Category Archives: Philosophy

Can God Learn Anything? (Omniscience & Truth Claims)

Posted on March 19, 2019 by humblesmith

In a podcast (transcript here), William Lane Craig says the following: Dr. Craig: . . . If God is in time then there are tensed truths. That is to say, there are propositions which have verbs in them that are … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Theology | 1 Comment

The Absurdity of Something Arising Without A Cause

Posted on October 20, 2018 by humblesmith

The king of skeptics, David Hume, taught that we cannot be certain of even common things that happen around us. He claimed that even when one billiard ball hits another, we cannot be sure that the first caused the movement … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Philosophy, Skepticism | 24 Comments

Aquinas, Free Choice, & Divine Sovereignty, Part 7

Posted on August 8, 2017 by humblesmith

This is part seven in an intermittent series on Thomas Aquinas’ view of free choice and divine sovereignty. (To see the first six parts, do a search for “Aquinas, Free Choice” in the search bar.) In Aquinas’ Summa Theologia, 1.82.1, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Human Agency is Consistent with First Mover Arguments

Posted on May 21, 2017 by humblesmith

In considering arguments for the existence of God, we sometimes encounter the argument of the first mover, now often referred to as the first cause. This first cause argument comes into play when we try to speak of human agency, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Philosophy | 4 Comments

Hume’s Explanation of Cause and Effect

Posted on April 28, 2017 by humblesmith

In David Hume’s An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, he includes a section on the connection between cause and effect. He draws examples such as one billiard ball moving and striking another, then the second ball moving. Hume goes to some … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Skepticism | 2 Comments

If We Communicate Meaningful Messages, Atheism is False

Posted on November 28, 2016 by humblesmith

Atheists are fond of telling us that we do not have free will. Atheist writer Sam Harris has made a book-length explanation of why he believes all human thoughts and actions are predetermined. In his book Free Will he states “One … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Atheism, Philosophy | 6 Comments

Nothing Cannot Cause Any Thing

Posted on July 25, 2016 by humblesmith

If ever there was a time when absolutely nothing existed, there would still be nothing, for nothing cannot cause any thing to exist. All effects must have a cause, as even the king of the skeptics admitted, David Hume. To … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy, Skepticism | 6 Comments

Is Christianity the Only Way?

Posted on June 10, 2016 by humblesmith

This is another in a series of questions about the truth of Christianity. Question: Why do we believe that Christianity is the only way, as opposed to other religions? People in other religions, such as Buddhism or New Age, claim … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy | 1 Comment

What is the Difference Between Realist vs. Analytic Philosophy?

Posted on February 10, 2016 by humblesmith

Realist philosophy starts with what we observe in the world, while analytic philosophy starts with a thought problem and reasons to what is true in the world. Most modern thinking is analytic, which is one reason philosophy is not taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Leave a comment

An Atheist Questions the Logic of Darwinism (Part 1)

Posted on December 31, 2015 by humblesmith

Evolution, as understood in the popular circles as purely random physical mutations filtered by natural selection, is increasingly under attack. It’s defenders must continue to climb further onto a limb and make explanations that taste more and more like just-so … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Philosophy, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Christian and Naturalist Discuss Free Will

Posted on July 20, 2015 by humblesmith

Christian and Naturalist discuss free will. For the benefit of newcomers, the kalam cosmological argument goes like this: 1. What begins to exist has a cause. 2. The universe has a beginning. 3. The universe has a cause. N: I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Does the Euthyphro Dilemma Disprove God? (Part 4, final)

Posted on March 18, 2015 by humblesmith

This is the last in a series of posts about a moral question called the Euthyphro Dilemma, which is sometimes given as a challenge to God. See the first three parts for an explanation of the problem and the first … Continue reading →

Posted in Morality, Philosophy, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Does the Euthyphro Dilemma Disprove God? (Part 3)

Posted on February 15, 2015 by humblesmith

This is the latest in a series of posts about a moral question called the Euthyphro Dilemma, which is sometimes given as a challenge to God. See the first two parts for an explanation of the problem and the first … Continue reading →

Posted in Morality, Philosophy | 2 Comments

Does the Euthyphro Dilemma Disprove God? (Part 2)

Posted on February 14, 2015 by humblesmith

This post is part of a series dealing with a moral question called the Euthyphro Dilemma. The questions were set up in Part 1. This continues the response.   Second, the critic might say something like “Good” is a property that … Continue reading →

Posted in Morality, Philosophy | 2 Comments

Does the Euthyphro Dilemma Disprove God? (Part 1)

Posted on February 13, 2015 by humblesmith

Plato posed a moral question that is today known as the Euthyphro Dilemma. Skeptics have used this moral dilemma to try to draw conclusions about God. The general idea is that since this dilemma presents a moral problem for God, … Continue reading →

Posted in Morality, Philosophy | 3 Comments

Why God is Necessary for Rational Thought

Posted on December 6, 2014 by humblesmith

The view presented to us by the modern worldview is that God is either nonexistent or unnecessary. We are told that everything in the physical world can ultimately be explained by the natural sciences. According to this atheistic view, everything … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Atheism, Philosophy | 6 Comments

Is God Necessary for Us to Know Order and Purpose in the World?

Posted on November 27, 2014 by humblesmith

Is it reasonable for us to be able to recognize order and purpose in the world if God does not exist? Thomas Nagel has written a very insightful book titled Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Atheism, Philosophy | 6 Comments

Questions of the Mind Applied to the Kalam Argument

Posted on September 17, 2014 by humblesmith

I recently saw a person in an online philosophy discussion pose the question “Can we prove that logic applies to reality?” Such are questions that give philosophers a bad name amongst non-philosophers who view topics like this as worse than the flat earth … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy | 10 Comments

How Can a Spirit Affect a Body?

Posted on June 29, 2014 by humblesmith

Question:  If a spirit is non-physical, but the human body is physical, how does a spirit stay in our bodies? Also, experience seems to tell us that our memories are stored in our physical brains. How could a spirit store … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Formal Fallacies, Informal Fallacies, and Science

Posted on June 15, 2014 by humblesmith

In a recent comment, a writer seemed to hold that Occam’s Razor is an ironclad logical principle that should end all debate. This post will explore the logic behind this view. Therefore I believe a basic description of formal and … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy | 1 Comment

Did Aquinas Bring Greek Philosophy Into Christianity?

Posted on May 19, 2014 by humblesmith

Periodically we hear the accusation that we should not bring in philosophy, particularly Greek philosophy, into Christian theology. Tertullian is often quoted as saying “What has Jerusalem to do with Athens?” Also, is it not true that the apostle Paul … Continue reading →

Posted in Church History, Philosophy | 4 Comments

The Argument From Reason

Posted on May 13, 2014 by humblesmith

Naturalism is the view that all of life, indeed everything that exists, can be explained by physical and chemical causes. Such a view also results in every event being caused by a prior physical and chemical cause, to the extent … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy | 15 Comments

Skeptics vs. Christians: Let’s Be Reasonable

Posted on April 21, 2014 by humblesmith

A question asked by some philosophers concerns how the soul interacts with the body. The allusion by skeptics is that since we do not know how the soul moves the mind and body, why then it must not be able … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy, Skepticism | 1 Comment

Can There Be An Infinite Series of Escapes From Kalam?

Posted on March 29, 2014 by humblesmith

One of the demonstrations for the existence of God is the Kalam Cosmological Argument, which claims that the universe had a beginning, and therefore needed a beginner. At its root, it is quite simple, for anything that comes to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy, Skepticism | 14 Comments

Pseudo Science

Posted on March 9, 2014 by humblesmith

There have been a few recent reports that tell us that some science journal articles were fakes. One was in Nature, one in Science, and it was reported by Fox News. The problems are facilitated by the fact that professors … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Bible, Evolution, Philosophy, Skepticism | Leave a comment

Unpacking a Cosmologist’s Philosophy

Posted on February 22, 2014 by humblesmith

Last night I watched the first part of a debate between William Lane Craig and Sean Carroll. Craig is a Christian philosopher and apologist who has dealt with cosmology, and Carroll is a physicist and cosmologist who has spoken against … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Atheism, Philosophy | 3 Comments

Christian and Atheist Discuss Cosmology

Posted on February 21, 2014 by humblesmith

The following is a fictional account inspired by watching part one of the debate between William Lane Craig and Sean Carroll. C: We are theists, and we have adequate explanations for why the world is. A: Silly man. We are … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Philosophy | 8 Comments

Why Does God Not Stop All Evil?

Posted on February 13, 2014 by humblesmith

One of modern atheists’ and skeptics’ criticisms of God is that He should stop evil. They are fond of quoting horrible circumstance X, and saying that if God existed and was good, He would certainly, at a minimum, stop X. … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Morality, Philosophy, Skepticism | 5 Comments

Can We Prove Jesus’ Historical Miracles?

Posted on February 11, 2014 by humblesmith

I recently encountered a discussion between an atheist and a Christian that went something like this: A: How do you know that Jesus did miracles and created the universe? Using your own reason, and without using the Bible, prove to me he did … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Atheism, Bible, Philosophy, Skepticism | 15 Comments

Response to Sam Harris The Moral Landscape

Posted on February 9, 2014 by humblesmith

Sam Harris published a book titled The Moral Landscape. In it he attempts to hold to objective moral truth with a goal of human well being as self-evident. But he also holds that this objective moral truth is due to … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Morality, Philosophy | 3 Comments