Thinking to Believe
A mental journey into Christian theology, apologetics, morality, and culture, with a dash of politics.
Episodes
I finished my thoughts on how Christians can deal with the emotional problem of evil, which wraps up this sub-series on the problem of evil. I explored the different purposes God has for evil, give some perspective in light of eternity and the cross, and God's plan for ultimately solving the problem of evil.
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Evil brings with it suffering and emotional pain. How are we to deal with this? I contrast the atheist worldview with the Christian worldview on this matter.
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I’ve offered a theodicy for moral evil, but what about natural evil? Why does God allow for suffering caused by natural disasters, disease, and accidents?
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I wrap up my examination of the Free Will Defense and conclude that it succeeds. In the course of the discussion I explore why believers will not sin in heaven. I present two different explanations that Christians have offered, and reasons for preferring one over the other.
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Tru...
In the last episode, I offered the Free Will Defense (FWD) as an explanation for why God might allow evil: God cannot create free creatures who are unable to choose evil. The example of God, however, calls this logic into question. He is free, and yet He cannot sin. Is the FWD cooked, or is there a reason why God cannot - but we can - choose evil?
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I’ve demonstrated that evil doesn’t make God’s existence impossible or even unlikely, but one might wonder why, if God exists, He permits evil. What is the purpose? This is the question of theodicy.
I cover five reasons God might permit evil:
1. To better our souls via moral growth (soul-making theodicy)
2. To bring glory to God
3. To make moral freedom and love possible
4. To make happiness possible
5. To ...
On this miscellany episode I cover:
-- How the NYC mayoral race helps us think through our voting philosophy
-- What gerrymandering is, why it's a danger to our democracy, and which party does it the most
-- Don't assume that those who believe different than you do so because of a spiritual problem.
-- Stop worrying about people being offended.
-- 2 pet peeves - using foreign words and performative prayer
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The evidential problem of evil falsely assumes that if God had a purpose for permitting the amounts/kinds of evil we see in the world, we would be able to discern what those reasons were. The bottom line is that so long as the existence of evil and the existence of evil are logically compatible, there is no good reason to think that greater amounts of evil make God's existence more unlikely.
I also discuss gratuitous evil. Some...
While there may be no logical incompatibility between a theistic God and evil, can certain amounts or kinds of evil make it highly unlikely that theism is true? That's the claim of the evidential problem of evil. In this episode, I examine the claim that there is too much evil in the world to think that God exists.
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Email: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.com
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I finish my discussion of the logical POE, showing how evil is actually one of the best evidences for God’s existence – not against God’s existence, and showing how the atheist’s answer to the problem of evil is far less satisfactory than the theist’s.
Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve<...
Is the presence of evil in our world evidence against the existence of God? How could an all-good and all-loving God allow so much evil?
In this episode, I begin to evaluate the logical problem of evil. I discuss what evil is (a privation of good), the different kinds of evil, and why the logical problem of evil does not succeed in undermining theism or proving atheism.
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Email: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.c...
Is the presence of evil in our world evidence against the existence of God? How could an all-good and all-loving God allow so much evil?
In this 1-N-Done episode, I tackle this problem head-on. I cover:
- Why there is no logical incompatibility between God and evil
- Evil is actually evidence for God's existence, not against it
- Theism offers a better solution to the problem of evil than atheism
- Explore some reasons God may permit e...
Does the multiplicity of religions and their cultural-rootedness show that religions are just human inventions? Are religions just examples of wish fulfillment? Did humans invent religion as an emotional crutch?
Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve
Many think that science has disproven God, or at least shown that He is superfluous. Nothing could be further from the case. I show how science cannot, even in principle, disprove God's existence. I also examine whether science has truly been able to explain the things God has typically been invoked to explain such as the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and the diversity of life. In the process, I talk about why Da...
In today's episode I cover two objections: (1) Divine omniscience is incompatible with human freedom; (2) A Person without a body is impossible.
Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve
This episode is in honor of Charlie Kirk and his legacy.
Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve
I address the nature of the problem (it's more emotional than intellectual), and then focus on two key objections: (1) Hell is contrary to God’s love; (2) Hell is contrary to God’s nature (eternal nature of hell).
Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: @ThinkingToBelieve
Parler: @thinkingtobelieve
Many consider the doctrine of hell to be the best reason for rejecting the God of Christianity. Can we reconcile the doctrine of hell with the loving, merciful, and just God of the Christian faith? Yes, we can. In this episode I cover the Biblical teaching on hell, explain why hell is necessary, and explain why hell is just.
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Email: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.com
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I address three objections in this episode:
1. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence (and theists don't have it)
2. No one can know if God exists (so theists are just blowing smoke)
3. It is impossible to falsify theism (so it is not worthy of our belief)
Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth: ...
I round out my discussion on possible reasons God seems hidden to unbelievers, and then explain why one of those reasons is not because too much evidence would violate people's free will. I end by explaining some possible reasons that God feels hidden from believers.
Web: ThinkingtoBelieve.com
Email: ThinkingToBelieve@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/thinkingtobelieve
Twitter & Gettr: @thinking2believ
Truth...
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