Philosophy

Foreword Dr. Tim Stratton has the rare and precious gift of taking highly complex issues in philosophical theology and making them easily understandable to laypeople at the same time as he shows their tremendous importance for scholars in the disciplines of philosophy and religion. This book will be profitably and enjoyably read by laypeople and scholars interested in various themes, including biblical exegesis, the history of Christian thought, metaphysics, epistemology, sys

I was raised in a family and a community where religious beliefs were considered personal and virtually never discussed. I attended a Catholic grade school and continued with religion classes through high school. I was a good student and knew what I was supposed to believe – but no matter how hard I tried, I just could not convince myself that any of it was true. I had a long list of questions, but mostly kept those to myself. I was pretty sure that these doubts made me a bad

Many conservatives are bewildered and befuddled by the apparent intellectual incoherence of the left. But if we really understand Marxism beyond the superficial levels we often see in the blogosphere and social media, all the bewilderment disappears. We think on the basis of the linear classical method of logical development. In other words, we follow the fundamental laws of logic. For us, truth is therefore an objective metaphysical reality independent of the material world,

A few months ago, my friend Tim Stratton at FreeThinking Ministries asked me to write a piece responding to Guillaume Bignon’s form of exhaustive deterministic Calvinism. Bignon is a compatibilist; that is, he is someone who believes that the propositions “God determines all things” and “human beings are free in the morally relevant sense” are compatible. What does it mean for God to determine all things? According to Bignon, it means that all that comes to pass is necessit

One distinctive feature of Molinism is the idea of Middle Knowledge, whereby God knows what any possible creature would freely do under any possible set of circumstances. Hence, the content of this knowledge is said to include all true Counterfactuals of Creaturely Freedom (CCF). An interesting question arises when we ask ourselves “Does God also have Middle Knowledge of His own free actions, i.e. Counterfactuals of Divine Freedom?” As Molinists understand divine omniscience,

Question: I don't believe there is such thing as cultural Marxism. It's merely a made up myth. If you disagree, please describe exactly what is meant by "cultural Marxism" and explain it to me like I was a five-year-old. While you're at it, I'd love to hear your understanding of Marxist thought because I suspect it is extremely shallow, partisan, and sophomoric. - Ben Answer: Thanks for your question, Ben. You hit the nail on the head: very few people actually understand Marx

Historians will look back on the this past year in disbelief. Indeed, it seems that 2020 is on the "wrong side of history." First the wildfires in Australia, then Kobe Bryant dies in a helicopter crash, then the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, then humanity is sentenced to house arrest (aka, "quarantine"), then Tim Stratton graduates with a Ph.D., then mobs of violent rioters flood the streets, and then nearly everything became "racist." Speaking of the term “racist,”

In December of 2019, I graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy from a secular university. At this secular university, I was immersed in ideas such as critical theory and Marxism , since these views dominated the Philosophy Department. Having become fascinated in philosophy through a crisis of faith that led me to Christian apologetics in high school, I found these views confusing and troubling at first. Seemingly everyone around me (who was not a Christian) bought into these

The Batman franchise directed by Christopher Nolan is not about a war of brute force against brute force. It’s about a war of ideas. That’s what makes it so intriguing, and it’s also what makes it so poignantly relevant. The physical battles in these films, and especially in the last installment, “The Dark Knight Rises” are intense to say the least. But they are galvanized by the battle for the ideas in the minds of the combatants, not just their bravado. Nolan and his writer

I have always found it amazing how many notable Christian mouthpieces have vociferously denied giving any credence to Marxist ideology while at the same time giving wholesale credence to Marxist ideology. What is obvious to the most thoughtful observer schooled in Marxist philosophy is obscured in the minds of those who are saturated with it. The best way to make a disciple of Marxism is to convince the student they are not a disciple of Marxism. This does not mean that every

If I were to ask you who the most influential philosopher of the 21st Century is, what would your answer be? The correct answer might surprise you. It is Karl Marx. Karl Marx believed that class struggle would occur naturally on its own without the help of any social engineer. He believed the Communist Revolution was the inevitable outcome of socio-economic forces and it was only a matter of time. He was wrong. The marxists of today believe in class struggle just like Marx

Critical Theory ideology is quite prevalent in the modern culture today. From this theory we get the term, “social justice.” Social justice touches upon many of the most volatile issues in our society. Unfortunately, this term is not clearly defined, and many people do not know how to clearly understand Critical Theory and its resultant term, ‘social justice.’ Critical Theory functions as a worldview and metanarrative that runs from oppression to liberation. This essay expl

Social justice. That sounds great! After all, who would not want justice in the society in which they live? In fact, the Bible has so much to say about justice. Consider a few examples in Scripture beginning with the Old Testament. Proverbs 18:5 -- It is not right to acquit the guilty or deny justice to the innocent. Proverbs 21:15 -- When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. Amos 5:24 -- But let justice roll down like waters, and righteo

Church, we’ve got a problem: Critical Theory (sometimes referred to as Critical Race Theory). This worldview is a growing problem finding its way into the Church. Too many professing Christians today are, willingly or unwillingly, buying into this idea known to have Marxist origins. It’s an attempt to explain and confront power structures in the world that it claims are oppressing others. As Christians we certainly are against oppression but we ought to seek a Biblical unders

Today’s anti-racism crusaders have a lot more in common with Malcolm X than Martin Luther King, Jr. They have become so zealous in opposing racism that they see racism in everything—even breakfast cereal . Instead of condemning actual racism, the charge of racism is now used to compel allegiance and silence dissent. No one wants to be perceived as a “racist,” so spineless individuals and businesses bend over backward and issue self-flagellating apologies at the mere utterance

PSYCHONIX: Mind Over Matter, by Mike Burnette, is a blend of interesting, well-developed characters, and exciting, intriguing action. It is a many layered novel, with unexpected twists and turns. If you like science fiction, espionage, psychology, war stories, philosophy, and many other topics, you will find plenty to attract and keep your attention. Readers with philosophical leanings will be drawn into the musings of the characters who wonder about the nature of reality. An

Question: Dear Dr. Stratton, In your interview with Jorge Gil on Cross Examined's Hope One , you attempted to answer "all the problems of evil" by appealing to love. In fact, you said that "the best kind of love requires libertarian free will." Surely this is false, for I can think of a counter-example that clearly shows this to be false. After all, the members of the Trinity are the epitome of perfect love and they do not have libertarian free will. They cannot do otherw

In Plato’s Meno , Socrates and Meno discuss the nature of knowledge. Meno asks the master of dialectic about the difference between knowledge and true belief. Meno wonders if there is a real difference, and assuming there is, why knowledge is better. Socrates responds by comparing true belief to one of Daedalus’ statues. The statues are beautiful, Socrates says, but more valuable if tethered. Similarly, a true belief is good; but it falls short of knowledge. Knowledge has gr

“I write for a specific sort of person. You value reason, science, and independent thinking. You question beliefs propped up by ‘faith’ without sufficient evidence. Maybe you would like your life to have a deeper purpose, but you cannot believe something based on a mere wish. Whether you are a student, an academic, or just a curious person, you want one thing: the . If you can relate, this book is for you” (Rasmussen). In what promises to be one of the great Christian Apolog

A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting a French Calvinistic philosopher named, Guillaume Bignon ( Click here to read his amazing transition from atheism to Christianity). While I am thrilled that this brilliant scholar is no longer an atheist, I was shocked to discover that he left one form of exhaustive determinism for another. That is to say that Bignon left the view that physics, chemistry, and quantum mechanics causally determine all things about humanity, t