Dear Friends of Reasonable Faith,
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I feel as though a new day has dawned in America! No longer do we live in a society in which abortion on demand is the law of the land. The Supreme Court’s courageous decision to overturn the monstrous Roe v. Wade decision, which was such a moral stain on our nation, is cause for celebration and rejoicing. The Court ruled that the US Constitution no more includes the right to an abortion than it does a right to two weeks’ vacation or a guaranteed annual income. So now the issue will go back to the states to decide, and the struggle for the rights of the unborn must begin anew at the state level. We can’t afford to ignore local elections anymore. Do not be intimidated by the angry rhetoric of the abortion rights advocates and the biased reporting in the media. Stand strong and let your voice be heard in support of the dignity and human rights of the unborn.
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This past month I have thrown myself into my writing projects. Early in June I finished the chapter on the Trinity for my forthcoming Systematic Philosophical Theology. As usual, this study proved to be hugely rewarding personally. I believe that the New Testament teaches two things with respect to the Trinity: (1) There is exactly one God, and (2) There are exactly three distinct persons who are properly called God. A standard reference work states, “A Trinity doctrine is commonly expressed as the statement that the one God exists as or in three equally divine ‘Persons’, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” It therefore follows that, as commonly expressed, the New Testament teaches a doctrine of the Trinity.
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This is very significant theologically. For as Jeffrey Brower and Michael Rea observe, there is nothing particularly philosophically problematic about the above statement of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity.
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It is these later accretions that occasion philosophical problems for the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. But the biblical doctrine of the Trinity, by contrast, is clear, simple, and logically unproblematic. Protestants bring all doctrinal statements, even conciliar creeds, especially creeds of non-ecumenical councils, before the bar of Scripture. It is by comparison with the biblical doctrine of the Trinity that they must be assessed.
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Since I knew that this year I would be working on the doctrine of the Trinity, I accepted an invitation from the Christian philosopher Chad MacIntosh to participate in a four views book on the Trinity. The other participants include William Hasker, who has written what is probably the best book on the Trinity (Metaphysics and the Tri-Personal God); Dale Tuggy, a Unitarian philosopher who wrote the article on the Trinity in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy; and Beau Branson, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the Trinity. I have written a rough draft of my opening statement and look forward to interacting with these colleagues.
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Having finished my chapter on the Trinity, I’ve now turned to writing an Excursus on Natural Theology, in which I’ll defend several arguments for the existence of God. A section like this is almost never found in contemporary systematic theologies. I’ve written on all of these arguments before, especially the kālam cosmological argument, and so I am drawing together and updating material from previous publications. I’ve finished the Introduction, the section on the argument from contingency, and I’m currently writing the section on the kālam cosmological argument. After that I’ll deal with the argument from the applicability of mathematics in physics, the teleological argument from the fine-tuning of the universe, the moral argument from objective values and duties in the world, and the ontological argument based upon the very concept of God as a maximally great being. Really great stuff!
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I’m also participating in a four views book on the historical Adam that I mentioned in our Monthly Report for May. I’ve now finished my responses to Kenton Sparks, Andrew Loke, and Marcus Ross, and am ready to send my responses in to our editor Ken Keathley. Once I get their responses to my essay, I have to compose a brief 1,000 word response to all three.
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Kevin Harris and his wife Kelly came down with Covid-19 a few weeks ago, and so our recording of our scheduled “Reasonable Faith” podcasts had to be postponed till July. We sure empathize with them! I hope he’ll soon be back on his feet and in the recording studio!
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Meanwhile, Jan and I have been doing some recording of our own. She filmed three new talks in my home office. The first talk was in German, “Gibt es Gott?” (“Does God Exist?”) for an apologetics conference in Germany. It really took some practice to get the mouth accustomed to speaking German, but in the end I felt pretty comfortable. It’s such a wonderful language! The second talk we recorded is for a philosophy conference in Poland in September. My title is “Is God’s Moral Perfection Reducible to His Love?” In this talk, which flows out of my systematic philosophical theology, I argue against those who think that the entire content of God’s moral perfection is reducible to his agapé love. It seems to me that God’s moral perfection or righteousness encompasses both His love and His retributive justice, and that the latter cannot be reduced to the former. Finally, we recorded a talk on “Divine Incorporeality and the Causal Interaction Problem” for a philosophy conference in Tehran. This talk also flows out of my systematic philosophical theology and is previewed here [QoW 788]. I love the fact that I can be ministering to people around the world without ever leaving my office!
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Please continue to pray that our proposed Academic Center with its curriculum in Christian philosophy, theology, and apologetics will be placed at a respected Christian university and seminary. The process is very slow, but our progress is steady. So we appreciate those of you who are steadfastly praying that this dream may become a reality.
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For Christ and His Kingdom,
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I was a Soldier and an atheist, even (and especially during) four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I used to think that Christians had to leave their brain out in the parking lot before they went into a church. Then, a number of years ago, right before I retired I watched some of your videos and listened to some of your podcasts. Long story short, I am saved, and I am halfway through a philosophy degree earning the best grades I ever have. My wife and I are in church every Sunday, and we are both involved in the ministry. Your ministry is powerful, it has to be because an all-powerful God is using you to do great things, even with an old crusty sinner like myself. Keep up the work and God bless you and yours.
-Dave
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