An atheist and a Christian walk into a bar ... : talking about God, the universe, and everything /
The question of God is simply too important-and too interesting-to leave to angry polemicists. That is the premise of this friendly, straightforward, and rigorous dialogue between Christian theologian Randal Rauser and atheist Justin Schieber. Setting aside the formality of the traditional debate, t...
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| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Amherst :
Prometheus Books,
2016.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | CONNECT |
Table of Contents:
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication Page
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- CHAPTER 1: WHY GOD MATTERS
- Should You Care If God Exists?
- Is God as Ridiculous as an Invisible Pink Unicorn?
- How Do You Define God?
- What about an Evil God?
- A Debate about Mere (Classical) Theism
- Should You Hope That God Exists?
- CHAPTER 2: GOD, FAITH, AND TESTIMONY
- Good and Bad Faith
- Defining Faith
- Faith in the Messiness of Life
- Faith in Your Sherpa
- The Principle of Total Evidence
- Faith in the Extraordinary
- CHAPTER 3: THE PROBLEM OF MASSIVE THEOLOGICAL DISAGREEMENT
- What Is Evidence?
- Does Religion Lead to Violence?
- Disagreement about Landlords, Parents, and God
- The Argument from Massive Theological Disagreement (MTD)
- Debating Premise One
- Evaluating Premise Two
- Relationship with God and Knowledge of God
- Could God Give Incompatible Revelations?
- Doctrine and Salvation
- CHAPTER 4: GOD AND MORAL OBLIGATION
- Setting Up the Moral Questions
- Introducing Ethics and Desire
- Debating Desirism
- Unqualified Moral Judgments
- Moral Perception
- The Problem of Changing Moral Perception
- The Faculty of Moral Perception and Desires
- Moral Obligation and Moral Calling
- Could God Command Something Morally Heinous?
- Moral Knowledge and Skepticism
- CHAPTER 5: THE PROBLEM OF THE HOSTILITY OF THE UNIVERSE
- A Most Unusual Birthday Gift
- Theism, Anthropocentrism, and a Battle of Analogies
- Why Would God Create a Hostile Universe?
- Does Atheism Predict a Universe Less Hospitable to Life?
- But Why Did God Create at All?
- CHAPTER 6: GOD, MATHEMATICS, AND REASON
- On the Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics
- Numerical Patterns as Architectural Motifs
- Debating the Architectural Motif Argument
- Why Explanations Need Not Have Their Own Explanation
- The Mathematical Blueprint Argument
- CHAPTER 7: EVOLUTION AND THE BIOLOGICAL ROLE OF PAIN
- Preliminary Comments on God, Evil, and Suffering
- Evolution and Atheism: A Match Made in Heaven?
- Atheistic Alternatives to Evolution?
- New and Improved Competitors
- Consciousness and Material Creation: Which Is More Surprising?
- God's Hidden Reasons?
- Into the Icy Depths of God's Hidden Reasons
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
