We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

A Rational Defense of Belief in God

The New York Times recently posted a review of Alvin Plantinga’s book, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and NaturalismIn it, Plantinga argues on philosophical grounds that, among other things, theism is not in conflict with science, that a belief in naturalism along with evolution is contradictory, and that “Faith…is another basic way of forming beliefs, distinct from but not in competition with reason, perception, memory, and the others.” It’s a dense, but great read. The video above is a short interview with Plantinga that is also illuminating.

From the book review:

Plantinga holds that miracles are not incompatible with the laws of physics, because those laws determine only what happens in closed systems, without external intervention, and the proposition that the physical universe is a closed system is not itself a law of physics, but a naturalist assumption. Newton did not believe it: he even believed that God intervened to keep the planets in their orbits. Plantinga has a lengthy discussion of the relation of miracles to quantum theory: its probabilistic character, he believes, may allow not only miracles but human free will. And he considers the different interpretations that have been given to the fine-tuning of the physical constants, concluding that the support it offers for theism is modest, because of the difficulty of assigning probabilities to the alternatives. All these discussions make a serious effort to engage with the data of current science. The arguments are often ingenious and, given Plantinga’s premises, the overall view is thorough and consistent.

The interest of this book, especially for secular readers, is its presentation from the inside of the point of view of a philosophically subtle and scientifically informed theist—an outlook with which many of them will not be familiar. Plantinga writes clearly and accessibly, and sometimes acidly—in response to aggressive critics of religion like Dawkins and Daniel Dennett. His comprehensive stand is a valuable contribution to this debate.

Related Reading

Which Came First: Death or Sin? (podcast)

Greg investigates the laws of nature, the nature of law, the fall of the powers, and the power of the fall in this enlightening episode that evolves right up to the climactic ending.   Episode 561 http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0561.mp3

Honesty, However Ugly

For last week’s sermon at Woodland Hills Church, Greg spoke about the importance of being honest with God about our struggles and doubts. This is part of what it means to be in a genuine relationship with God, and the Bible is full of characters who demonstrate this for us. Is it difficult for you…

Can Life Have Meaning Without God?

Article by Dan Kent King Sisyphus (“Siss-uh-fuss”) was a mythical king who enjoyed killing random travelers and starting wars. He killed for pleasure. He killed for profit. He killed for pride. When he died the gods showed him no mercy. The wicked king was condemned to spend eternity pushing a mighty rock up a hill.…

Why Christ, not Scripture, is Our Ultimate Foundation

In a previous blog I argued that all our theological reflection must not only be Christ-centered, it must, most specifically, be cross-centered. I now want to begin to unpack some of the most important implications of adopting a cross-centered theological perspective. My ultimate goal is to show how a cross-centered theology is able to resolve the…

Thou Shalt Not Fear Science

Bev Mitchel is a person I’ve just recently been introduced to. He’s among an increasing chorus of scholars who believe it’s time for Evangelicals to stop being afraid of science and to instead seriously integrate it into our reading of Scripture and theological reflection. Here is a little piece he wrote for Jeff Clarke’s (very informative) website integrating…

Video Q&A: Do you think Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons are saved?

Does Greg believe that everyone goes to Heaven regardless of their beliefs? Find out here.