Philosophy

When debating the FreeThinking Argument with naturalists (those who presuppose nature is all that exists), they often accuse me of being a "presuppositionalist" (a.k.a., "a presupper")! This means that they incorrectly believe that I am assuming naturalism is false to conclude the supernatural exists. If this were the case, I would be committing a textbook example of begging the question -- a logical fallacy! I was glad to hear that some "presuppositional apologists" have c

Drs. Leighton Flowers, Braxton Hunter, and Tim Stratton (Team USA) come together to refute the French Calvinistic philosopher, Guillaume Bignon's most recent broadcast on the Revealed Apologetic broadcast hosted by Eli Ayala, in which Bignon brings arguments against Flowers, Hunter, and Stratton's libertarian perspectives ( click here ). Bignon affirms "Theistic Determinism," the audacious belief that God causally determines all things, including all your choices, desires, t

Philosophy of science is a fascinating and complex field. The job requires one to philosophize about well-established scientific observations, patterns, theorems, theories, models, laws of nature, and more. A good philosopher of science will also philosophize about the standards of science and the standards of communicating science. And a brave philosopher of science will even attempt to hold scientists to these standards when they stray. Recently I’ve been reviewing the tra

Objection: Dear Tim, What exactly is a soul and by what exact mechanism does it make libertarian free will possible where it is otherwise impossible? If one person has a soul and another person doesn’t, how does the soul lead to better or more informed decisions in the first person? If their brains are otherwise working exactly the same, I don’t see the difference. - Andy Tims' Response: Thanks for the question, Andy. Allow me to break this down in a step by step manner:

Are you under a stay-at-home order? Consider thinking about the problem of evil (PoE). Here is a brief exercise. Suppose someone says the following to you: “God would never permit COVID-19. So, since there is COVID-19, there is no God.” How would you respond? Notice that this is an example of the PoE. But there are many versions of the PoE. So, your first step is to determine whether your interlocutor is expressing the emotional PoE or the intellectual PoE. If the former, t

Question: Dear Tim, Why does one have to ‘freely’ infer ? Do computers require free will to make accurate calculations? Evidently not – they seem to get by just fine! Imagine giving two computers sentience. They argue between them over a particular course of action and which option is the best. What’s wrong with describing what they have as ‘knowledge’? - Andy Tim's Response: Thanks for your question, Andy. Please allow me to break it down in a step-by-step manner. You said:

Most people agree that we should love one another. But what does it mean to love others? Love can’t mean what our culture says it means. It can’t be untethered from a transcendent moral standard (i.e. God’s word and natural law) and left to be defined subjectively by our feelings, to be molded and fashioned into whatever shape current societal trends bend it. The average person in the US today is a Popular Secularist and has accepted the Popular Secularist definition of lo

Suppose you awoke tomorrow and the coronavirus pandemic had come to an end and all suffering had ceased. Not only are you no longer experiencing any suffering of any kind, but neither is anyone else. All suffering resulting from moral or natural evil — including COVID-19 – was nothing but a memory. Is there any reason to think that it would stay that way? To answer this question, take a short quiz: Question #1: Would you take this “suffering-free world” for granted? Would yo

The problem of evil is one of the most common arguments used by non-believers, atheists, agnostics, and seekers when trying to develop an intellectual argument against God. Trying to reconcile the cognitive dissonance of acknowledging evil while accepting the reality of an all-powerful (Omnipotent), all-knowing (Omniscient), and always present (Omnipresent) supreme being is seemingly untenable. Alvin Plantinga is considered by many one of the most influential Christian philos

Question Dear Dr. Stratton, You've noted that there are some questions that have kept you up at night for long periods of time. The question that has caused me to lose a tremendous amount of sleep is regarding Peter's freedom to deny or not to deny Jesus three times after Jesus told him that he would deny him three times. So, did Peter possess the libertarian freedom not to reject Jesus three times before the rooster crowed? - Randy Tim's Response This is a great question,

For such a bright guy, Richard Dawkins—famed evolutionary biologist and outspoken atheist—sure makes a lot of controversial statements on Twitter . He's recently done it again, causing a firestorm because of a series of tweets on eugenics : In case you never learned about eugenics in school, here’s dictionary.com’s definition : “the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discou

I met Tim Stratton when he reached out to me after reading my book Reason and Proper Function: A Response to Alvin Plantinga . He enthusiastically let me know that the argument I presented in that book supports a version of libertarian freedom that he endorses. At first, I wondered “what did I write to support libertarian freedom?” Then I questioned, “What does Tim mean by libertarian freedom?” So I asked him: “Do you mean libertarian freedom as contra-causal freedom?” Tim sa

After three long years of intense research and writing, I finally submitted my doctoral dissertation in hopes of getting three pesky letters to follow my last name for the rest of my life: Ph.D. (I passed)! My final submission was 350 pages long (including the bibliography). To keep it relatively "short" -- and to eventually complete this project in a timely manner -- I unfortunately had to "axe" many points that I was originally planning to include. These arguments went to t

Family times over Christmas and New Year’s can spawn interesting conversations and sometimes heated “discussions.” This was true at the Johann Calvin home, where his daughter Connie and son-in-law Erasmus had gathered to celebrate the holidays. Erasmus had received his Ph.D. in philosophy from UA (the University of Arminia), and his view of human freedom was diametrically opposite of his theological professor father-in-law’s deterministic theology. Usually when the debate bet

Logic is the study of the principles or methods used to distinguish good reasoning from bad reasoning, or valid arguments from invalid arguments, or correct critical thinking from incorrect critical thinking. We are intimately aware of reasoning, since we engage in reasoning everyday. Consider, for example, the following reasoning or argument: If the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, then I should study and obey it. The Bible is the authoritative Word of God. Therefore

The Argument There are several versions of the moral argument for theism. One goes like this: If God does not exist, then objective morality does not exist. Objective morality exists. Therefore, God exists. (This argument is deductively valid by modus tollens .) The Dialectic Suppose a friend asks you why he should believe in God. You share the version above with him. Thus begins the dialectic. He accepts (1). However, he is like some of the college students in an introdu

"What sacred games shall we have to invent?" (Nietzsche, The Parable of the Madman, The Joyful Wisdom) "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind." (Ecclesiastes 12:13) Introduction In this article, I provide an argument from the objective meaning of human life to the existence of God. Working Assumptions and Definitions I assume a difference between objectivity and subjectivity. So

Spoilers to follow (you've been warned)! The 40+ year Star Wars franchise has finally drawn the story of the powerful Skywalker family to a close. Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker served a powerful end to the story first started with A New Hope in 1977. As a lifelong Star Wars fan, I absolutely loved Episode IX. It connected all three trilogies and provided a satisfying "passing of the torch" to a new generation of heroes, in particular Rey. There were even ref

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher, mathematician, a metaphysician and an expert in logic who is recognized for his independent invention of the differential and integral calculus (imagine being able to include "I invented calculus" on your resume)! To put it bluntly, Leibniz was a smart dude! While it is impressive to be able to "invent calculus," in my opinion, the cherry on top of all of his accomplishments was his work in the field of apologetics. In fact

Introduction In this article, I argue that when considering the existence of God, it is unreasonable to bracket background evidence in the manner described below. First, this move is methodologically insufficient. Second, it is conceptually questionable. The Argument from Gratuitous Evil and the Bracketing Method The argument from gratuitous evil is usually articulated as a version of the probabilistic argument from evil against the existence of God. The argument can be a