C.S. Lewis, the Moral Argument for God, and the Gospel

In the conclusion of his famous Critique of Practical Reason, Kant famously said, “two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and reverence… the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.” Years later, C.S. Lewis picks up this Kantian insight and formulates an argument for God based on the reality of a Moral Law.

Philosophy and its Contribution to Religion

What is the relationship between philosophy and religion? Does logic stand over and above revelation as its final judge and arbiter? Or is it the other way around—revelation is supreme, and reason serves as a minister?

God and Eternal Truths

I’m on the front end of Brian Leftow’s mammoth book God and Necessity. Weighing in at 1.6 pounds (yes, I weighed it on my scale), rife with the machinery of quantified modal logic, sweeping in its scope, Leftow has delivered to us his long anticipated account of theistic modal metaphysics. The book is not for the faint at heart, nor those thin on cash (it costs $110 and is only available in hardcover—thankfully, I got it for free, since I “get” to read it for fun and write a review of it for a journal). So what is the book about? And why does it matter?

How ought we think about God? (part 2)

In my previous post, I mentioned four sure-fire ways to get it wrong; four ways to think about God that are ultimately incomplete as we try to align our concept of God as close as humanly possible to the reality of God. Still each of the approaches mentioned do hint at a more robust approach to modeling God, an approach that is best encapsulated in Anselm’s motto: faith seeking understanding.

How ought we think about God? (Part 1)

What is the best way to align our concept of God to the reality of God? Is there a methodology that we should use? Or, should we just “wing it” and hope for the best? What are the prospects for us arriving at the truth about God anyhow?

Talks

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Favorite Books of 2024

January 3, 2025

As is now my custom, I am excited to list my favorite reads of 2024, in the categories of philosophy, apologetics/theology, spiritual formation, fiction, and non-fiction. I read 44 books in 2024. For each book read, I enter the date completed, title, author, and a one sentence summary of the book in my book log. Here are the top three books for each category.

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Favorite Books of 2023

January 1, 2024

Fueled by the conviction that stories sustain us because we were made to be nourished on the good, the true, and the beautiful, I determined to read one fiction book a month for this past year. And I read some very good stories! In addition to fiction, I have benefitted greatly this year from some solid works in philosophy, theology, biography, and spiritual formation. Without further ado, here are my favorite books read in 2023. As is custom, in my book log, I record the book title, author, and date completed, along with a one sentence description. This has been my practice since 2009. My book log now includes 635 entries. This year I read 43 books.

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Favorite Books of 2022

January 3, 2023

I love to read. Of course, being a professor helps. I get to read as part of my job. That’s good. But I also love to read for the sheer pleasure of it. When it comes to fiction, I love entering into secondary worlds and journeying along with the characters of the story. Often non-fiction reads like a good story too: life is life, story is story, and often the two kiss (a loose paraphrase of one of my favorite nonfiction stories of the year, All that is Sad is Untrue). (more…)

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