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If you haven't heard by now, Tim wrote a book. It's a good book. You should buy it and read it. However, some people thought it was a not good book. One person in particular, philosopher Guillaume Bignon, wrote a 50 page refutation of Tim's book. Tim wrote an article as a rejoinder to this refutation. Now we're talking about it. In this episode, we'll talk about the second of what Tim perceives to be Bignon's problems with his book: historical eisegesis. Link to Tim's Rejoi

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. Tim, The location of determinism, if external, could be seen as warrant to the conclusion that we are "meat puppets". But why must we accept that determinism is solely through external "forces" beyond our control? First, this assumes control *must* be regulative. But more importantly, why can the location of determinism not be through our agency, or through our wills? In accordance to ourselves? This would be internal and not external. If qualified as internal d

If you haven't heard by now, Tim wrote a book. It's a good book. You should buy it and read it. However, some people thought it was a not good book. One person in particular, philosopher Guillaume Bignon, wrote a 50 page refutation of Tim's book. Tim wrote an article as a rejoinder to this refutation. Now we're talking about it. In this episode, we'll talk about the first of what Tim perceives to be Bignon's problems with his book: his definition of determinism. Link to Tim

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

Finally, in this episode, Tim and I stake out where we tend to lean in the epistemological debates I've been talking about. Spoiler alert: neither of us takes a particularly strong position, but we point out what we believe to be the biggest issues in both sides. We'd like to revisit this topic again in the future, hopefully with some special guests to help us think through these things. Check out this episode!

A lot can be said about Marvel’s first Disney+ series, ( Spoilers ahead! ), from its weird, off-putting sitcom beginning to the broader impact the series’ events will have on the MCU. But, being that we’re named Thinking Ministries , obviously we have to talk about what confirms to us about free will. This show isn’t the first MCU story to address free will, determinism, and human responsibility (see my article “Captain America, Bucky, and Moral Responsibility” ). Superhero

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

In this episode, we take a closer look at some of the skeptical theories of knowledge (if it's accurate to call them that). We talk about pure skepticism and weaker forms of skepticism, and see that it likely isn't a live option, particularly for the Christian, to maintain such a strong form of skepticism. Check out this episode!

I recently finished Michael Bergmann's Justification Without Awareness . It was very dense and I will certainly have to read it again since some discussions were above my current level of understanding. But I'll offer some thoughts on the parts that I did understand. The topic is epistemic justification. The book is divided into two parts. Part one develops an extended argument against epistemic internalism and part two defends epistemic externalism from objections. As a com

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)”

In the second episode in our series discussing epistemology, we take a look at two opposing views on the nature of justification: internalism and externalism. I lay out what each of these views looks like and place it in the broader context of the epistemological project. Fun ep! Check out this episode!

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

No, those two topics are not related, but Tim and I start out this podcast talking about the Gina Carano controversy. If you're not interested in that, feel free to skip to about the 10 minute mark for our discussion on epistemology. In these next couple of episodes, I'll be laying out some various views and problems in epistemology that I learned about while attending my first semester in my master's program. This episode introduces the topics and talks about my general exp

Whenever I’m asked what I’m reading, my answer is always the same: TLC on repeat. At any given time, I will be reading something by J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, or G.K. Chesterton. Or, I’m reading something about them or their works. Recently, I completed by Michael Jahosky, which, as the title states, reflects on the gospel message within Tolkien’s created world. But more importantly, it also illustrates why imaginative works are so important to sharing the good news. While

The book, Debating Christian Religious Epistemology , was a brilliant idea. It is educational, cordial, up-to-date with current scholarship, and quite enjoyable. For my friends (especially my Christian friends) who often ask me for good introductions to epistemology, this is among the best at least with respect to religious epistemology. The book begins with a helpful overview introducing the reader to religious epistemology. The topics covered include the structure of justif

I know, I know, we have not done a podcast in awhile. And by that I mean our last episode was August 27th of 2020! There's no real interesting story as to why we took such a long break, other than the fact that I (Scott) started my M.A. in Philosophy and Tim published a book. As it turns out, this takes up a lot of time. Well, fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) for you all, we have come back from our extended hiatus well-rested and ready to talk some more apologetics and

It’s common for atheists to be a “Grinch” over the Holidays and exclaim that Jesus is just a “Santa Claus for adults!” When I hear that claim, I immediately respond with a question: “What do you mean by that?” If one means that children often believe in fictional fairy tales and adults believe in fact-based evidence, then I agree – Jesus is for adults (and actually people of all ages)! But I don’t think that’s the intent behind this claim. I believe the intent of the atheist

This year, I have the privilege of studying abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland. While Scotland is now considered one of the more secular places on earth, it has a rich history of Christianity dating back to perhaps the early third century. So naturally, I made sure to enroll in Edinburgh University’s History of Christianity as a World Religion course. Readings for the course varied in time period, language, cultural context, and subject matter; they ranged from the diary of Perpet

A number of years ago, Christian astrophysicist and young earth creationist Dr. Jason Lisle wrote a book entitled The Ultimate Proof of Creation (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2009). The book is a creative introduction to presuppositional apologetics (hereafter PA) but from the perspective of the debate over origins. The aim of the book is to provide a defense of the Christian faith that is irrefutable. While this book review will be largely negative, let me take some time