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Question: Dr. Stratton, in your book you point out that if our thoughts and beliefs are causally determined by physics and chemistry, then they are not reliable. I agree since physics and chemistry are not intentionally aimed at true beliefs. However, related to that, you also say that even if God casually determines all of our thoughts and beliefs all the time, then they still aren’t reliable. God is an intentional being (much different than physics and chemistry), so why wo

The Marvel movies are so good because they all have a common theme, family. The movies raise questions about family and answers those same questions, not merely with words, but with demonstrations and examples. Movies visually capture what we feel. Their power resides in the way that they bypass our thoughts and lay bare the hidden things in our hearts. The images evoke passion, they expose painful experiences too powerful for words, they cheer us, and at times catch us unawa

I recently made a video for the FreeThinking Ministries YouTube channel entitled Divine Determinism and the GOD OF MISCHIEF . In this video I point out that if naturalistic determinism is true, then all human thoughts and beliefs are causally determined by the forces of nature, the initial conditions of the big bang, past events, perhaps some quantum mechanics, and all other things outside of human control. Since these naturalistic events would be causally determined by proce

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

Don't merely pray about voting -- read your Bible! I've talked to a few Christians who are still undecided as to how they will vote in the 2020 election. They have expressed to me that they need to spend "more time in prayer." While I encourage "praying without ceasing" (1 Thes 5:17), if one merely reads their Bible one will find the answer as to how one OUGHT to vote in this year's election. Always start with the words of Christ! Consider the fact that Jesus constantly inte

“One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.” — Lord Of The Rings For the first time in my life, I’m concerned that our freedom to share The Good News with the lost is being significantly damaged by people calling themselves “Christians.”  Our economy has been cratered due to Covid-19 and the  massive over-reaction  to it. Strangely, as more data comes in showing it was an over-reaction, some still seem to be r

I have serious concerns about Andy Crouch's article in Christianity Today from several  years ago entitled excoriating Trump as though he was the anti-christ, not the least of which is the fallacy that all government officials must by their very nature be guilty of idolatry. Since Crouch is bringing this point up in the context of Christians voting for Trump (which doesn't mean they're endorsing his sin, by the way), the only way to be consistent with what he is saying here

In the wake of the George Floyd murder at the hands of the police in Minneapolis, the nation saw many peaceful protesters unite to demand accountability of the officers responsible. However, since that moment of unity, riots have broken out in many of the major cities across the United States. There have been conflicting reports as to the instigators of these riots, but regardless of the origin we’ve seen state politicians, including the Attorney General and President, come o

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

Never in our lifetime have we witnessed, first-hand, how easy it has been to manipulate and control the minds and thoughts of a populace. The Coronavirus pandemic enabled media and political entities to create and perpetuate a metanarrative leading to entire countries' mind-control. Allen Ginsberg stated, " Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture,"   and Jim Morrison quoted something similar when he said, "Whoever controls the media, controls the mind ."

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,

2015, Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court and the " Love is Love" movement. What do all these things have in common? This was the year that the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across all 50 states. A watershed moment in the “love is love” movement to be sure. Many conservative Christians would likely point at this decision as the moment the culture in America turned on a dime. In the next five years we would experience a rampant normalization of homosexuality and of

How should we live? How should we think?  How should we vote?  Are these questions with objectively right or wrong answers? That is to say, is it true -- apart from human opinion -- that humanity ought to live, think, and even vote in a certain manner?  If it is not objectively right or wrong to live, think, or vote in a certain manner, then does anything really matter? Moreover, if it is objectively wrong to live, think, and vote in a certain manner -- how would we know? A

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

Dr. Kelly Fitzsimmons Burton is an epistemologist (a philosopher who studies knowledge) who has authored the books "Reason and Proper Function" and "Retrieving Knowledge: A Socratic Response to Skepticism." Tim Stratton believes her work in epistemology has strengthened his FreeThinking Argument and also provides a platform to speak about what we can KNOW and how we should think about the cultural issues of our day. Check out this episode!