Elijah and Evil

Our church is going through a series called “Wondering Why” where we are considering the question of, “If God is all knowing, all loving, and all powerful, why is there evil in the world?”  The classic Biblical story that deals with this problem in depth is the Book of Job.  If you haven’t read it, […]

Does Omniscience Determine

As a Christian who believes in an omniscient God, I’ve struggled with the idea of freedom/free will.  How could I be truly free to do anything if God already knows what I’m going to do? If God knows what I’m going to do, then doesn’t that mean I have to do the thing that God […]

Is Truth Real?

My journey through the nature of truth has personally yielded many unexpected and insightful realizations.  Early in Blackburn’s book, Truth, he suggested that the dichotomy of absolutism and relativism is probably more of a false dichotomy than a reality.  After a closer look at the issues, Blackburn has shed some light on the nuance that […]

The Emotions of a Theory of Justice

Cohen’s criticism of Rawls is that Rawls’s theory doesn’t have any emphasis on the necessity of ethos.  There is no scheme or method on how to cultivate the emotional state of people to be emotionally engaged with the principles of justice.  For Rawls, what makes a society just is if they have laws and regulations […]

Difference Principle Indifferent to History

A historical principle says that the justice of a distribution depends upon how the distribution came about.  So, this means that a distribution is just, if it comes about by all just transfers, and it is unjust if it involves any uncorrected unjust transfers.  This is the sort of principle that Nozick’s entitlement theory is […]

Nozick and Rawls on Justice

Robert Nozick takes up disagreements with Rawls theory specifically with the difference principle and his original position.  He criticizes the difference principle for being an end-state principle and how influenced it is to mitigate this notion of morally arbitrary facts, specifically the morally arbitrariness of natural assets and what social class you’re born into.  He […]

Is Belief Aimed at Truth?

The dispute between Clifford and James is largely on what grounds do we have to believe something and what is the function of belief.  Clifford takes the hard stance and says that reason alone should justify our beliefs.  Clifford sees belief as being intimately connected to representing the truth of reality.  Therefore, it’s important to […]

Hindu God, Christian God

In a world with a diversity of opinions and beliefs, it’s necessary for Christians to find a way to have genuine dialogue with religious persons of other faiths.  In Hindu God, Christian God, Clooney gives us some ground to stand on to begin conversing with those in the Hindu faith.  He also aims to show […]

Of Two Minds on Dualism

The mind-body problem has been a topic of debate from the inception of philosophy itself, and has recently became a hot topic in Christian circles.  Throughout the course of history, neither monists nor dualists have been able to conclusively demonstrate the falsity of its opponent and the veridical nature of itself.  This has not stopped […]

From God to the Bible

In our religiously pluralistic world, it is crucial for a religious person to have a response to the diversity of religious beliefs.  Natural theology is helpful in arguing for a Creator, but I fear human reasoning alone cannot take that next step in declaring what the nature of this creator is like.  We need revelation […]