic witness concerning “the coming of the Righteous One” (v. 52). In Acts 8:1 Saul was present to hear this, approving of Stephen’s execution. No doubt Saul was conversant with other Christian preaching as well, as he…
RTS philosopher James Anderson has an interesting post which asks the question, “How Biblical is Molinism?” He concludes that there is strong biblical support for two theses held by Molinism: “God’s comprehensive providential control over his creation” and “God’s counterfactual knowledge of human choices.” But he points out that the latter kind of knowledge doesn’t…
In Philosophia Christi Vol. 13, No. 1 (Summer 2011), Christian philosopher Jerry Walls published “Why No Classical Theist, Let Alone Orthodox Christian, Should Ever Be a Compatibilist.” The abstract (article available here): I argue that no classical theist, and even more no orthodox Christian, should affirm compatibilism in our world. However plausible compatibilism may be on atheistic…
How running* can help demonstrate to your metaphysics class the difference between a thick particular and a thin particular: Before: (2008) After: (2011) *for a year in 2011, in my living room, while watching MI-5. This has been a public service announcement… (And please, don’t ask me to take the next logical step by trying…