PHILOSOPHY
OF RELIGION

The Study Group in Philosophy of Religion exists to glorify God by studying philosophy of religion in three particular ways: (i) looking at the philosophy of religion in the light of God’s revelation in the Scriptures, (ii) looking at the philosophical issues and questions raised by the Scriptures, and (iii) responding to philosophical objections to the Scriptures. The group takes ‘philosophy of religion’ broadly so as to include all philosophy that is relevant to the Christian religion.

 

Wednesday 3 July

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16.00-16.30 Max Baker-Hytch & Daniel Woolnough, University of Oxford, ‘God’s creative trade-offs: an exercise in modal cartography’

16.30-17.00 Ben Page, Pembroke College, University of Oxford and Eton College, ‘Can God wrong me through ceasing to conserve me?’

17.00-17.30 Break

17.30-18.00 Mike Ashfield, Utah State University, ‘Bare Theism & LDS Philosophical Theology’ (online)

18.00-18.30 Robert Hartman, Ohio Northern University, 'Virtues that Mitigate the Tragedy of Living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome’ (online)

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Tyndale Fellowship Lecture in Philosophy of Religion

20:00-21:30 Paul Copan, Palm Beach Atlantic University, 'The Problem of Evil and the Moral Argument for God: A Contradiction in Terms?’

Evil is a problem for every worldview, and we must consider which worldview provides the more adequate metaphysical context and the most robust resources to help us better make sense of evil.  It turns out that strict naturalism—the mainstream view in the academy—has no category for evil given its materialism and determinism; thus, no problem of evil exists on this view. Atheistic alternatives are likewise ill-equipped to offer an adequate context for evil as they appear to borrow from a worldview like theism, which is far better able to account for a "way things ought to be," the dignity of human persons, and other considerations related to the problem of evil. A more likely context for making sense of evil is biblical theism, which proves far more adequate for the task. Indeed, the very existence of evil itself serves as a pointer in the direction of God rather than away from God.

Thursday 4 July

10.00-10.30 Joshua Layton-Wood, University of Oxford, ‘Aristotelian Physics and the Modal Collapse Argument against Classical Theism’

10.30-11.00 Lizibeth Fischer, Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, ‘Resilience and Fragility: Resolving Conflicting Intuitions about Faith and Trust’

11.00-11.30 Break

11.30-12.00 David Jakobsen, Aalborg University, ‘A.N. Prior and the resurgence of Philosophical Theology in the Analytic Tradition’

12.00-12.30 Richard Worsley, University of Liverpool, ‘What should be the impact of Modern Miracles on Methodological Naturalism?’

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17.00-17.30 Brad Sickler, University of Northwestern, St. Paul, Minnesota, ‘Bias, Religious Belief, and the Problem of Evil’

17.30-18.00 Tim Mosteller, California Baptist University, California, ‘Good and God: Natural Agathology, Natural Theology, and Human Happiness’

18.00-18.30 Daniel Hill and Matthew Hart, ‘God intends that sin occur: the hardening of
Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus’

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20.00-20.30 Bálint Békefi, Central European University, 'The argument from reason updated’ (online)

20.30-21.00 Jason Hyde, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, ‘Metaphysics of Causation’ (online)

21.00-21.30 Paul Rezkalla, Baylor University, ‘Divine Freedom and the Libertarian Dilemma’

Friday 5 July

10.00-10.30 Ian Davies, University of Birmingham, ‘Relational ontologies: who needs them?’

10.30.11.00 Brandon Rickabaugh, Palm Beach Atlantic University, ‘Designing the Mind of Daniel Dennett? AI, Intentionality, and the Reality of God’

11.00-11.30 Break

11.30-12.00 Henk Alting, Independent Scholar, ‘The Creative Word’

12.00-12.30 Matthew Hart, Independent Scholar, ‘God as the Author of Sin and Evil’

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