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Christianity Today, July, 2008 |

God Is Not Dead Yet

How current philosophers argue for his existence.

William Lane Craig | posted 7/03/2008 10:50AM

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Properly understanding our culture is important because the gospel is never heard in isolation. It is always heard against the background of the current cultural milieu. A person raised in a cultural milieu in which Christianity is still seen as an intellectually viable option will display an openness to the gospel. But you may as well tell the secularist to believe in fairies or leprechauns as in Jesus Christ!

Christians who depreciate natural theology because "no one comes to faith through intellectual arguments" are therefore tragically shortsighted. For the value of natural theology extends far beyond one's immediate evangelistic contacts. It is the broader task of Christian apologetics, including natural theology, to help create and sustain a cultural milieu in which the gospel can be heard as an intellectually viable option for thinking men and women. It thereby gives people the intellectual permission to believe when their hearts are moved.

As we progress further into the 21st century, I anticipate that natural theology will be an increasingly relevant and vital preparation for people to receive the gospel.

William Lane Craig is research professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology. He is the coeditor with J. P. Moreland of the forthcoming Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology. His website is reasonablefaith.org. All of the traditional arguments for God's existence find intelligent and articulate defenders in the contemporary philosophical scene.

Related Elsewhere:

"A New Day for Apologetics," "Fact and Faith," and William Lane Craig's recommended reading list accompanied this article.

Recent articles on evangelism and apologetics include:

From Four Laws to Four Circles | James Choung has found a way to tell the old, old story to a new generation. (June 27, 2008)

Tim Keller Reasons with America | The New York pastor explains why he's taking his ministry model on the road. (June 20, 2008)

Unapologetic Apologist | Jay Smith confronts Muslim fundamentalists with fundamentalist fervor. (June 13, 2008)

Unexpected Dialogue | Why is a former Chinese official talking to Luis Palau? (May 22, 2008)

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July 2008, Vol. 52, No. 7

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The Gnu

Posted: July 16, 2008 2:43 PM

Craig's account of the state of play in theistic arguments seem to me to be correct, especially in the impact that they have had in the academy -- not clinching the case for theism as much as earning it the right to be part of the conversation. His identification of so-called post-modernism with modernism also seems right and it is plausible to say that the reaction of "The New Atheism" has been based on trying to turn back the clock on the presumptions of secular philosophy.

Matt	Posted: July 16, 2008 8:12 AM

Heh, as far as summing up the current arguments goes, not bad. The new ontological argument in particular seems very persuasive. The christian community could use a bit of the flexing of its intellectual muscle. At commenter number three, the argument goes that everything which -begins- has to have a cause. God did not have a beginning, so the objection doesn't apply, and he doesn't need a further explanation, either, because he exists necessarily.

just one reader

Posted: July 15, 2008 11:00 AM

Those who think these arguments Craig lists are long-refuted medieval retreads need to get the word out to atheist philosophers of religion, who still take them quite seriously. I read the technical stuff these guys write for a living, as I imagine a handful of others here do, and can tell you that these people are talking about these arguments yet today, as Craig says. This is not to say they would not discuss them and offer nuanced rebuttals--to which theistic philosophers of religion would in turn offer their own nuanced rejoinders. They do. But they take them very seriously and this is much of what transpires in professional journals in philosophy of religion, which is again testimony to the renaissance in Christian philosophy in the academy. I wager that most atheist philosophers who make their living in this stuff are embarrassed by the shallowness of argument and poverty of research clearly evident to them in books like The God Delusion, god Is Not Great, and the Harris books.

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