Library of Religious Philosophy – serie

Alvin Plantinga has done much to stimulate the resurgence of interest in the philosophy of religion. This collection of essays is written in response to his seminal paper Advice to Christian Philosophers, in which he issues a powerful, and inevitably controversial, challenge to religious philosophers to serve their own religious communities more faithfully. Plantinga advises Christian philosophers to expend more effort on issues of importance to the particular, concrete Christian communities of which they are members. In addition he urges them to use their distinctively theistic and Christian perspectives in working in the many traditional areas of philosophy, a task on which the present volume focuses.Christian Theism and the Problems of Philosophy begins by presenting Plantingas essay, and the chapters that follow address issues in three traditional areas of interest to philosophers: epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. The first section Epistemology and Theism contains essays by Alvin Plantinga, Jonathan Kvanvig, Richard Otte, and Stephen Wykstra. The next section Metaphysics and Theism has essays by Linda Zagzebski, Del Ratzsch, Christopher Menzel, Charles Taliaferro, and Eleonore Stump. The final group, including Philip L. Quinn, William P. Alston, Scott MacDonald, and Carlton D. Fisher, addresses the subject of Moral Theory and Theism.While certainly intended for Christian philosophers, other instructors and students of philosophy will be interested as well because the book discusses several traditional philosophical issues in innovative ways, such as the nature of justification, the nature of probability, scientific rationality, religious rationality, the logic of counterfactuals, free will and moral responsibility, among others.

Alvin Plantinga has done much to stimulate the resurgence of interest in the philosophy of religion. This collection of essays is written in response to his seminal paper Advice to Christian Philosophers, in which he issues a powerful, and inevitably controversial, challenge to religious philosophers to serve their own religious communities more faithfully. Plantinga advises Christian philosophers to expend more effort on issues of importance to the particular, concrete Christian communities of which they are members. In addition he urges them to use their distinctively theistic and Christian perspectives in working in the many traditional areas of philosophy, a task on which the present volume focuses.Christian Theism and the Problems of Philosophy begins by presenting Plantingas essay, and the chapters that follow address issues in three traditional areas of interest to philosophers: epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. The first section Epistemology and Theism contains essays by Alvin Plantinga, Jonathan Kvanvig, Richard Otte, and Stephen Wykstra. The next section Metaphysics and Theism has essays by Linda Zagzebski, Del Ratzsch, Christopher Menzel, Charles Taliaferro, and Eleonore Stump. The final group, including Philip L. Quinn, William P. Alston, Scott MacDonald, and Carlton D. Fisher, addresses the subject of Moral Theory and Theism.While certainly intended for Christian philosophers, other instructors and students of philosophy will be interested as well because the book discusses several traditional philosophical issues in innovative ways, such as the nature of justification, the nature of probability, scientific rationality, religious rationality, the logic of counterfactuals, free will and moral responsibility, among others.

A Grammar of Consent broadens John Henry Newman's argument for the existence of God to include more experiential materials reflecting two millenia of Christian philosophy. Nichols provides a beneficial corrective to a common contemporary narrowness in limiting experiential arguments to those dealing with some sort of distinctively religious experience. The book will be of interest to students and teachers in philosophy of religion, theology, history of ideas, and the wider philosophically and theologically interested public.

Jerry L. Walls cogently argues that some traditional views of hell are still defensible and can be believed with intellectual and moral integrity. Focusing on the issues from the standpoint of philosophical theology, he explores the doctrine of hell in relation to both the divine nature and human nature. He argues, with respect to divine nature, that some versions of the doctrine are compatible not only with God's omnipotence and omniscience, but also with a strong account of His perfect goodness. The concept of divine goodness receives special attention since the doctrine of hell is most often rejected on moral grounds. In addition, Walls maintains that the doctrine of hell is intelligible from the standpoint of human freedom, since the idea of a decisive choice of evil is a coherent one.

Jerry L. Walls cogently argues that some traditional views of hell are still defensible and can be believed with intellectual and moral integrity. Focusing on the issues from the standpoint of philosophical theology, he explores the doctrine of hell in relation to both the divine nature and human nature. He argues, with respect to divine nature, that some versions of the doctrine are compatible not only with God's omnipotence and omniscience, but also with a strong account of His perfect goodness. The concept of divine goodness receives special attention since the doctrine of hell is most often rejected on moral grounds. In addition, Walls maintains that the doctrine of hell is intelligible from the standpoint of human freedom, since the idea of a decisive choice of evil is a coherent one.

An introduction to ethical theory from a Christian perspective, The Shape of the Good examines the connection between moral theory, theology, metaphysics and approaches standard ethical theories from the standpoint of Christian theology.