Christian Apologetics Test 2

Negative Atheism

Someone who lacks belief in God

Positive Atheism

Someone who ACTIVELY believes there is no God

Materialism

Everything that exists is material or reducible to the material

Metaphysical Naturalism

The denial of ANYTHING supernatural

Methodological Naturalism

Science must exclude the possibility of divine action

Scientism

ONLY science provides knowledge

Non-Cognative Atheists

The concept of any “god” is meaningless.

Evidentialist Atheist

Atheism can be rationally demonstrated

Nietzschian Atheism

Friedrich Nietzsche

Atheism is a moral choice. (Living like there is no God)

Methodological Atheists

Atheism should be the default belief.

Other Atheists

1. Friendly vs. Angry vs. Militant

2. Passive vs. Evangelical

3. Non-Religious vs. Religious

4. Realist vs. Non-Realist

5. Anarchist vs. Non-Anarchist

Evidentialist Objection to Belief in God. 3 Claims

1. Belief in God requires adequate propositional evidence to be rational

2. The propositional evidence for belief in God is sufficient

3. THEREFORE, belief in God is irrational and must be rejected.

Propostitional Evidence

An argument for the truth of a proposition

Evidentialism

“Can only believe in something with SUFFICIENT evidence”

“Clifford’s Ship”

William Clifford

An example of The Evidentialist argument

Global Skepticism. 3 Assumptions

Modus Ponens

1. If I cannot disprove X, then I can not know Y

2. I cannot disprove X

3. I THEREFORE can not know Y

EX:

1. If I cannot disprove I am in the matrix, then I can not know I am seated

2. I cannot disprove I am in the matrix

3. I THEREFORE cannot know I am seated

G.E. Moore Response to Skepticism. 3 Assumptions

Modus Tollens

1. If I cannot disprove X, I cannot know Y

2. I do not know Y

3. I CAN disprove X

2 Goals of Epistomology

1. Skeptical Goal: “Believe as few false beliefs as possible”

2. Truth-seeking Goal: “Believe as many truths as possible”

“The paradox of the stone Objection”

Averroes

“Can God create a stone SO BIG He can not lift it?

Response:

No. This argument commits the False Dilemma fallacy

The statement holds NO value.

“The Euthyphro Dilemma”

Socrates

Where is morality derived from?

A. God condemns what is wrong

B. Something is wrong because God condemns it.

Response:

False dilemma: God defines right and wrong from His own nature.

Apatheism

I don’t care if God exists. Not even gonna put effort into thinking about it.

Agnosticism

I have no idea. I have thought about it, and I can not come to a conclusion on what I believe.

Nihilism

I don’t care if anything exists.

Functional Atheism

Someone who professes faith but lives like God does not exist.

Luke-Warm Christians

Pascal’s Wager

Blaise Pascal’s Pensées is a published collection of notes.

Four squares that I already know

Doxastic Involuntarianism

We cannot choose our beliefs

Annihilationism

Those damned to “hell” simply cease to exist

Divine Hiddenness

J.L. Schellenberg

1. If a loving God exists, there are no nonresistant nonbelievers

2. There are non-resistent nonbelievers

3. Therefore, no loving God exists.

3 Responses to Divine Hiddenness

1. Deny Hiddenness: Romans 1:18-20

2. Complexify Hiddenness: Even if God were CONFIRMED, people would not be guaranteed to follow Him.

3. Acknowledge & Explain Hiddenness: God could provide more, but His goal is not for us to simply believe He exists.

Purposive Evidence: Evidence God has given for a reason, leading us to believe.

Problems of Evil

1. Philosophical Problem of Evil

2. Existential Problem of Evil

3. Problem of Suffering

Responses to the Philosophical Problem of Evil. 2 Versions

Logical Version

Evidential Version

Logical Version

J.L. Mackie

“The Trilemma”

RESPONSE:

Plantinga’s Free Will Defense

Evidential Version

William Rowe

“The existence of God is against God’s existence”

RESPONSE: Greater Good