Search Results for: "Paul Moser"

Christ-Shaped Philosophy Project and Discussions on Natural Theology

Posted on October 3, 2013 by - aaron preston, angus menuge, kerygmatic philosophy, natural theology, paul k. moser, ramified natural theology, religious epistemology, richard swinburne

A little over
a year ago, we inaugurated the

“Christ-Shaped Philosophy” (CSP) project at the EPS website.

Now, with over

30 contributions, you can download all of these engaging papers that interact
with Paul Moser’s

“Christ-Shaped Philosophy: Wisdom and Spirit United.” Some recent contributions
include lively discussion on “natural theology” and Moser’s “Gethsemane Epistemology”:

Given the Evidence, Natural Theology is Here to Stay!

Posted on September 30, 2013 by -

Paul K. Moser rejects arguments of natural theology for several reasons.

This paper considers two of those reasons.

First, Moser argues that since Jesus and the Apostle Paul are models for Christian philosophers and since neither used arguments of natural theology, Christian philosophers should follow suit and reject arguments of natural theology. I reject this reasoning on the grounds that there is a more plausible explanation why Jesus, the Apostle Paul and other biblical writers did not have to use arguments of natural theology.

Second, Moser claims that one of the reasons why arguments of natural theology fail is because they are not cogent for a wide audience, including shrewd agnostics. I reject this claim on the grounds that there is a better explanation why arguments of natural theology encounter resistance from shrewd skeptics, agnostics and atheists.

The article concludes with a reflection on Moser’s strategy that connects his religious epistemology to his conception of Christian philosophy.

The full-text of this contribution is available for FREE by clicking here.

Fall 2013 EPS President’s Update

Posted on August 5, 2013 by -

Greetings in the name of our risen Lord!   I would like to take this opportunity to let you know of some very exciting developments in the EPS.

Last year, the EPS began a fundraising campaign aimed at (among other things) increased international collaboration between societies of Christian philosophers.  Although these efforts are only in their infancy, I am happy to report that they have already borne fruit, and we will be helping four Christian philosophers from Europe to attend our annual meeting in Baltimore.   One of these is the chair of the Philosophy of Religion group of Tyndale Fellowship, Dr. Harry Bunting.  Dr. Bunting and Dr. Daniel Hill, secretary of the group and a lecturer at Liverpool University, have extensive contacts in European philosophy and provided a list of promising young Christian philosophers, from which two outstanding candidates, Joseph Diekemper and Jamie Collin, were selected.  It was my privilege to meet Harry, Daniel, Joseph and Jamie during this year’s Tyndale Fellowship meeting at Wolfson College, Cambridge, July 4th to 6th. How encouraging it was to talk to so many brilliant and promising young scholars, some of them students of such greats as Brian Leftow, E. J. Lowe and Richard Swinburne!  It is our mutual hope that this marks the beginning of an ongoing partnership between Tyndale Fellowship and the EPS.
Another European connection we hope to cultivate is with the European Leadership Forum.   Several members of the EPS have participated in the ELF, which has tracks in philosophy, apologetics and science.  An important contributor to the ELF is Dr. Ralph Vaags at the University of Agder, Norway, and we are pleased to announce that we will assist his attendance of the Baltimore conference.  These are early days, and I hope to strengthen the connection with ELF during a personal visit next year.
Of course, we would love to do even more, and it is our hope that next year will see even more international collaboration.   As our culture shows increasing signs of a post-Christian orientation focused on secularism and alternative religions, it is vital that evangelical Christian philosophers take a leadership role in supporting each other’s work for Christ throughout the globe.  In some contexts, the illusion has developed that to be a Christian philosopher is either a curiosity or a danger. Concerted, collaborative efforts and mutual encouragement are therefore vital to show that, on the contrary, Christian philosophy is a growing area of vibrant, rigorous, well-informed inquiry that coherently addresses fundamental questions about what is real, how we know, and how we are called to live.
Some evidence of this is found in the consistently high quality of articles found in journals of Christian philosophy, including Faith and Philosophy and our own Philosophia Christi.  Regarding the latter, I was very pleased with the most recent special issue on neuroscience and the soul, guest edited by Chad Meister and Charles Taliaferro, which featured excellent articles by household names in the international, Christian philosophy community, and some very stimulating essays pushing us to reconsider standard assumptions and pursue promising new models of the mind-brain connection.  Charles and I also believe you will like the forthcoming Winter 2013 special issue on ramified natural theology, which we hope will spur keen minds into whole new avenues of research.   In tandem with Paul Moser’s emphasis on existential encounter with the claims of Christ, ramified natural theology focuses our argumentation on the case for Christian truth.

The EPS website has also been flourishing.   Paul Moser’s arresting charge to reform the guild of Christian philosophers has provoked a fascinating series of interchanges on the proper focus of Christian philosophy, the Christ-shaped philosophy project.   J. P. Moreland describes the late, great Dallas Willard as one of Christian philosophy’s five-star generals, and though saddened by the loss I am certain Dallas would approve of the constructive tributes and essays that followed.   New books also abound and the website is a great place to find out about new and forthcoming works.   In addition to our annual meeting, the EPS has several regional meetings, and philosophy students are especially encouraged to take advantage of these to present papers and network with other philosophers.

Let me close by encouraging all of you to pray for the work of the EPS.  We would love to see as many of you as possible at our annual national meeting in Baltimore, November 19-21.   It is a great delight to have another “five star general” (or field marshal!) Richard Swinburne, as our plenary speaker, and I know from the program committee that the quality of submitted papers has never been so high or so numerous.   I very much look forward to seeing many of you at our annual EPS reception during the conference, and if any of you have ideas about what EPS can do better, do not hesitate to relay them to me.
Blessings on all of your work for Christ’s kingdom, and hope to see you in November!
Angus Menuge, Ph.D.

EPS President

Two Wisdoms? The Unity of Truth, the Spirit of the (Academic) Disciplines, and the Norms of Academic Philosophy

Posted on June 24, 2013 by -

Paul Moser’s “Christ Shaped Philosophy” has generated a wide ranging discussion.

Early in that discussion, William Hasker argued that Moser’s call for disciplinary reform conflates two discrete concepts of “wisdom” (and by extension of “philosophy”).

Here, I argue (i) that these “two wisdoms” are not discrete, but interdependent aspects of a single wisdom, (ii) that current disciplinary norms in academic philosophy violate this interdependence, and (iii) that Moser’s call for reform is therefore justified.

The full-text of this contribution is available for FREE by clicking here.

The Golden Cord and God’s Economy: Reply to Moser

Posted on June 18, 2013 by -

As part of the ongoing “Christ-Shaped Philosophy” discussion with Paul Moser, this note briefly responds to two main challenges that Paul Moser makes to my suggestion that Ramified Personalized Natural Theology may constitute a third way between standard natural theology and Gethsemane epistemology.

First, Moser charges that ramified natural theology is likely incoherent because ramified theology will appeal to supernatural premises. My response appeals to a forthcoming essay by Hugh Gauch which provides a framework in which evidence counts across competing worldviews.

Second, Moser claims that the “divine personalized experience” provided by the Holy Spirit makes natural theology redundant. I appropriate Charles Taliaferro’s idea of a “golden cord,” and suggest that the evidential threads of this cord, whether natural or supernatural, provide a means by which Christ may draw us to himself.

The full-text of this contribution is available for FREE by clicking here (updated 06-23-13).

Spiritual Songs and Biblical Wisdom

Posted on May 9, 2013 by -

This essay proposes that distinctively Christian poetry (“psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”) could provide compelling models for what Paul Moser has termed “Christ-Shaped Philosophy.”

In this brief space, I consider the aesthetic veiling of Biblical wisdom in poetic form, both in the special revelation of scripture and in the general revelation of post-Reformation British verse.

The poetry penned by Christ-shaped men and women, from George Herbert to Anna Barbauld, does not necessarily oppose the glimpses of truth conveyed through the argumentative prose of classical Greek philosophy or continental natural theology, but appeals more strongly to the heart as well as to the mind. It thus more closely follows the speech acts of Christ himself, and so could inform the style as well as practice of Christ-Shaped Philosophy.

The full-text of this contribution is available for FREE by clicking here.

Ramified Personalized Natural Theology: A Third Way

Posted on May 1, 2013 by -

Paul Moser has illuminated the spiritual terrain of Christian philosophy by revealing a stark contrast between the poles of spectator natural theology and Gethsemane epistemology.

In this paper, I will first suggest that Moser’s work is most helpfully viewed not as a statement about the sociological habits of Christian philosophers, but as a prophetic call to self-examination and repentance by each and every Christian philosopher. That said, I argue that between spectator natural theology and Gethsemane epistemology there does seem room for an intermediary position: a chastened natural theology which provides a lived dialectic, a “ramified personalized natural theology.”

I suggest this not as a critique but as a constructive proposal for rapprochement that attempts to find a worthy place for both natural theology and an evangelistic call to a personal encounter with the living Lord.

The full-text of this contribution is available for FREE by clicking here.

A Missed Opportunity: Reply to Moser

Posted on April 6, 2013 by -

Paul K. Moser’s objection to my paper goes as follows: My claim about what can or should count as work of Christian philosophy requires empirical evidence from statistical sociology. Since neither of us is qualified to evaluate such empirical claims my challenge to Moser’s conception of Christian philosophy was not a real challenge.

In this paper, I provide reasons why Moser’s objection fails. Furthermore, I discuss the role of the project of natural theology in a conception of Christian philosophy. Also, I provide a sketch of a Christian philosophy that identifies the Jewish-Christian God as Creator and Redeemer without pitting the so-called “God of the philosophers” against “the God of the Scriptures.”

The full-text of this contribution is available for FREE by clicking here.