podcast 160 – Dr. Graham Oppy on the Conflict between Christianity and Philosophy

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Do Christian claims clash with Philosophy? This is the view of leading philosopher of religion Dr. Graham Oppy. Editors Dr. Paul Gould and Dr. Richard Davis called on him to defend a “conflict” model of the relation between Christianity and Philosophy in their new book Four Views on Christianity and Philosophy (kindle).

In this wide-ranging interview Dr. Oppy and I discuss:

• his own background, and how he got into philosophy of religion
• his preferred way to understand the terms “atheism,” “irreligion,” and “metaphysical naturalism,” and where “minds” fit into this last
• the relevance of evil and arguments from evil to making a case for atheism or for naturalism
• some criteria for evaluating competing worldviews
• his view that trinitarian theology is overall a “cost” of Christian theism as compared with naturalism
• his commitment to Aristotle-style virtue ethics, and the fit of this with his naturalism
• his definition of Philosophy
• whether one can know any philosophical claim, such as atheism or metaphysical naturalism
• his view that there is a first state of the cosmos which is metaphysically necessary
• his way of approaching modality (truths about what is metaphysically possible, impossible, or necessary)

Links for this episode:

• Dr. Oppy’s homepage at Monash University
  • Ontological Arguments and Belief in God
  • Arguing About Gods
  • The Best Argument Against God
  • Describing Gods: An Investigation of Divine Attributes
• Four Views on Christianity and Philosophy (kindle)
  • co-editor Dr. Paul Gould on this book
  • co-editor Dr. Richard Davis on this book
• the problem of evil
• Aquinas on the Trinity
• 10 steps towards getting less confused about the Trinity – #5 “Persons” – Part 1
• 10 steps towards getting less confused about the Trinity – #6 get a date – part 1
• Aristotle on human flourishing
• Is God Necessary for Morality? – William Lane Craig and Shelly Kagan Discuss
• Is God Necessary for Morality? William Lane Craig and Louise Antony
• possible worlds
• This week’s thinking music is “Words“ by Jason Shaw.