Eschewing the rhetoric and provocative purposes of best-selling “new atheists” Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris, Ganssle offers a nuanced, charitable, and philosophically well-informed defense of the reality of God. Topics include the relationship between faith and reason, moral arguments for God’s existence, Darwinian theories of the origin of religion, and more.
Death – and what lies beyond – is not something you consider every day. But the thought of it raises some intriguing questions: Are there good reasons for believing in life after death? What is the afterlife like? How valid are the reports of near death experiences? Do heaven and hell exist? And if so, how can hell be reconciled with a loving God? By sharing the very latest scientific, philosophical, anthropological, ethical, and theological evidence on life after death, noted Christian scholars Habermas and Moreland present a strong case for immortality with this book. They begin by taking up the question of whether life after death is real and what evidence supports its reality. They then explore what the afterlife is like and go on to show how having this reality in your future should affect the way you live here and now. This book will reassure you that there’s no need to fear death – as long as you’re prepared eternity that follows. It’s also a great aid in developing a serious biblical, rational, and even scientific defense for the belief in life beyond the grave.
What did C. S. Lewis think about truth, goodness and beauty? Fifteen essays explore three major philosophical themes from the writings of Lewis–Truth, Goodness and Beauty. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of Lewis’s philosophical thinking on arguments for Christianity, the character of God, theodicy, moral goodness, heaven and hell, a theory of literature and the place of the imagination.
What did C. S. Lewis think about truth, goodness and beauty? Fifteen essays explore three major philosophical themes from the writings of Lewis–Truth, Goodness and Beauty. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of Lewis’s philosophical thinking on arguments for Christianity, the character of God, theodicy, moral goodness, heaven and hell, a theory of literature and the place of the imagination.
What did C. S. Lewis think about truth, goodness and beauty? Fifteen essays explore three major philosophical themes from the writings of Lewis–Truth, Goodness and Beauty. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of Lewis’s philosophical thinking on arguments for Christianity, the character of God, theodicy, moral goodness, heaven and hell, a theory of literature and the place of the imagination.
What does it mean to be called to the profession of philosophy? What does it mean for the Christian in particular? And how should those called to the profession engage their tasks? Noting that philosophy literally is “the love of wisdom,” Garrett J. DeWeese begins with a discussion of wisdom from the Old and New Testaments before addressing the often misunderstood relation between faith and reason.
Constructivism dominates over other theories of knowledge in much of western academia, especially the humanities and social sciences. In Exposing the Roots of Constructivism: Nominalism and the Ontology of Knowledge, R. Scott Smith argues that constructivism is linked to the embrace of nominalism, the theory that everything is particular and located in space and time. Indeed, nominalism is sufficient for a view to be constructivist. Yet, even the natural sciences have embraced nominalism, and Smith shows that this will undermine knowledge in those disciplines as well. Indeed, the author demonstrates that, at best, nominalism leaves us with only interpretations, but at worst, it undermines all knowledge whatsoever. However, there are many clear examples of knowledge we do have in the many different disciplines, and therefore those must be due to a different ontology of properties. Thus, nominalism should be rejected. In its place, the author defends a kind of Platonic realism about properties.
Is God temporal, ‘in time’, or atemporal, ‘outside of time’? Garrett DeWeese begins with contemporary metaphysics and physics, developing a causal account of dynamic time. Drawing on biblical material as well as discussions of divine temporality in medieval and contemporary philosophical theology, DeWeese concludes that God is temporal but not in physical time as we measure it. Interacting with issues in the history of philosophy, contemporary philosophy of science, and philosophy of religion, this book offers students a thorough introduction to the key issues and key figures in historical and contemporary work on the philosophy of time and time in theology.
For most of the church’s history, people have seen Christian ethics as normative and universally applicable. Recently, however, this view has been lost, thanks to naturalism and relativism. R. Scott Smith argues that Christians need to overcome Kant’s fact-value dichotomy and recover the possibility of genuine moral and theological knowledge.
The defining premise of the Relational Free Will Defense is the claim that authentic love requires free will. Many scholars, including Gregory Boyd and Vincent Brümmer, champion this claim. Best-selling books, such as Rob Bell’s Love Wins, echo that love “cannot be forced, manipulated, or coerced. It always leaves room for the other to decide.” The claim that love requires free will has even found expression in mainstream Hollywood films, including Frailty, Bruce Almighty, and The Adjustment Bureau.
The analysis shows convincingly that the claim that authentic love requires free will, does not meet the criteria of consistency, compatibility with Scriptural sources, and the demands of concrete encounter with problems of moral evil.
While notoriously difficult to define, metaphysics need not be a daunting subject of study. Metaphysics: The Fundamentals provides readers with an accessible and comprehensive introduction to modern analytic metaphysics. The book covers a broad range of key topics, including theories of properties and particulars, the notion of truth-makers, powers and possibilities, material composition, and a variety of issues related to time and causation. Thematically and systematically organized, each chapter features carefully worked-through questions about these topics, and all the important assumptions, axioms, and methodological principles are clearly identified. Specifically written for students encountering the subject for the first time, Metaphysics: The Fundamentals takes the mystery out of one of the most dynamic sub-fields in contemporary philosophy.
Philosopher and apologist Greg Ganssle argues that our widely shared human aspirations are best understood and explained in light of the Christian story. With grace and insight, Ganssle explains how the good news of Jesus Christ makes sense of―and fulfills―our deepest desires. It is only in the particular claims of the Christian faith, he argues, that our universal human aspirations can find fulfillment and our restless hearts will be at peace.
Now updated and expanded in this second edition, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview by J. P. Moreland and William Lane Craig offers a comprehensive introduction to philosophy from a Christian perspective. In their broad sweep they seek to introduce readers to the principal subdisciplines of philosophy, including epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of science, ethics, and philosophy of religion.
Philosophy is thinking critically about questions that matter. But many people find philosophy intimidating, so they never discover how invaluable it can be in engaging ideas, culture, and even their faith. Garrett DeWeese and J. P. Moreland understand these challenges, and in this book they apply their decades of teaching experience to help to make philosophy a little less difficult. Using straightforward language with plenty of everyday examples, they explain the basics needed to understand philosophical concepts—including logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, philosophical anthropology, and philosophy of science.
Philosophy is thinking critically about questions that matter. But many people find philosophy intimidating, so they never discover how invaluable it can be in engaging ideas, culture, and even their faith. Garrett DeWeese and J. P. Moreland understand these challenges, and in this book they apply their decades of teaching experience to help to make philosophy a little less difficult. Using straightforward language with plenty of everyday examples, they explain the basics needed to understand philosophical concepts—including logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, philosophical anthropology, and philosophy of science.
This important new volume is a combined anthology and guide intended for use as a textbook in courses on the philosophy of religion. It aims to bring to the student the very best current work on important topics in the field. The anthology is comprised of six sections, each of which opens with a substantive introductory essay followed by a selection of influential writings by prominent philosophers of religion. Philosophy of Religion provides an ideal resource for studying the central questions raised by religious belief.
The Atlas of Reality: A Comprehensive Guide to Metaphysics presents an extensive examination of the key concepts, principles, and arguments of metaphysics, traditionally the very core of philosophical thought. Representing the first exhaustive survey of metaphysics available, the book draws from historic sources while presenting the latest cutting-edge research in the field. Written in an accessible manner without sacrificing rigor, readers at all levels will gain illuminating insights into metaphysical topics ranging from the problem of universals, individuation and composition, and relations and qualities, to time, space, causation, existence, modality, and idealism.
Can we really think about God? Can we prove God’s existence? What about faith? Are there good reasons to believe in the Christian God? Can we avoid thinking about God? The real problem, says philosopher Gregory E. Ganssle, is not whether we can think about God, but whether we will think well or poorly about God. In the first part of this book Ganssle lays the groundwork for clear and careful thinking, providing us an introductory guide to doing philosophy. In the second part Ganssle then takes us through the process of thinking well about God in particular. In the final part Ganssle helps us thread our way through questions like: What is God like? What can God do? What can God know? How does God communicate? If you’re looking for your first book for thinking clearly and carefully about God, then you’ll appreciate the good thinking found in this book.
