Theology

Many Christians believe that it is wrong to offer unbelievers evidence for the truth of Christianity. They argue that the traditional method of apologetics dishonors Scripture by not giving it the respect it is due. The concern is that offering evidence for the truth of Scripture gives evidence more weight than Scripture. The argument might be framed this way: If some activity requires us to treat something as a higher authority than Scripture, as Christians, we should not d

Question: Hello Dr. Stratton, I just finished reading the section about the Kalam Cosmological Argument in your article about various arguments for the existence of God. I have been doing some very serious soul searching the past few months and have been questioning the validity of my own non-belief. While I wasn't surprised to find plenty of attempts to prove God's existence (many of them quite ridiculous, such as Anselm's original ontological argument), I was shocked by th

The purpose of this paper is to enquire into a topic of immense interest to the writer. In brief, the writer will outline the doctrine of mere Molinism (  because a full outlining and apologia of this doctrine in argument is beyond the scope of this paper) and inquire into how a feature of this doctrine can be attributed to Christology. Molinism is a little known and often neglected concept within theology. This doctrine was discovered by Luis De Molina who was a Jesuit Prie

Question:  Dr. Stratton, In your book Human Freedom, Divine Knowledge, and Mere Molinism , you discuss perfect being theology. With that in mind, I have a question that seems impossible to answer:  Is it possible for more than one maximally great being to exist? - Dan Tim's Response: I enjoy dwelling upon perfect being theology and what it means to be a maximally great being (MGB). Indeed, I spill much ink in my book discussing the fact that God is a MGB. With your question i

I recently had the pleasure of interacting with a few folks studying philosophical theology after sharing my paper defending Mere Molinism from the objections raised by Calvinist philosopher, Guillaume Bignon. This led to a short, but profitable, exchange with Michael regarding Molinism and Hell. It sheds light on a couple important issues . . . please enjoy. Michael: Molinism is stupid. No one deserves hell for randomly selecting B rather than A (same cause, different eff

Objection: Tim, in your paper, Bignon’s Review of Mere Molinism: A Rejoinder , you wrote the following: “I wrote a 300-page book surveying biblical data, historical theology, metaphysics, epistemology, perfect being theology, and apologetics. I only had one chapter to devote to a philosophical defense of libertarian freedom. Thus, I did not have the time or space to survey potential objections (of which I am aware and which I believe do not scathe the FreeThinking Argument)”

My recently published book,  Human Freedom, Divine Knowledge, and Mere Molinism , has, for the most part, received positive reviews. But I had anticipated a negative response from one particular philosopher, Guillaume Bignon, a Calvinist, whom I critiqued in the book. Bignon provided a 50-page “extremely negative assessment” criticizing almost everything in the book — from my English and grammar, to my philosophy and theology. In the paper linked below, I offer a critical re

A parable, according to Merriam Webster , is "a short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle." Jesus was famous for teaching morality through the use of these tools. With that in mind, consider a thought experiment, a modern-day "parable," if you will:  A trained MMA fighter notices a suspected rapist/murderer was breaking into his neighbor's house to presumably rape and kill his neighbor's daughter who was home alone. What if the highly s

John Piper was once my "theological hero." In fact, if it were not for his book, Don't Waste Your Life , I might not be married today. Indeed, it was after reading the chapter " Risk Is Right ," that I drummed up the courage to ask a beautiful girl -- way outta my league -- out on a date. That first date led to many more and eventually led to a wedding and now 15 awesome years of marriage.  Thank you John Piper!  With that said, although he gets a few things right -- like, to

We’ve been duped. I cannot think of another way to put it.  The Christian right has been duped. Deceived by what?  You may ask. The separation of Church and State. What if I told you that the phrase “separation of Church and State” was found nowhere in the constitution or the Bill of Rights? It’s true. Now, we’ve constantly been told that the first amendment of the Constitution is where we get the phrase.  But how?  And was it to protect the Church or the State? Commonly, the

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

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,

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 Great Commission -- what is it? Any Christian worth their salt can quickly tell you about the Great Commission and can share the corresponding chapter and verses at the end of the Gospel of Matthew. Indeed, this single passage is often referenced when defining an " evangelical Christian."  There are a couple reasons why so much emphasis is placed on this short passage of Scripture. Not only is the Great Commission the last recorded personal instruction given by Jesus to

Question: Dear Dr. Stratton, I have a bone to pick with you. But first let me express my gratitude. I have benefited greatly from your work in theology and apologetics. You have a unique ability to take deep philosophical and academic concepts and make them accessible to the average Joe. Thank you!  Here's my problem: You seem to have left your field of expertise to publish multiple articles and videos ranging from COVID-19 to Black Lives Matter and Critical Theory. You seem

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

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

Christians have been called by God to change the world. Indeed, Christianity has radically transformed this world for the better. If anyone doubts this to be the case I highly recommend the book How Christianity Changed the World by Alvin J. Schmidt. It is also significant how many atheists are beginning to realize the importance of a biblical worldview for the sake of a civilized culture.  For example, atheist Phil Zuckerman says that when he thinks about Christianity, thr

Is it morally permissible for faithful Christians to carry firearms? Yes. But don’t take my word for it: Jesus himself instructed his disciples to arm themselves with swords for self-defense. Sell Your Cloak and Buy a Sword In Luke 22, Jesus addresses his disciples shortly before his arrest, trial, and eventual crucifixion. He reminds them of how their earthly needs were providentially met when he sent them out to do ministry work ( Luke 9:1-6 ). However, Jesus warns that he

Why does God allow all kinds of bad stuff?  That's the million-dollar question!  We can answer it in four steps. Step One We first need to recognize exactly WHY humanity exists. That is to say, what is the objective purpose of life? It stands to reason that if God created humanity on purpose and for a specific purpose, then there would be objective facts about humanity irrespective of the subjective opinions from humanity.  That's great, but how would we know such a thing? Ho