Reddit reviews The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology

If you are being persecuted because you believe in God, then that is unacceptable. I don't know enough about your, or your friends', situation to make a judgement. I'm inclined to trust people, but the claim that someone was fired from an Academic institution for their beliefs is a very serious charge.

I generally don't go to people like Stephen Meyer. When I want to investigate reasons for and against faith I tend to open these books.


Arguing about Gods

Logic and Theism

The Miracle of Theism

Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology

Existence of God

Warranted Christian Belief

>How is this a respected argument amongst apologists?

Because you've just posted a summary and not the full argument, which Craig has dedicated entire books to. You can't expect a complex philosophical argument, which Craig takes over 100 pages to lay out in the Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology to be adequately encapsulated in 4 sentences.

Ah! I think I can help! The trick is that intellectuals who think about God tend to dismiss the possibility of Him fitting into a scientific theory. But they don't dismiss the idea as false on these grounds - they believe the world to contain things that science cannot or has not discovered.

You might be interested in learning about natural theology (the study of God through secular means).

Some theologians for God argue for his existence on the basis of metaphysical models. For example, Thomas Aquinas in his Quinquae Via argues for God in this way. If you accept his very technical, specific, and interesting ways of thinking about the universe, then he can be very convincing.

Another group, more heavily favored by modern analytical philosophy, are led by a thinker named Alvin Plantinga. These people construct extremely technical arguments for God (see the modal ontological argument for an example), and also explain how they think God's existence explains certain facts that we all agree on.

For the former group, I'd recommend this book. For the latter, this one. Let me know if I can expand any point of this unfortunately-broad response.

One place to start would be Alvin Plantinga's unpublished, but widely read lecture notes on arguments current in academia, "Two Dozen (Or So) Theistic Arguments". For more fleshed out arguments, I would suggest that you consult The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology. Or, for a more even-handed overview at an introductory level, read Davies' An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion.

It seems I wrote too long a reply and have to reply to your post twice. this is the second section of my reply. Sorry I wasn't more brief!

My background is in philosophy. I do have plans to go to seminary and study the christian faith in more detail. So although I am familiar and confident in my faith, I'm not sure I could answer your objections to christianity at the moment (especially my sitting here on my couch eating a donut). I suspect I would have to redo a bunch of research that I did to come to my beliefs to then try to convince you. I don't think that would be the best use of my time. I bet if you were in a place that you were seeking for those answers, as I was at one time, then you would find them (one key would be to be more charitable towards philosophy/religion).


There was a time where I had intellectual objections to the christian faith. So I did the work, and found christianity a much more potent worlview than I had first thought. So, when all the dust settled and I had allayed my personal objections to christianity, I had to be honest with myself: was I going to continually look for reasons to not believe, or make a move on the compelling answers that I had found? Welp, I took the plunge. Although I still had questions and some reservations, I didn't think they were strong enough to counter my not following Christ. I decided to believe in the bible and take Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour. Since then I've found christianity to be intellectually sound and existentially satisfying. There are still things within the faith that I wrestle with, and a lot that I still do not yet know about, but those are issues that don't have the potency to undermine the reasons for which I believed in the first place.

>If you would be willing, I would be interested to understand if you seriously considered the idea that there is no god, and if so, if you can give one specific reason why you rejected it in favor of christianity.


I did. There was a time that I wan't a believer. I was never an atheist, but more of an agnostic. I also grew up in a religious home, though I never really took it to heart. Like you, it all seemed silly to me. Fast forwarding to now, yes there have been times where I really considered that God may not exist. But I'll be honest and saying that in all my studies, although there have been good arguments against the existence of God, I've found the arguments for God more convincing.

A specific reason for Christianity? Well, I find Christianity the soundest source for morality. I know this may be a shock to you, try not to faint! :P
I find that Right and Wrong are objective facts. That is, there are objectively right and objectively wrong actions, independent of societal norms or ideas. For example, even if Hitler had won WWII and the whole world claimed that the genocide against the Jews was morally praiseworthy, objectively the genocide would have been morally objectionable. If there are objectionable moral values, then there has to be an anchoring for those values. God is the best candidate as a source for objective moral values, and the interpretation of God as found in christendom the best understanding of God.

I also find the christian doctrine of humans being made in the image of God very attractive and compelling in terms of ethics and morality. It gives them an eternal and intrinsic value that is essential in formulating and asserting things like human rights. So far, ethical theories that don't incorporate God in them fall short and can't make the claims that an ethical theory that does include God can make. Mind you, the theories that don't include God don't believe that the notion of God is available. Fair enough, and in that instance the conversation would have to turn from christianity/religion and towards God/philosophy.

Also, thank you for taking time with me here to talk about this stuff. This is the first time that I've done any meaningful back and forth on reddit. My experience here has been mixed, but mostly fun. I had to filter out r/atheism because too much mindlessness was coming out of there. Thankfully you haven't represented what I've seen on that subreddit. I look forward to your reply!

The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology. Honestly I don't think the God Delusion is the strongest case for atheism out there. Dawkins may be a great scientist but he's not a philosopher and has a poor understanding of Christian theology.

Yeah there is certainly no good defense for what they believe.

This is an abbreviated version. It may have been translated incorrectly. The original is written here.

The Blackwell companion a bit too rich for your blood? ($150).

Well, at least you can grab a freebie chapter here: Robert Maydole's Ontological Argument. (40 page .pdf)