Tag: presuppositionalism
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We Both Are Atheists?
If you’ve ever dialogued with an atheist, or read anything they’ve written, you’ve no doubt come across the quote, “I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” This quote was authored by Stephen F. Roberts (http://freelink.wildlink.com/quote_history.php) some years back. It has rhetorical power, it’s catchy, memorable, and apparently is popular amongst the atheist apologist crowd. The author doesn’t mention Christianity specifically, but says he originally used the quote while debating with “religious …
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Rhology Responds to Reasonable Doubts (part 4)
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Rhology Responds to Reasonable Doubts (part 3)
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Chris Bolt on the Skepticule Record Podcast
Atheist Paul Baird recently invited me to come on Skepticule for an informal discussion pertaining to a number of topics. I would like to thank Paul once again for a delightful time.
You may listen here – http://www.skepticule.co.uk/2012/07/skeprec-013-20120613.html…
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The Recent Rise of Covenantal Apologetics (2 of 10)
Douglas Wilson contends that there are, “…two tenets (of modern feminism): 1. men are jerks, and 2. women should strive by all means to become like them.” So who is this Doug Wilson? He is the witty guy who made the similar claim that, “There are two tenets of atheism: One, there is no God. Two, I hate him.” Wilson holds undergraduate degrees in Classical Studies and Philosophy and a Master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Idaho. He serves in Idaho as the pastor of Christ Church and is a professor at New Saint Andrews College (which he …
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The Recent Rise of Covenantal Apologetics (1 of 10)
Years ago (oh how time flies!) I read a series of posts by Mark Dever called, “Where’d All These Calvinists Come From?” You may read the series here. Dever provides observations pertaining to the apparent recent growth of Calvinist(ic) theology amongst younger generations as famously pointed out by Collin Hansen here. Some believe these claims erroneous. Others consider them truthful, good news. Others true, but harmful. Whatever your opinion on the matter, I suspect that the “New Calvinism” just has to be an improvement upon “Ancient Pelagianism.” And who wouldn’t agree that it is better to be “Young, …
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Theistic Arguments and the Necessity of God
There are many different types of necessity.
Logical Necessity and the Ontological Argument
A logically necessary entity exists in every possible world. (A “possible world” is just a logically possible state of affairs.) That is, there is no logically possible state of affairs in which a logically necessary entity does not exist.
The ontological argument seeks to demonstrate, among other things, that God is a logically necessary entity. Since God is the greatest possible being, there is no logically possible state of affairs in which God does not exist. It is greater for God to exist in every possible …
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The Arrogance of the “Impossibility of the Contrary”
A lot of people have problems with the “impossibility of the contrary” claim often made as part and parcel of the covenantal or presuppositional apologetic method. A lot of people. And they have problems with it for very different reasons. I will address only two of them here.
The first is exclusivity. To say that anything contrary to some given position is impossible is to make a very bold claim to exclusivity. I am not going to enter into the various senses in which the covenantal apologist might be using the term “impossibility” here. But it will suffice to …
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Paul Baird On His Informal Discussion With Me