Download or read book Four Views on Free Will written by John Martin Fischer and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-02-04 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on the concepts and interactions of free will, moralresponsibility, and determinism, this text represents the mostup-to-date account of the four major positions in the free willdebate. Four serious and well-known philosophers explore the opposingviewpoints of libertarianism, compatibilism, hard incompatibilism,and revisionism The first half of the book contains each philosopher’sexplanation of his particular view; the second half allows them todirectly respond to each other’s arguments, in a lively andengaging conversation Offers the reader a one of a kind, interactive discussion Forms part of the acclaimed Great Debates in Philosophyseries

Download or read book Predestination Free Will written by David Basinger and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2009-09-20 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If God is in control, are people really free? This question has bothered Christians for centuries. And answers have covered a wide spectrum. Today Christians still disagree. Those who emphasize human freedom view it as a reflection of God's self-limited power. Others look at human freedom in the order of God's overall control. David and Randall Basinger have put this age-old question to four scholars trained in theology and philosophy. John Feinberg of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Norman Geisler of Dallas Theological Seminary focus on God's specific sovereignty. Bruce Reichenbach of Augsburg College and Clark Pinnock of McMaster Divinity College insist that God must limit his control to ensure our freedom. Each writer argues for his perspective and applies his theory to two practical case studies. Then the other writers respond to each of the major essays, exposing what they see as fallacies and hidden assumptions. A lively and provocative volume.

Download or read book Four Views on Divine Providence written by Paul Kjoss Helseth and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2011 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Questions about divine providence have preoccupied Christians for generations: Are people elected to salvation? For whom did Jesus die? This book introduces readers to four prevailing views on divine providence, with particular attention to the question of who Jesus died to save (the extent of the atonement) and if or how God determines who will be saved (predestination). But this book does not merely answer readers' questions. Four Views on Divine Providence helps readers think theologically about all the issues involved in exploring this doctrine. The point-counterpoint format reveals the assumptions and considerations that drive equally learned and sincere theologians to sharp disagreement. It unearths the genuinely decisive issues beneath an often superficial debate. Volume contributors are Paul Helseth (God causes every creaturely event that occurs); William Lane Craig (through his 'middle knowledge, ' God controls the course of worldly affairs without predetermining any creatures' free decisions); Ron Highfield (God controls creatures by liberating their decision-making); and Gregory Boyd (human decisions can be free only if God neither determines nor knows what they will be). Introductory and closing essays by Dennis Jowers give relevant background and guide readers toward their own informed beliefs about divine providence.

Download or read book Perspectives on the Doctrine of God written by Bruce A. Ware and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2008 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These questions are irresistible to ponder. The Bible says, "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Or who has ever first given to Him, and has to be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things" (Romans 11:34-36a, Holman CSB).

Download or read book The Divine Foreknowledge written by and published by . This book was released on 1842 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Free Will written by Sam Harris and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of The End of Faith, a thought-provoking, "brilliant and witty" (Oliver Sacks) look at the notion of free will—and the implications that it is an illusion. A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion. In this enlightening book, Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life.

Download or read book God and Morality written by R. Keith Loftin and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2012-08-28 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is morality dependent upon belief in God? Is there more than one way for Christians to understand the nature of morality? Is there any agreement between Christians and atheists or agnostics on this heated issue? In God and Morality: Four Views four distinguished voices in moral philosophy ariticulate and defend their place in the current debate between naturalism and theism. Christian philosophers, Keith Yandell and Mark Linville and two self-identified atheist/agnostics, Evan Fales and Michael Ruse clearly and honestly represent their differing views on the nature of morality. Important differences as well as areas of overlap emerge as each contributor states their case, receives criticism from the others and responds. Of particular value for use as an academic text, these four essays and responses, covering the naturalist moral non-realist, naturalist moral realist, moral essentialist and moral particularist views, will foster critical thinking and contribute to the development of a well-informed position on this very important issue.

Download or read book Four Views on Eternal Security written by Zondervan, and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2011-10-11 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does the Bible support the concept of "once saved, always saved," or can a person lose his or her salvation? Among the most hotly debated topics in the history of Christian theology has been the perseverance of the saints. How do the Scriptures portray the complex interplay between grace and free will? These and related questions are explored from different angles in this thought-provoking Counterpoints volume. The contributors each state their case for one of four prominent views on eternal security: Classical Calvinist – presented by Michael S. Horton Moderate Calvinist – presented by Norman L. Geisler Reformed Arminian – presented by Stephen M. Ashby Wesleyan Arminian – presented by J. Steven Harper In keeping with the forum approach of the Counterpoints series, each view is first presented by its proponent, then critiqued and defended. This fair and respectful approach allows you to weigh for yourself the strengths and weaknesses of the different doctrinal stances. By furnishing you with scholarly and thoughtful perspectives on the topic of eternal security, this book helps you sift through opposing views to arrive at your own informed conclusions.

Download or read book Elbow Room new edition written by Daniel C. Dennett and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2015-08-07 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A landmark book in the debate over free will that makes the case for compatibilism. In this landmark 1984 work on free will, Daniel Dennett makes a case for compatibilism. His aim, as he writes in the preface to this new edition, was a cleanup job, “saving everything that mattered about the everyday concept of free will, while jettisoning the impediments.” In Elbow Room, Dennett argues that the varieties of free will worth wanting—those that underwrite moral and artistic responsibility—are not threatened by advances in science but distinguished, explained, and justified in detail. Dennett tackles the question of free will in a highly original and witty manner, drawing on the theories and concepts of fields that range from physics and evolutionary biology to engineering, automata theory, and artificial intelligence. He shows how the classical formulations of the problem in philosophy depend on misuses of imagination, and he disentangles the philosophical problems of real interest from the “family of anxieties” in which they are often enmeshed—imaginary agents and bogeymen, including the Peremptory Puppeteer, the Nefarious Neurosurgeon, and the Cosmic Child Whose Dolls We Are. Putting sociobiology in its rightful place, he concludes that we can have free will and science too. He explores reason, control and self-control, the meaning of “can” and “could have done otherwise,” responsibility and punishment, and why we would want free will in the first place. A fresh reading of Dennett's book shows how much it can still contribute to current discussions of free will. This edition includes as its afterword Dennett's 2012 Erasmus Prize essay.

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Free Will written by Robert Kane and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-07-27 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This second edition of the Oxford Handbook of Free Will is intended to be a sourcebook and guide to current work on free will and related subjects. Its focus is on writings of the past forty years, in which there has been a resurgence of interest in traditional issues about the freedom of the will in the light of new developments in the sciences, philosophy and humanistic studies. Special attention is given to research on free will of the first decade of the twenty-first century since the publication of the first edition of the Handbook. All the essays have been newly written or rewritten for this volume. In addition, there are new essayists and essays surveying topics that have become prominent in debates about free will in the past decade, including new work on the relation of free will to physics, the neurosciences, cognitive science, psychology and empirical philosophy, new versions of traditional views (compatibilist, incompatibilist, libertarian, etc.) and new views (e.g., revisionism) that have emerged. The twenty-eight essays by prominent international scholars and younger scholars cover a host of free will related issues, such as moral agency and responsibility, accountability and blameworthiness in ethics, autonomy, coercion and control in social theory, criminal liability, responsibility and punishment in legal theory, issues about the relation of mind to body, consciousness and the nature of action in philosophy of mind and the cognitive and neurosciences, questions about divine foreknowledge, providence and human freedom in philosophy of religion, and general metaphysical questions about necessity and possibility, determinism, time and chance, quantum reality, causation and explanation.

Download or read book Four Views on Christian Spirituality written by Bruce A. Demarest and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2012-05-08 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do Christians cultivate a vibrant and Christ-centered spirituality that's rooted in biblical clarity? Spiritual formation--the cultivation of a relationship with God--lies at the heart of what it means to be a Christian in the body of Christ. But with the rise of diverse spiritual practices, from Zen meditation to out-of-body experiences, the idea of spirituality has become watered down by postmodern culture. Christian spirituality, on the other hand, embraces devotion to the triune God, abiding in Christ, the pursuit of holiness, and the cultivation of virtues. But what exactly falls within the scope Christian spirituality? This volume of the Counterpoints series focuses on the Church’s search for spiritual identity, meaning, and significance as interpreted by four of the major Christian traditions: Eastern Orthodoxy – represented by Bradley Nassif Roman Catholic – represented by Scott Hahn Progressive Protestant – represented by Joseph Driskill Evangelical - represented by Evan Howard The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.

Download or read book Four Views on Hell written by John F. Walvoord and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2010-08-10 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most contemporary Christians acknowledge the doctrine of hell, but they’d rather not think about how God punishes the wicked. The authors of Four Views on Hell meet this subject head-on with different views on what the Scriptures say. Is hell to be understood literally as a place of eternal smoke and flames? Or are such images simply metaphors for a real but different form of punishment? Is there such a thing as “conditional immortality,” in which God annihilates the souls of the wicked rather than punishing them endlessly? Is there a Purgatory, and if so, how does it fit into the picture? The interactive Counterpoints forum allows the reader to see the four views on hell—literal, metaphorical, conditional, and purgatorial—in interaction with each other. Each view in turn is presented, critiqued, and defended. This evenhanded approach is ideal for comparing and contrasting views in order to form a personal conclusion about one of Christianity’s key doctrines. The Counterpoints series provides a forum for comparison and critique of different views on issues important to Christians. Counterpoints books address two categories: Church Life and Bible and Theology. Complete your library with other books in the Counterpoints series.

Download or read book An Essay on Free Will written by Peter Van Inwagen and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 1983 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the incompatibility of the concepts of free will and determinism and argues that moral responsibility needs the doctrine of free will

Download or read book Explaining Evil written by W. Paul Franks and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2019-01-10 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Explaining Evil four prominent philosophers, two theists and two non-theists, present their arguments for why evil exists. Taking a "position and response" format, in which one philosopher offers an account of evil and three others respond, this book guides readers through the advantages and limitations of various philosophical positions on evil, making it ideal for classroom use as well as individual study. Divided into four chapters, Explaining Evil covers Theistic Libertarianism, Theistic Compatibilism, Atheistic Moral Realism and Atheistic Moral Non-realism. It features topics including free will, theism, atheism, goodness, Calvinism, evolutionary ethics, and pain, and demonstrates some of the dominant models of thinking within contemporary philosophy of religion and ethics. Written in accessible prose and with an approachable structure, this book provides a clear and useful overview of the central issues of the philosophy of evil.

Download or read book Free Will written by Kevin Timpe and published by Continuum. This book was released on 2008-09-23 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An important and engaging book on a key argument in contemporary debates about free will and moral responsibility.

Download or read book Free Will written by Derk Pereboom and published by Hackett Publishing. This book was released on 2009-11-13 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A unique anthology featuring contributions to the dispute over free will from Aristotle to the twenty-first century, Derk Pereboom's volume presents the most thoughtful positions taken in this crucial debate and discusses their consequences for free will's traditional corollary, moral responsibility. The Second Edition retains the organizational structure that made its predecessor the leading anthology of its kind, while adding major new selections by such philosophers as Spinoza, Reid, John Martin Fischer, Robert Kane, Galen Strawson, and Timothy O'Connor. Hackett Readings in Philosophy is a versatile series of compact anthologies, each devoted to a topic of traditional interest. Selections include classical, modern, and contemporary writings chosen for their elegance of exposition and success at stimulating thought and discussion.

Download or read book Four Views on Moving beyond the Bible to Theology written by Zondervan, and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2009-12-01 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn to identify, evaluate, and refine your approach to forming theological conclusions based on the biblical text. The Bible has long served as the standard for Christian practice, yet believers still disagree on how biblical passages should be interpreted and applied. Only when readers fully understand the constructs that inform their process of moving from Scripture to theology--and those of others--can Christians fully evaluate teachings that claim to be "biblical." In this book--part of the Counterpoints series--scholars who affirm an inspired Bible, relevant and authoritative for every era, present models they consider most faithful to Scripture Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.: Principlizing Model Daniel M. Doriani: Redemptive-Historical Model Kevin J. Vanhoozer: Drama-of-Redemption Model William J. Webb: Redemptive-Movement Model Each position receives critiques from the proponents of the other views. Moreover, due to the far-reaching implications this topic holds for biblical studies, theology, and church teaching, this book includes three additional reflections by Christopher J. H. Wright, Mark L. Strauss, and Al Wolters on the theological and practical interpretation of biblical texts. The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.