Friday, December 28, 2018

On John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion

* A short section from T. H. L. Parker's biography of John Calvin regarding Calvin's most influential work Institutes of the Christian Religion.


"The book was therefore on the one hand a confession of faith.  But it was also institutio christianae religionis, instruction in the Christian religion; and that, not as a textbook about an abstract body of truths, but as the teaching of 'godliness', of the faith that is believed with mind and heart, upon which a man is bold to base the conduct of his life, to which he dares to commit himself in life and in death.  Calvin intended it to be elementary.  When I wrote this book, he told the king in the opening paragraph,
all I had in mind was to hand on some rudiments by which anyone who was touched with an interest in religion might be formed to true godliness.  I laboured at the task for our own Frenchmen in particular, for I saw that many were hungering and thirsting after Christ and yet that only a very few had even the slightest knowledge of him.  The book itself betrays that this was my purpose by its simple and primitive form of teaching.
 He was writing, then, for the baptized, for those who took their religion seriously, who desired to be good Christians but were disturbed at their lack of success, who above all were distressed that their religion brought them no peace of conscience.  By their baptism the guilt of their inherited sin had been forgiven.  But they had sinned since their baptism, making shipwreck of their faith and thus of their standing with God.  Now they clung desperately to what old St Jerome called the second plank, the sacrament of penance.  They were sorry for their sins, or rather, the more they were in earnest the more they realized that they ought to be sorry for their sins and wished that they were more sorry.  They knew God to be a stern judge who would exact vengeance for their sins.  They made confession, aware of the promise 'whoseoever sins you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven'.  But where was the peace that should follow?  Had they confessed all their sins?  Had they forgotten any?  Only confessed sins are forgiven.  They performed the enjoined satisfactions for their sins.

They did more; they went on pilgrimages, not for a jolly Chaucerian holiday, but always seeking, always grasping after that which lay just beyond their grasp; they gave alms so far as they could afford; they practised self-denial and mortification.  Meanwhile, they attempted to follow their conscience and the Law of God to the best of their ability, trusting God's grace that he would, of his free mercy, reward them for their efforts with such an outpouring of grace as would turn their will away from sin to love God with all their being.  And again, instead of the looked for peace, anxiety: had they really striven to the utmost?  They could not tell; it was impossible to know.  But if they had not done what they could, God had not rewarded them.  The Institutio was addressed to men suffering under the pastoral cruelty of the medieval church." (pp. 42-43)

Monday, December 17, 2018

The Value & Insight of the "Old" Law Code in the Bible


* A selection from the introduction to Jonathan Burnside's God, Justice, and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible.



"We live in a neophiliac culture, which means that we value what is new and automatically assume--correctly--that the latest iPod is better than the previous version.  In the same vein, we naturally assume that subjects such as medicine and the natural sciences are far more sophisticated than they were three or four thousand years ago.  Unfortunately, the same reasoning does not apply when carried over to other fields of human endeavor, such as law.  We cannot assume that 'new law' is always 'best,' that antiquity is a disqualification when it comes to legal reasoning, and that the past has nothing to do with today.  The reverse, in fact, is as likely to be true.  We find in biblical rules and judgments a level of insight that has rarely, if ever, been surpassed.  Nor do we find in other legal systems a more positive vision for humanity and the world than that found in the biblical legal collections.  Neither should we underestimate the intellectual or the literary powers of people in biblical society.  The student of biblical law who explores the texts in detail finds that they are sound, wise, and practical.  Just as in Dworkin's theory of liberal jurisprudence, we find Law's Empire, so in biblical jurisprudence, we encounter what we can call 'Law's Splendor.'"  (p. xxxviii)

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Amazon Review: "Watching Movies, Watching Stories"

My Amazon review of my friend Troy Kinney's new book Watching Movies, Watching Stories: An Interactive Guide for Engaging Culture Through Film.



November 10, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is a fun and exciting book which repays huge dividends for its relatively 
small size (about 150 pages). Here are a few items to consider:

1. It is truly interactive. The judicious use of QR codes throughout the book to give 
examples from actual film clips is innovative. When Troy Kinney writes about 
the various elements of film (lighting, sound, camera, editing, etc.) he then provides
 a number of examples through the use of the QR codes. It's like having an expert 
film reviewer show you the elements of film in actual time. I found this use of QR 
codes to be effective and infectious--I kept turning the page wanting to see "just
a few more" snippets!

2. Troy Kinney ably works through the basic grammar of film-making. His 
discussions of camera angle, focus, and movement was educational. Again,
 through the effective use of QR codes the reader is able to not only read 
about these elements but to experience them. I particularly enjoyed the 
discussion about the use of the camera in "Rocky" during the famous ascent
 up the steps. There are actually two scenes in the movie with Rocky running
 up the steps and the placement of the camera tells its own story...but you'll 
have to read the book to get the full story!

3. Troy Kinney is always looking for integration in at least two areas. First, 
although he analyzes the individual elements of film he is keen to keep his
 eye (and our eye) on the final product--the whole story of any individual film.
 The importance of editing is discussed as well as the flow of the whole story. 
Troy Kinney guides the reader in understanding the major kinds of allusions 
found in many films and gives helpful counsel on how to watch for this element.
 Second, Troy Kinney is a Christian and he seeks to provide an integrated Christian
 worldview when watching films. From this perspective, he leads the reader into
 discussions of "messianic" themes in various movies. Troy Kinney is able to 
educate and inform so that Christian film-watchers can be confident in their 
abilities to analyze films correctly and confidently. There is no need for the 
fear that paralyzes much of contemporary Christianity when it comes to culture
 and Troy Kinney is an able guide to movie-watching in this regard.

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

God & Truth VI: Is There Meaning in the World? Religion or Secular Humanism: That Is the Question?

Glendale Community College's "God & Truth VI"
"Is There Meaning in the World? 
Religion or Secular Humanism:
That Is the Question?
October 23, 2018


My notes from my presentation: Disenchantment's Dead End: Why Secularism Fails



Here are some time stamps from the video:

Peter Lupu's opening remarks outlining some key concepts: 9:40-13:50

Dr. Kelly Burton "Religon and the Secular After Disenchantment" 14:00-36:00

Dr. Michael Valle "Deism as Middle Ground" 37:00-55:35

Peter Lupu "Is There a Dis-enchantment Problem with Secular Humanism?" 55:57-1:18:22

Richard Klaus Disenchantment's Dead End: Why Secularism Fails" 1:18:39-1:34:40

Dr. Owen Anderson "Revealed Religion and Natural Theology: The Role of General Revelation in Finding Meaning" 1:35:10-1:56:40

I have a couple of question and answers interchanges at these time stamps:

2:01:52-2:02:47   God as good and vengeful not contradictory

2:34:15-2:35:40   Issue of "how" God creates is separable from the fact that he creates

Note: I had a couple more interchanges but late in the session my microphone went out.

Previous "God & Truth" panels:

God & Truth V: God, Morality, and the Euthyphro Challenge

God & Truth IV: God and the Meaning of Life

Disenchantment's Dead End: Why Secularism Fails

* These are my notes from my presentation at Glendale Community College's "God & Truth VI: Is There Meaning in the World? Religion or Secular Humanism: That is the Question" held on October 23, 2018.

Disenchantment’s Dead End: Why Secularism Fails
Richard Klaus
October 23, 2018
Glendale Community College’s “God & Truth VI:
Is There Meaning in the World? Religion or Secular Humanism: That is the Question?”


·      Thank you to Glendale Community College for continuing to sponsor “God & Truth


1.    “Disenchantment” and Secularism

a.    Science is usually seen as the “engine” of secularism

b.    As science advances religion must retreat

2.    The “Warfare Narrative” of Science and Religion

a.    John William Draper (1811-1882): History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science (1874)

b.    Andrew Dickson White (1832-1918): A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896)[1]

                                              i.     “In all modern history, interference with science in the supposed interest of religion, no matter how conscientious such interference may have been, has resulted in the direst evils both to religion and to science.”[2]

c.     “Today historians of science generally no longer favor a conflict model.  Colin Russell, formerly the president of Christians in Science, criticized the conflict model noting that, ‘Draper takes such liberty with history, perpetuating legends as fact that he is rightly avoided today in serious historical study.  The same is nearly as true of White, though his prominent apparatus of prolific footnotes may create a misleading impression of meticulous scholarship’ (Russell 2000, 15).”[3]

3.    Naturalism defined

a.    “Naturalism denies that there are any spiritual or supernatural realities transcendent to the world or at least we have no good ground for believing that there could be such realities… It is the view that anything that exists is ultimately composed of physical components.”[4]
--Kai Nielson

b.    Victor Reppert gives the following elements as part of naturalism:

                                              i.     “The physical level is to be understood mechanistically, such that purposive explanations must be further explained in terms of a non-purposive substratum.  This will be called the mechanism thesis.

                                            ii.     “The physical order is causally closed.  No nonphysical causes operate on the physical level.  The physical level is a comprehensive system of events that is not affected by anything that is not itself physical.  This is called the causal closure thesis.

                                          iii.     “Other states, such as mental states, (if they exist) supervene on physical states.  Given the state of the physical, there is only one way the mental, for example, can be.  This is the supervenience thesis.”[5]

4.    Naturalism’s failures

a.    Fails to account for moral realism[6]

b.    Fails to account for meaning in life[7]

c.     There are those who accept these “failures” and embrace nihilism

                                              i.     “Naturalistic evolution has clear consequences that Charles Darwin understood perfectly.  1) No gods worth having exist; 2) no life after death exist; 3) no ultimate foundation for ethics exists; 4) no ultimate meaning in life exists; and 5) human free will is nonexistent.”[8]
 --William Provine (Cornell evolutionary biologist)

                                            ii.     “Darwinism thus puts the capstone on a process which since Newton’s time has driven teleology to the explanatory sidelines. In short it has made Darwinians into metaphysical Nihilists denying that there is any meaning or purpose to the universe its contents and its cosmic history. But in making Darwinians into metaphysical nihilists, the solvent algorithm [random variation acted on by natural selection] should have made them into ethical nihilists too. For intrinsic values and obligations make sense only against the background of purposes, goals, and ends which are not merely instrumental.”[9]                    
                                                                 --Tamler Sommers & Alex Rosenberg


5.    My goal today: examine the alleged engine of naturalism à Science

a.    Proverbs 21.22 “A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.”

b.    Naturalism cannot account for science itself!

6.    Two Theses regarding Scientism and Science

a.    Scientism is fundamentally irrational

b.    Science rests upon philosophical commitments which do not comport well with naturalism but do comport better with Christian theism

7.    Scientism: Strong and Weak

a.    Strong scientism:

                                              i.     “Strong scientism claims that some proposition is true and/or rational to believe if and only if it is a well-established scientific proposition—that is, if and only if it is a well-established scientific proposition that, in turn depends on its having been successfully formed, tested, and used according to appropriate scientific methodology.  There are no truths apart from scientific truths, and even if there were, there would be no reason whatever to believe them.”[10]

b.    Weak scientism:

                                              i.     “Advocates of weak scientism allow for truths apart from science and even grant that they have some minimal, positive rationality status without the support of science.  But those advocates still hold that science is the most authoritative sector of human learning.  Every other intellectual activity is inferior to science.  Further, there are virtually no limits to science.  There is no field into which scientific research cannot shed light.  To the degree that some issue outside science can be given scientific support or can be reduced to science, to that degree the issue becomes rationally acceptable.”[11]

8.    Some examples of scientism

a.    “The great questions—‘Who are we?’ ‘Where did we come from?’ Why are we here?’—can be answered only, if ever, in the light of scientifically based evolutionary thought.”[12]    —E. O. Wilson

b.    “A Darwinian fundamentalist is one who recognizes that either you shun Darwinian evolution altogether, or you turn the traditional universe upside down and you accept that mind, meaning, and purpose are not the cause but the fairly recent effects of the mechanistic mill of Darwinian algorithms.  Many have tried to find a compromise position [but]… [i]t cannot be done.”[13]  —Daniel Dennett

c.     “We seem to be reaching a point at which science can wrest morality from the hands of the philosophers.”[14]    —Frans de Waal

d.    “’You,’ your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.  As Lewis Carroll’s Alice might have phrased it: ‘You’re nothing but a pack of neurons.’”[15]   --Francis Crick


9.    All these examples are illustrations of metaphysical commitments masquerading as science

a.    “Seemingly at work here are distinctly metaphysical—over against strictly physical or material—assumptions, which, nevertheless, are touted as science.”[16]

b.    “Science writer James Barham describes this phenomenon as ‘theory creep,’ by which bold but unsubstantiated claims are made of a philosophical nature that nevertheless are presented as scientific fact.”[17]

c.     “[O]ne is justified, I think, in questioning whether individuals in the hard sciences, where theories and hypotheses are measured and tested on the basis of empirical evidence, should be making moral-philosophical and metaethical claims.  Is this really science?  What is particularly questionable is to extrapolate from the physical realm and make authoritative metaphysical pronouncements about material and nonmaterial reality and to do so in the name of science.”[18]

10.                  Problems with scientism

a.    Problems with Hard (or Strong) Scientism

                                              i.     “The irony is that strong scientism is a philosophical statement expressing an epistemological viewpoint about science; it is not a statement of science, like ‘water is H2O’ or ‘cats are mammals.’  Strong scientism is a philosophical assertion that claims that philosophical assertions are neither true nor can be known; only scientific assertions can be true and known.”[19]

1.    X = Only scientific assertions can be true and known.

2.    What scientific experiments could be done to show the truthfulness of X?

a.    None!

b.    X is a philosophical claim; not a scientific claim

                                            ii.     Hard/Strong Scientism is “self-referentially incoherent”[20]

b.    Problems with Weak Scientism

                                              i.     “In sum, the first problem with weak (and strong) scientism is that it diminishes the intellectual authority of other important fields, especially biblical studies and theology.  This is not because the arguments are better, but simply because it is assumed that science by definition has more plausibility and inherent authority.”[21]

                                            ii.     Science rests up philosophical assumptions and the conclusions of science can only be as certain as those assumptions.


11.                  Science rests upon philosophical presuppositions[22]

----SCIENCE----
                -----PHILOSOPICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS-----

a.    (1) The existence of the external world.

b.    (2) The orderly nature of the external world and its knowability.

c.     (3) The uniformity of nature and induction.

d.    (4) The laws of logic, epistemology, and truth.

e.    (5) The reliability of the senses and the mind.

f.      (6) The adequacy of language to describe the world.

g.    (7) The applicability of mathematics and the existence of numbers.

h.    (8) The existence of values.

                                              i.     Moral values

·      One ought to record and report data honestly.

                                            ii.     Rational values

·      One ought to prefer a theory that is…

o   simpler

o   more empirically accurate

o   more predictively successful

o   has a wider scope of explanation

                                          iii.     Aesthetic values

·      One ought to prefer theories and equations that are more beautiful and elegant.

12.                  A closer look at a few of these philosophical presuppositions

a.    Which worldview—naturalism or Christian theism—better makes sense of these presuppositions?

b.    My argument: these philosophical presuppositions which are necessary for science comport (fit) better with Christian theism.

“The nature of the assumptions of science do not prove the existence of a God very much like the God of the Bible, but in my view, they provide reasons for preferring theism over scientistic naturalism.  The assumptions are at home in a theistic worldview; they fit quite naturally.  If God is himself a rational being, then it stands to reason that he would create a rational, orderly universe.  If he created us, then it naturally follows that he would give us the proper faculties to know and appreciate the inner workings of his world by ‘thinking his thoughts after him.’  The existence of objective values makes far more sense if there is an objective Lawgiver than if there is not.

“If we begin with ‘In the beginning there was the Logos,’ then we have reasonable explanations for these assumptions.  But if we begin with “In the beginning were the particles (or plasma, strings, etc.),’ it is hard to see how these assumptions could have obtained.”[23]

13.                  Number (2): “The orderly nature of the external world and its
knowability.”

a.    Oxford philosopher Richard Swinburne

“The orderliness of the universe to which I draw attention here is its conformity to formula, to simple formulable, scientific laws.  The orderliness of the universe in this respect is a very striking fact about it.  The universe might naturally have been chaotic, but it is not—it is very orderly.”[24]

b.    A. S. U. astrophysicist Paul Davies writes of this foundational order with a special focus on the mathematical structure of reality…

“There exists a deep and elegant underlying mathematical unity that links everything together in an abstract conceptual scheme.  There is thus an underlying rational order of which the fall of an apple is but one example.  We could never get at that type of deep mathematical unity other than by using science, and it’s an astonishing thing that we can get at it at all because it seems to have no survival value.”[25]

c.      Christian philosopher J. P. Moreland asks, “So, how do we explain the existence and nature of these laws?  Where did they come from?”

“There are two major options here: (1) take them as unexplainable, brute entities, or (2) provide a theistic explanation.  For many thinkers, myself included, the ‘unexplainable-brute-entity’ option is not a good one.  Since the actual brute entity might not have existed, we naturally seek an explanation as to why the contingent entity exists instead of not existing.  And the fundamental laws of nature are contingent realities—after all, it is easy to conceive of worlds that have different fundamental laws of nature.  So why does our world contain certain fundamental laws instead of others.”[26]

14.                  Number (5): “The reliability of the senses and the mind.”

a.    Leda Cosmides and John Tooby

“The brain is a physical system whose operation is governed solely by the laws of chemistry and physics.  What does this mean?  It means that all of your thoughts and hopes and dreams and feelings are produced by chemical reactions going on in your head.”[27]

b.    But if Cosmides and Tooby are correct that all our thoughts are merely the result of chemical reactions…

                                              i.     Why should we trust these thoughts to be true?

                                            ii.     What is it about these chemical reactions that guarantees truth?

                                          iii.     Naturalistic evolutionary theory states that the products of evolution are better able to reproduce over time but there is no reason to think that this mindless process should fit humans for the acquisition of truth.

                                           iv.     “If mind emerged from matter without the direction of a superior Intelligence, two problems arise immediately.  First, why should we trust the deliverances of the mind as being rational or true, especially in the mind’s more theoretical activities?    Second, if thinking involves having abstract entities (propositions, laws of logic, and the like) instanced in one’s mind, then it seems to be incredibly unlikely that a property which emerged from matter in a struggle for survival would be the sort of thing that could have thoughts in the first place.  Why this emergent property would be such that it could contain abstract entities would be a mystery.”[28]

15.                  Number (8): “The existence of values.”  (moral, rational, & aesthetic)

a.    Paul Copan on the problem of getting values from valueless matter

“How do we move from a universe that originates from no prior matter into a universe of valueless matter and energy, eventually arriving at moral values, including human rights, human dignity, and moral obligation?  It is hard to see how the naturalist could bridge this chasm.  Matter just does not have moral properties, let alone mental ones.”[29]

b.    Francis Beckwith and Greg Koukl in Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air describe four observations about moral facts:[30]

                                              i.     They are not physical—they don’t have physical properties.

                                            ii.     They are a kind of communication—a command.  This only makes sense when there are two minds involved.

                                          iii.     They produce in us a feel of “oughtness”—we feel like we ought to do something (or refrain from something)

                                           iv.     When they are violated they produce in us a discomfort—a sense of guilt

c.     They argue we can explain these moral realities in one of three ways…

                                              i.     Illusion

                                            ii.     Accident

                                          iii.     Product of intelligence

16.                  Conclusion: Flow of the argument

a.    Scientism fails

b.    Science rests upon philosophical presuppositions

c.     These philosophical presuppositions fit better with theism than naturalism

d.    Therefore Science needs God to function properly!

----SCIENCE----
                -----PHILOSOPICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS-----
            --------------------The Existence of God--------------------


17.                  Thus, ironically, the perceived engine of disenchantment—science itself—cannot be sustained by naturalism.

18.                  Rather, science itself needs God to make sense of itself!



     [1] “White’s perspective drew criticism from James Joseph Walsh, who argued in The Popes and Science: The History of the Papal Relations to Science during the Middle Ages and Down to Our Own Time (Walsh 1908) that White’s view was antihistorical.” Jonathan McLatchie “Conflict Thesis” in Dictionary of Christianity and Science, eds. Paul Copan, Tremper Longman III, Christopher L. Reese, and Michael G. Strauss (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2017), 106.
     [2] Quoted in Nancy R. Pearcey and Charles B. Thaxton, The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1994), 20.
     [3] Jonathan McLatchie “Conflict Thesis” in Dictionary of Christianity and Science, eds. Paul Copan, Tremper Longman III, Christopher L. Reese, and Michael G. Strauss (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2017), 106
     [4] Quoted in Stewart Goetz and Charles Taliaferro, Naturalism (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2008), 9.  James Sire’s The Universe Next Door—5th ed. (Downers Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 2009) has a chapter—chapter four: “The Silence of Finite Space: Naturalism”—which contains a good discussion of philosophical naturalism. 
     [5] Victor Reppert, C. S. Lewis’s Dangerous Idea: In Defense of the Argument from Reason (Downers Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 2003), 52.
     [6] Richard Klaus, “’What’s Your Problem?’ How Euthyphro Challenges Us All” God & Truth V (October 24, 2017)—online: http://whiterosereview.blogspot.com/2017/10/whats-your-problem-how-euthyphro.html.
     [7] Richard Klaus, “Metaphysics and the Meaning of Life: How the Kingdom of God Changes Everything!” God & Truth IV (October 18, 2018)—online: http://whiterosereview.blogspot.com/2016/10/metaphysics-and-meaning-of-life-how.html.
     [8] Quoted in Casey Luskin, “Darwin’s Poisoned Tree: Atheistic Advocacy and the Constitutionality of Teaching Evolution in Public Schools” Trinity Law Review 21.1 (Fall, 2015), 166.
     [9] Tamler Sommers and Alex Rosenberg, “Darwin’s Nihilistic Idea: Evolution and the Meaninglessness of Life” Biology and Philosophy 18(5); November, 2003, 653.
     [10] J. P. Moreland, “Scientism” in Dictionary of Christianity and Science, eds. Paul Copan, Tremper Longman III, Christopher L. Reese, and Michael G. Strauss (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2017), 621.
     [11] J. P. Moreland, “Scientism,” 621.
     [12] Quoted in J. Daryl Charles, “Blame It on My Criminal Brain: Materialism, Metaphysics, and the Human Moral Instinct” Philosophia Christi (vol. 15, no. 1, 2013), 67.
     [13] Quoted in J. Daryl Charles, “Blame It on My Criminal Brain: Materialism, Metaphysics, and the Human Moral Instinct” Philosophia Christi (vol. 15, no. 1, 2013), 68.
     [14] Quoted in J. Daryl Charles, “Blame It on My Criminal Brain: Materialism, Metaphysics, and the Human Moral Instinct” Philosophia Christi (vol. 15, no. 1, 2013), 68.
     [15] Quoted in Casey Luskin, “Darwin’s Poisoned Tree: Atheistic Advocacy and the Constitutionality of Teaching Evolution in Public Schools” Trinity Law Review 21.1 (Fall, 2015), 162.  Luskin is quoting Crick’s The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul (1988).
     [16] J. Daryl Charles, “Blame It on My Criminal Brain: Materialism, Metaphysics, and the Human Moral Instinct” Philosophia Christi (vol. 15, no. 1, 2013), 67.
     [17] J. Daryl Charles, “Blame It on My Criminal Brain: Materialism, Metaphysics, and the Human Moral Instinct” Philosophia Christi (vol. 15, no. 1, 2013), 67.
     [18] J. Daryl Charles, “Blame It on My Criminal Brain: Materialism, Metaphysics, and the Human Moral Instinct” Philosophia Christi (vol. 15, no. 1, 2013), 69.
     [19] J. P. Moreland, Scientism and Secularism (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2018), 52.
     [20] See J. P. Moreland, Scientism and Secularism (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2018), 49-51.
     [21] J. P. Moreland, Scientism and Secularism (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2018), 73.
     [22] The following list of presuppositions is drawn from J. P. Moreland’s Christianity and the Nature of Science (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1989), 108-133 and Scientism and Secularism (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2018), 57-69.
     [23] J. P. Moreland, Scientism and Secularism (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2018), 75.
     [24] Richard Swinburne, The Existence of God (Clarendon Press, 1979), 136.
     [25] Paul Davies, Are We Alone? Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life (New York, NY: Basic Books, 1995), 124.
     [26] J. P. Moreland, Scientism and Secularism (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2018), 141.
     [27] Quoted in J. P. Moreland, “Intelligent Design and Evolutionary Psychology as Research Programs: A Comparison of Their Most Plausible Specifications” in Intelligent Design: William A. Dembski and Michael Ruse in Dialogue (Fortress, 2007), 131.
     [28] J. P. Moreland, Scaling the Secular City (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1987), 97.
     [29] Paul Copan, “God, Naturalism, and the Foundations of Morality” in Robert Stewart (ed.), The Future of Atheism: Alister McGrath and Daniel Dennett in Dialogue (Fortress, 2008), 155
     [30] Francis J. Beckwith and Gregory Koukl, Relativism: Feet Planted Firmly In Mid-Air (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1998), 165-169.