Free Republic

Alvin Plantinga - Department of Philosophy - Decio Hall - University of Notre Dame Methodological Naturalism? Abstract The philosophical doctrine of methodological naturalism holds that, for any study of the world to qualify as "scientific," it cannot refer to God's creative activity (or any sort of divine activity). The methods of science, it is claimed, "give us no purchase" on theological propositions--even if the latter are true--and theology therefore cannot influence scientific explanation or theory justification. Thus, science is said to be religiously neutral, if only because science and religion are, by their very natures, epistemically distinct. However, the actual...

Van Til and Plantinga: A Brief Comparison James Anderson Note: The following comments were first posted to the reformed-epistemology discussion group in July 2001, in response to a query about the main areas of agreement and disagreement between these two Christian thinkers. I have corrected a few typos, made some minor changes of wording, and added relevant hyperlinks. The original post is archived here. Points of Agreement Both men acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. A obvious and unsophisticated point, but important nonetheless. Praise God that He has directed two such great intellects (and humble spirits) in the...

Philosopher Richard Swinburne has calculated the probability of Jesus' resurrection at "a whopping 97 percent," The New York Times reported in May. The number sounds odd-more like a meteorologist's prediction of thunderstorms or an actuary's calculation of a cancer rate than a philosopher's reflections on the resurrection. Swinburne, who teaches at Oxford University, presented his work at a Yale University conference in honor of recently retired Yale philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff. For some decades now, Swinburne has been arguing that while the existence of God is improbable, the nonexistence of God is far more improbable. And he has been applying the...

On the Doctrine of the Imago Dei By S. Gannon Murphy - (Man made in the Image of God) Introduction: Perhaps no other doctrine of the Christian faith goes against the philosophical grain of modern sociocultural paradigms as abrasively as the doctrine of man created in the imago Dei. The smoke of controversy and protest encircled around this foundational doctrine can be seen clearly simply by observing the prodigious energies with which the droves of committed secularists propound their naturalistic theories regarding human and cosmological origins. Such materialistic theories run the gamut of ideas from the random, spontaneous generation of...

Excerpt: "With his faulty view of logic, it is not surprising that Van Til believes that the Bible is full of "apparent contradictions". It was Dr. Kenneth Talbot who first introduced me to the writings of Gordon Clark. In seminary I had been taught the Van Tilian system of apologetics, and in comparison with evidentialism, it seemed to be a breath of fresh air. Further, as one Reformed scholar assured me: "To be Reformed is to be Van Tilian, and to be Van Tilian is to be Reformed." Yet, as impolitic as it was to challenge the teachings of Dr....