Letters to Doubting Thomas: A Case for the Existence of GodWhen people encounter an argument for or against God's existence, it often raises more questions than it answers. In Letters to Doubting Thomas, C. Stephen Layman offers a fresh, insightful approach to the issue of God's existence--a way to organize what can seem like a blizzard of claims and concepts--bringing clarity to a debate often mired in confusion. Layman explores the evidence for the existence of God in a series of fictionalized letters between two characters--Zachary, a philosopher, and Thomas, an old college friend who appeals to Zach for help in sorting out his thoughts about God. As their correspondence grows, Zachary leads Thomas through an informal and highly readable comparison of Naturalism (the belief that there is no God and that ultimate reality is physical reality), and Theism (the idea that there is an almighty, perfectly good God). In engaging letters that break down complex philosophical arguments into easily digestible bits, the two friends delve into such weighty topics as the reliability of religious experience, various arguments for God's existence (such as the cosmological, design, and moral arguments), the question of free will, and the problem of evil. A piece at a time, they build an argument that shows that Theism, on balance, provides a better explanation of the world and human life than does Naturalism. Here then is a highly accessible account of the major arguments for and against the existence of God, capturing some of the best new insights of modern philosophy in a marvelously clear and engaging format. |
Contents
1 | |
1 Theism and Naturalism | 10 |
2 Religious Experience and Interpretation | 38 |
3 Is Religious Experience Reliable? | 57 |
4 A Cosmological Argument | 79 |
5 A Design Argument | 110 |
6 An Argument from Free Will | 138 |
Other editions - View all
Letters to Doubting Thomas: A Case for the Existence of God C. Stephen Layman No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
almighty Alvin Plantinga animals argu argument from free assume background evidence believe brain cause choices claim cognitive faculties complex conscious consider contingent truth cosmological argument course creatures Deity discussion divine doubt ence example exists of necessity explain the presence explanatory power facet of simplicity fact false fine-tuned universe fine-tuning God's Goldbach's Conjecture human hypothesis incompatibilism incompatibilist sense involves laws of nature life-supporting universe logical lower prior probability maximally powerful mechanistic metaphysical middle knowledge moral evil moral responsibility MUH Naturalism natural evil Naturalists necessary truth Necessity Naturalism Open Theism perfectly morally person phenomenon philosophers possible universes postulate presence of contingent problem of evil question reason to create regard reliable religious experience Richard Swinburne seems sense experience significance simply sort suffering suppose Theism and Naturalism Theistic mystical experience there's things Thomas Dear Thomas tion true wrong Zach Dear Zach