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Category Archives: Philosophy
How Can I Know I’m Not God?
Several religions and belief systems hold humans to be God. We can know this is not the case for the following reasons: God is the first cause of all that is, what Aquinas described as the first mover, the unmoved … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Theology, Uncategorized
6 Comments
Relativism is Self-Refuting
People who hold to relativism in the area of goodness, evil, or morality hold that the standard of goodness can change from group to group. Relativists hold that each society can determine its own morality. Atheist Carl Sagan, for example, … Continue reading
Posted in Morality, Philosophy
12 Comments
What is Good?
How do we define what is good? Is it good because I desire it? Or because I say it is good? Or because we vote and most of us say it is good? Thomas Aquinas gives us an answer in … Continue reading
Posted in Morality, Philosophy
1 Comment
The Problem of Conciousness
Philosophers and brain researchers have had many brain and mind questions elude them. For example, why is it that when we hear a song, we perceive a melody, and not a series of individual tones? We don’t hear 1000 hz, followed … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy
3 Comments
Do You Act With A Purpose, Or Not?
Modern atheist evolutionists tell us that nature is completely purposeless, yet works toward an end, namely survival. For the most part this end is assumed and never questioned. Few people seem to see a conflict in the idea that nature is mindless and … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas, Atheism, Evolution, Philosophy
12 Comments
The Vertical Cosmological Argument and the Fallacy of Composition
The Vertical Cosmological Argument has various forms and is rather conceptual, but can be described as: 1. Everything in the universe is contingent (they could “not exist”). 2. All contingent things need an ongoing cause to sustain them. 3. Therefore … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy
10 Comments
The Kalam & Uncaused Beginnings
A recent comment said the following: ““Everything that has a beginning has a cause” is an assumption, exactly as “everything in existence is finite.” Both are generalizations taken from what we know about reality and applied to what we don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy
7 Comments
What Is The Meaning of Life?
I recently got a new phone. It contains a voice-activated help system which is quite useful. I can ask “where is the closest burger joint?” and it will give me a list of burger places and a map. I can … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy
2 Comments
Does The Mere Existence of Morality Demonstrate God Exists?
A nice video from philosopher and theist Peter Kreeft. For more on this topic, see here, and here, and here. Oh, and here, and here, and here.
Posted in Morality, Philosophy
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Junk DNA, Natural Selection, and Intelligence
As I write this, there has recently been a series of news articles in the popular media reporting a large study called ENCODE, which was a $288 million-dollar study of DNA. The news articles have, in general, reported that although … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, Evolution, Philosophy
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The Ontological Argument From a Realist Perspective
The following video presents a good explanation of the ontological argument. It also allows us to examine the distinction between analytic philosophy, which the ontological argument is part of, and realist philosophy, which could be represented by the thought of … Continue reading
Posted in Aquinas, Philosophy, Uncategorized
18 Comments
Recommended Reading in Christian Apologetics & Theology
The Christian Apologetics Journal edition of Spring 2012 (10.1) includes an excellent series of articles. This particular issue is most valuable, and includes the following: Philosophical Antecedents to Thomas Aquinas’ Second Way, by Richard Howe. In this article Howe does … Continue reading
Posted in Aquinas, Bible, Church History, Philosophy, Theology
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Evil & Epicurus
In response to the evil we encounter in the worlds, many atheists seem to be conversant with the following argument: Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, Atheism, Philosophy
9 Comments
Thomas Misunderstood: Certainty of God From What Source?
Thomas Aquinas wrote a massive amount of material. He wrote much by dictating to scribes, and it is rumored that he could keep several going at once. Since he wrote many volumes, and it is written in a style that … Continue reading
Posted in Aquinas, Philosophy, Uncategorized
2 Comments
The Infinity of God and the Finiteness of Creatures
That God is infinite and creatures are finite can be demonstrated both in reason and supported by the Bible. Anything that has a beginning is finite, for there was a time when it was not, yet now it is. This … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Philosophy, Theology
16 Comments
Anthony Flew and Alvin Plantinga Review Richard Dawkins
First, an excellent review of Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion. What makes this so interesting is that Flew was arguably the flagship atheist for much of his life, especially in intellectual circles. You can find the review here. Second, … Continue reading
Posted in Atheism, Philosophy, Uncategorized
1 Comment
In Defense of a Little Philosophy
Christians have, in recent years, been wary of philosophy. “Recently” has been for a gaggle of centuries now, for mistrusting philosophy and philosophers has a long tradition in Christian circles. Much of this is justified, for significant levels of bad … Continue reading
Posted in Aquinas, Bible, Philosophy, Uncategorized
2 Comments
Thomas’ Third Way: A Necessary Being
In his Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas wrote of five ways that the existence of God could be proven. The third way argues from contingency to necessity. In Thomas’ words: We find in nature things that are possible to be and … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy
1 Comment
Is Evolution Falsifiable?
Atheistic evolutionists have been quick to criticize the Intelligent Design movement as not being falsifiable. ID proponents such as William Dembski have responded, saying simply that if the design in nature could be duplicated without external intervention, the theory would … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, Evolution, Philosophy
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What is Truth? Does Absolute Truth Exist?
Truth is defined as “that which corresponds to reality.” Other theories have been proposed, of course, and these other theories deny the view that says that truth statements must correspond to that which is real. However, each of these other … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy
9 Comments
Can The Cause Of The Universe Be Personal?
This is an excellent bit of explanation from William Lane Craig. In one brief snippet, he demonstrates so much of why Christians should be confident in what we believe.
Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy
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Aquinas, Free Choice, & Divine Sovereignty, Part 6
This is part six in an intermittent series on Thomas Aquinas’ view of free choice and divine sovereignty. (To see the first five parts, do a search for “Aquinas, Free Choice” in the search bar in this blog.) Aquinas begins … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Theology
2 Comments
Can Reason Be The Product of Natural Causes?
In C. S. Lewis’ book Miracles, he approaches the question of how far our reason can go, and what would happen if all that exists is matter and energy. Nowdays we are told by the modern secularist and atheist that we should pay no attention to … Continue reading
Posted in Apologetics, Atheism, Philosophy
1 Comment
Being Causes Becoming (Agency part 8)
This is the eighth (and finally, last) part in a series establishing agency in God and humans. I am in the midst of responding to a series of objections to agency. The numbers below refer to the list in post … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
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Being Causes Becoming (Agency part 7)
This post is the seventh in the series trying to establish agency, namely that a being can generate or originate thoughts or actions in situations where they did not exist previously. In previous posts we demonstrated agency in both God … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
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Circular Model Refuted (Agency part 6)
This is the sixth part in a series proving agency and disproving the arguments against. But some will say, “perhaps time and movement are circular. It could be that movement has always been circular, without a beginning.” This is false … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
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Effects Preexist in Their Cause (Agency part 5)
This is part five of the discussion attempting to prove agency, the idea that beings can generate thoughts and actions when there were none previously. Before we get to the refutation of the circular argument, we will go ahead and … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Uncategorized
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A First Mover Exists (Agency part 4)
This is the fourth part in a series trying to establish agency. The following is the first of Thomas Aquinas’ five ways of establishing the existence of God. For our purposes, we are merely trying to establish a beginning of … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
5 Comments
Definitions of Act, Potency, and Being (Agency part 3)
Before we can begin to support the case for agency, it is likely wise to cover a few foundational points. Any effect is the result of a potential being moved to an actual. The effect of a house is when … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
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