Category Archives: God

3) The problem of evil and suffering There need to be good reasons why God does not keep intervening to achieve good outcomes, yet still be justifiable reasons why sometimes he does. The existence of evil and suffering has been called the “rock of atheism” and is the number one reason why people give upContinue reading “What would have to be true for the God of classical theism to be real? Part 3”

2) God is able and willing to change outcomes in the world. For many people, God is not much use if he can’t do anything to help us. So, the interaction that God is able to make with people, as well as involving forming a relationship with people (entailing an interior life within the person’sContinue reading “What would have to be true for the God of classical theism to be real? Part 2”

(A theological reflection in 7 parts) I have recently explored how faith in God might look if the term “God” was defined in very different ways from how he is traditionally understood to be. I now want to give an overview of what would be necessary if we were to continue to believe in GodContinue reading “What would have to be true for the God of classical theism to be real? Part 1”

Who is God? Part 12: What if God is not? An atheist might complain that I am not facing up seriously to the possibility that there is no God. I challenge them to respond to my claims that it is reasonable and beneficial to have faith in God, but am I open to their claimContinue reading “Who is God? Part 12”

Who is God? Part 11: If God is for this life only, then that is enough, and if there is more, so much the better I suppose I should pause before finishing and consider if I have answered my question: Who is God? The answer is, of course, “Of course not”. This conclusion can beContinue reading “Who is God? Part 11”

Who is God? Part 10: I can accept living in the world as we know it to be, and believe that my faith is sufficient to help me So, completely and ultimately satisfying is this relationship, that I can face with equanimity my death and loss of existence (if it should turn out that lifeContinue reading “Who is God? Part 10”

Who is God? Part 9: What do I really value about God? Of course, it’s possible that God can affect things in the world directly, and probably most of us have – perhaps only a handful of – examples that give us pause for thought in the way events in our lives turned out remarkableContinue reading “Who is God? Part 9”

Who is God? Part 8: Even if we cannot prove that God is an independent agent “out there”, in practice, he operates as though he is. Can such belief be justified? Belief in what I would describe as a “personal God”? I have written at greater length elsewhere, outlining my ideas on God as anContinue reading “Who is God? Part 8”

Who is God? Part 7: Is God just in the mind or is there something more? So far, we have begun to explore alternative conceptions of God, and I believe we have done enough to justify belief in such a God. It does add something to even a principled atheistic philosophy of life of commitmentContinue reading “Who is God? Part 7”

Who is God? Part 6: Is God simply our sense of reverence for life? And is that enough? I am both attracted by, and torn by, the view of God as, in effect, and perhaps in reality, nothing more than “reverence for life”. I am perhaps being unfair by saying that God is “nothing more”Continue reading “Who is God? Part 6”