Anytime you ask a question like, "Why would a perfect God create an imperfect world," you only get people quoting Bible verses at you that say "God is soooo great" as if that explains anything. My family are Christians and while I'm not terribly religious, I'd love to try and understand better--but I can't accept that God would give me intellect and then ask me not to apply it at all when it came to my faith. Blind acceptance is not my thing. There are lots of very intellectual texts on Judaism and I'm wondering if Christianity has anything like that. I don't accept that I am sinful by nature, because God created me and why would he do that? Everyone says, he gave you free will and like a father just wants you to make the right choices, but God is divine, not a human Dad who has no power over his "creations." It would really help my relationship with my family to read something on the nature of God that is more philosophical than dogmatic.
2007-06-06 08:16:10 · 16 answers · asked by Anise 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Shandon Guthrie
William Lane Craig
Norman Geisler
C. S. Lewis
Alvin Plantinga
There are, of course, many others, but this will get you off to a good start. Please email me if you have any questions.
To partially reply to "Why would a perfect God create an imperfect world," this quote from Lewis' Mere Christianity is helpful:
"My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying that it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless--I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning."
2007-06-06 08:30:28 · answer #1 · answered by ScaliaAlito 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
There are quite a few of them just google them:
Hellenistic Christian philosophers
Tertullian
Irenaeus of Lyons
Clement of Alexandria
Augustine of Hippo
St. Athanasius of Alexandria,
St. John Chrysostom
The Cappadocian Fathers of the Fourth Century anno domini.
Medieval Christian philosophers
Anselm of Canterbury:
Thomas Aquinas
John Duns Scotus
William of Ockham
Renaissance and Reformation Christian philosophies
Martin Luther
Erasmus
John Calvin
Modern and Contemporary Christian philosophers
Karl Barth
John D. Caputo
G.K. Chesterton
Jacques Ellul
Etienne Gilson
Immanuel Kant
Søren Kierkegaard
C.S. Lewis
Knud Ejler Løgstrup
Bernard Lonergan
Gabriel Marcel
Jacques Maritain
John Henry Newman
Pope John Paul II
Josef Pieper
Alvin Plantinga Plantinga
Egbert Schuurman
Melville Y. Stewart
Paul Tillich Rather
Peter van Inwagen
Cornelius van Til
D. H. Th. Vollenhoven
2007-06-06 08:28:08 · answer #2 · answered by corvuequis 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine are tremendously huge ones. Descartes, Liebniz, and Spinoza tried to justify various conceptions of God. Kant defends the main easy of Christian precepts "Do unto others as you may have them do unto you". Plato's "Republic" has been examine as a available pre-Chistian awareness of God as an appropriate. Marcus Aurelius's "Mediations" are fraught with Christian ideals.
2016-11-26 20:01:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Francis Schaeffer is probably the best know Christian Philosopher. He has gone on to be with the Lord but his works are still highly regarded by everyone who knows who he is.
2007-06-06 08:30:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
J.P. Morland, Ravi Zacharias, Norman Geisler, John Calvin, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Augustine, Aquinas, the Apostle Paul, and Our Lord Jesus Christ
2007-06-06 08:26:54 · answer #5 · answered by HAND 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Dallas Willard for sure! Professor at USC, amazing teacher! Check out his book Divine Conspiracy, awesome.
2007-06-06 08:21:28 · answer #6 · answered by small group guy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
C.S. Lewis
William Lane Craig
just to start.
2007-06-06 08:21:31 · answer #7 · answered by yaabro 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I recommend that you read philosophers on both sides of the issue and draw your own conclusions.
2007-06-06 08:22:25 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Charles Hartshorne is quite good.
2007-06-06 08:22:58 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good, Christian, and a philosopher?
That reminds me of the joke: I'm a simple man who just wants to find a woman who is good in the kitchen, a woman who can satisfy all my sexual needs, and a woman who can organize my life. I just hope they don't find out about each other.
2007-06-06 08:20:38 · answer #10 · answered by nondescript 7 · 1⤊ 5⤋