Philosophy 24810: Philosophical Theology
Course description Syllabus
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Syllabus
Date Topic Reading
Tu 1/16 Introduction to the course
handout
none
Th 1/18 What is philosophical theology? Aquinas, "That the truth of reason is not opposed to the truth of the Christian faith" (Summa Contra Gentiles §7)
Anselm, Proslogion §V
Morris, “The project of philosophical theology"
Does the reality of evil show that there is no God?
Tu 1/23 The argument from evil
handout
Mackie, "Evil and omnipotence"
Th 1/25 [class canceled]
Tu 1/30 The free will defense van Inwagen, "The problem of evil" (excerpt)
extra readings
Freedom, foreknowledge, time, and providence
Th 2/1 The problem of free will and foreknowledge
handout
Edwards, Freedom of the Will (excerpt)
Tu 2/6 Foreknowledge and providence
handouts
Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles 94, 159-163
Plantinga, "God's foreknowledge and human free will are compatible"
Th 2/8 God and time Aquinas, "Whether the knowledge of God is of future contingent things"
Davis, "Temporal eternity"
The scope of God's power
Tu 2/13 Does God explain the necessary truths?
handout
Descartes, Letters to Mersenne (May, 1630)
extra readings
Th 2/15 Can God do evil? Pike, "Omnipotence and God's ability to sin"
Morris, "Impeccability"
God and morality
Tu 2/20 Does morality depend on God? Russell, "A free man's worship"
Mavrodes, "Religion and the queerness of morality"
Th 2/22 Moral obligations and divine commands
handout
Plato, Euthyphro (excerpt)
Cudworth, A Treatise Concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality (excerpt)
Quinn, "God and morality"
The morality of the God of the Bible Introduction to Divine Evil?
van Inwagen, "Reply to Curley"
The Atonement
Th 3/1 Atonement and debt
handout
Christ's redemptive death in God's plan of salvation (Cathechism §§599-618)
Swinburne, "Responsibility, atonement, and forgiveness"
Lewis, "Do we believe in penal substitution?"
Was Jesus God?
Tu 3/6 Mad, bad, or God?
handout
Hume, “Of miracles” (excerpt)
Lewis, Mere Christianity (excerpt)
Life after death
Th 3/8 Does the idea of life after death make sense?
handout
Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles Chs. 79-81
van Inwagen, "I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come"
I believe in the resurrection of the body (Catechism §§988-991)
ND London break week
Tu 3/20 A problem for hell
handout
Sider, "Hell and vagueness"
The Trinity
Th 3/22 Is the doctrine of the Trinity contradictory?
handout
Brower & Rea, "Understanding the Triniity"
Is it reasonable to believe in God without evidence?
Tu 3/27 Is it wrong to believe without evidence?
handout
Clifford, "The ethics of belief (excerpt)
van Inwagen, "Is God an unnecessary hypothesis?"
Easter break
Tu 4/3 The problem of divine hiddenness Rea, "Divine hiddenness, divine silence"
Is there evidence that God exists?
Th 4/5 Design and the fine-tuning argument Collins, "A scientific argument for the existence of God"
Tu 4/10 A reply to the fine-tuning argument Dawkins, "Why there almost certainly is no God"
extra readings
Th 4/12 The cosmological argument
handout
Aquinas’s second way
Leibniz, “On the ultimate origination of things"
Religious diversity and religious belief
Tu 4/17 Do all religions basically agree? Hick, "Religious pluralism and salvation"
van Inwagen, "Non est hick"
Th 4/19 Should religious disagreement make you less confident in your religious beliefs? Plantinga, "A defense of religious exclusivism"
Tu 4/24 In-class presentations on religious diversity (I) none
Th 4/26 In-class presentations on religious diversity (II) none