In this episode I talk with Christian philosopher Dr. Stephen T. Davis on the occasion of the start of his phased retirement from Claremont McKenna College (and the Claremont Graduate University). We discuss his advice for Christians going into philosophy, his views on the most important work done in recent Christian philosophy that most Christians don’t know about, his advice on writing, and his own work… Read More »podcast 40 – Dr. Stephen T. Davis on Christians in Philosophy
In this episode we hear the audio of Dr. Padgett’s talk “Informal Reason and the Idea of a Christian Philosophy” of April 25, 2014 at Claremont McKenna College, at the retirement conference in honor of Stephen T. Davis. In this wide-ranging talk, Dr. Padgett discusses human reasoning (with special reference to science), and 20th century debates about the idea of a Christian philosophy. You can… Read More »podcast 47 – Dr. Alan Padgett, “Informal Reason and the Idea of a Christian Philosophy”
Over at Faith and Theology a theologian lists what he views as the ten most important latter-day books on the Trinity. An interesting thing about this list is that it shows the radical divide between philosophers (philosophy of religion specialists, philosophical theologians) like me, and (theologically trained) theologians. None of these books has been big topic of discussion among the former, and I’ve read pretty… Read More »Linkage: 10 Important books?
To fully understand a philosophical theory, one needs to understand not only the content of it, but the reasons for which it is held. This is why I’m patiently going through how Moreland and Craig reject what they see as the competing Trinity theories, before giving their own.
As we’ve seen, they consider themselves to be “social trinitarians” (last time we looked at their rather vague definition of that term). They then adopt Brian Leftow’s taxonomy of social trinitarian theories, and decide that the first of these is the most promising. Read More »Trinity Monotheism Part 3: Their Set-Up, Part 2
Philosophical theology in a small-town newspaper. Yes, really!
My other blog gig is as the Theist on Objectivist v. Constructivist v. Theist. This blog was begun to post the newspaper columns (in our local paper) in which my collegues Bruce Simon (liberal, aka “Constructivist”) and Steve Kershnar(libertarian, aka “Objectivist”) debated points of politics and morality. When Bruce no longer had the time, I stepped in as the Theist, and debated Steve mostly on moral and religious questions in a series of sort of debate style opinion columns. Steve is a good friend and colleague, and we’ve frequently butted heads on all sorts of things since I was hired at Fredonia in 2000. He’s sharp, well-read, funny, and has a winning personality. To say he’s well-published would be an understatement – see his whopper c.v. He’s written on many questions of justice, public policy, ethics, and philosophy of religion. His work is original, rigorous, and informed by relevant empirical research. In addition his his philosophy PhD (he’s a proud, proud Cornhusker) he holds a law degree from Penn. In his inimitable trouble-making style, he decided to write a column on the Trinity leading up to Christmas, which we’re please to cross-post from here. – Dale
Happy Easter. For the uninitiated, this holiday really has nothing to do with a bunny and colored eggs. What we’re celebrating is this: Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the… Read More »He is Risen!
Dr. Lee Irons on his contribution to the new book The Son: Three Views of the Identity of Jesus, interview by Dr. Dale Tuggy for episode 117 of the trinities podcast.
Philip Clayton teaches theology and philosophy at the Claremont School of theology, and at the Claremont Graduate University.
He publishes a ton, and much of his work is in the science and religion genre. Unlike many authors in that genre, Clayton isn’t a scientist – his training is in theology, religious studies, and philosophy.
He’s also a co-founder of this Big Tent Christianity project, which aims in his words “to foster a radically different understanding of the heart of Christian faith” – different, that is, from the theologically and culturally conservative and liberal camps.
Brian Leftow is recognized as one of the most important living Christian philosophers. Formerly of Fordham University in NYC, he now holds the prestigious Nolloth Chair of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at Oriel College, Oxford. See Trent Dougherty’s comments here for a list of some of his publications. In person, Leftow is very pleasant and interesting, and his sense of humor also comes… Read More »Leftow 1: “Anti Social Trinitarianism”
Last time, c. 1998-2001, I was a social trinitarian along the lines of Richard Swinburne. While I was on the job market in 1999-2000, my former professor Stephen T. Davis was kind enough to invite me and a friend to attend the Incarnation summit, a follow up to the earlier interdisciplinary Trinity Summit. This was a great privilege, and I pretty much just observed. But… Read More »the evolution of my views on the Trinity – part 6
In this episode, Dr. Davis reads short selections from his 2006 book Christian Philosophical Theology (Oxford University Press). As he said in our interview, this book is probably the best place to look for his mature views. Hopefully Oxford University Press will someday release this in paperback and electronic versions. He addresses John Hick’s and others’ “minimal christology” on which Jesus is merely a wise teacher,… Read More »podcast 41 – Stephen T. Davis’s Christian Philosophical Theology
…I will not deny clear things concerning the Trinity, as some do, only because they are clear. I don’t think we may argue after this manner; “The Doctrine of the Trinity is a Mystery; your Account of it is no Mystery, therefore it is not the true Doctrine of the Trinity”: For it will be still mysterious enough to us, tho we do not reject… Read More »Quote: Stephen Nye on disliking the clear as such (Dale)
