A Critical Analysis of Graham Oppy's View of Arguments about God

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2023

This paper develops an internal critique of Graham Oppy’s metaphilosophy of religion – his theories of argumentation, worldview comparison, and epistemic justification. First, it presents Oppy’s views and his main reasons in their favor. Second, it argues that Oppy is committed to two claims – that only truth-conducive reasons can justify philosophical belief and that such justification depends entirely on one’s judgments about the theoretical virtues of comprehensive worldviews – that jointly entail the unacceptable conclusion that philosophical beliefs cannot be justified. Third, it briefly argues that of his two claims, it is his thoroughgoing coherentism that should be rejected.

Philosophical Quarterly, 2023

Nuanced and heated academic debates on the question of God’s existence have continued for thousands of years. Thinkers and philosophers who believed in God (theists), those who didn’t (atheists), and those who withheld any judgment on the issue (agnostics) have existed and debated each other throughout the recorded human intellectual history. Theistic religions or philosophies include Christianity, Islam, Judaism, most forms of Hinduism (or Vedic religion), etc. Some of the Atheistic philosophies/religions are the Charvaka and Jainism. Agnostic systems include some forms of Buddhism. Which of these three positions on God is most logical? This question can be answered in two ways. One being the most obvious but long and laborious method of analyzing more than a dozen arguments for and against God and checking which of the three positions is most strongly supported by these arguments. I followed this approach in my first book ‘God Examined’ published in June 2016 (and I have been working to produce its revised and heavily enlarged edition ever since). The other method is a novelty, which this paper follows, based on the simple observed fact that the question of God’s existence is still being seriously and widely debated by professional philosophers and experts on the subject. We’ll build arguments over this simple and glaring fact, leading to the conclusion that agnosticism is currently the most logical position on God. We’ll also see the various possible objections to this conclusion and the responses to these objections. Finally we’ll see the various possible reasons behind the never ending debate on God’s existence and the implications of these reasons on the practice of religion for salvation and thus present an analysis of the logical deficiencies inherent in the famous wager of Pascal.

This paper has developed a debate about the existence of God. it has focused the vital arguments in favor of opposition to the existence of God.

AUC Theologica, 2020

Apologetics since the Second Vatican Council has somewhat changed to deal more with reaching the person and sowing seeds rather than winning the argument. The traditional objective arguments for the existence of God are today less effective, especially when approaching postmodern non-believers. Subjective approaches are far more effective, dealing with personal experience. Covering a wide range, Peter Kreeft offers twenty arguments for the existence of God, which can be grouped according to objective, subjective, and a transition group between these. By using different approaches and combinations of these, a consistent ‘wall’ of reasons for believing in God’s existence can be created by combining these arguments like building blocks. This paper considers the range of arguments, giving summaries of the (semi-) subjective ones and commenting upon them with regards to their use, strengths, and weaknesses. It finds that as one purpose of apologetics is to assist the unbeliever in coming to know God, ways of helping bring the subjective thinker to belief in God should be developed further, and Kreeft’s offering is a very useful resource for the Christian in explaining why it is reasonable to believe in God.

Theology, 2019

2008

What is the status of belief in God? Must a rational case be made or can such belief be properly basic? Is it possible to reconcile the concept of a good God with evil and suffering? In light of great differences among religions, can only one religion be true? The most comprehensive work of its kind, Reason and Religious Belief, now in its fourth edition, explores these and other perennial questions in the philosophy of religion. Drawing from the best in both classical and contemporary discussions, the authors examine religious experience, faith and reason, the divine attributes, arguments for and against the existence of God, divine action (in various forms of theism), Reformed epistemology, religious language, religious diversity, religion and science, and much more. Retaining the engaging style and thorough coverage of previous editions, the fifth edition features revised treatments of omnipotence, miracles, and providence and updated