An Introduction to Philosophy

"An unexamined life is not worth living"
- Plato quoting Socrates

This is An Introduction to Philosophy by John Warwick Montgomery, a series of lectures given at Patrick Henry College in 2008. I highly recommend this for anyone who is interested in philosophy or someone who is taking philosophy.

Includes topics:
Metaphysics
Epistemology
Ethics
Theology
and more

John Warwick Montgomery (Ph.D., Chicago, D.Théol., Strasbourg, LL.D., Cardiff, Dr. [h.c.], Institute for Religion and Law, Moscow) is Emeritus Professor of Law and Humanities, University of Bedfordshire, England, Distinguished Research Professor of Apologetics and Christian Thought, Patrick Henry College, Virginia, U.S.A., and Director, International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism & Human Rights, Strasbourg, France.

Christian Audio has it on sale this week for only $7.49. And if you want to, it's available through library loan at Hoopla.

http://christianaudio.com/an-introduction-to-philosophy-john-warwick-montgomery-audiobook-download

Or free on Hoopla (through your library):

https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/11793760

Easter Films

For you film buffs, here's a few with an Easter theme:

• The Case For Christ (now playing in theaters, about investigative journalist, Lee Strobel, who tried to disprove the resurrection, to save his converted wife and daughter from what he considered nonsense)

• Risen (similar to The Robe, about a Roman soldier seeking answers)

• Ben Hur (there's been remakes, but Charlton Heston is still the best)

• The Miracle Maker (excellent clay animation)

• The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson explores the suffering of Christ) 

• Jesus of Nazareth (in my opinion, still the best treatment on the life of Christ)

• The Body (Antonio Bandera plays a priest investigating the unearthing of a crucified by body, dating to the first century AD. While this is not your typical faith-affirming Christian film, neither is it hostile or antagonistic.)

• The Fourth Wiseman (Starring Charlie Sheen. Although this is great Christmas story, it is perfect for Easter as well.) 

Lee Strobel's Story Hits The Big Screen

"This movie chronicles the true story of Lee Strobel, a professed atheist and investigative journalist, who makes it his mission to prove once and for all that Christianity is a lie – not only to the world but to his wife, Leslie, whose recent acceptance of faith mirrors the exact opposite of everything Lee stands for. This gripping story is brought to life by award-winning screenwriter, Brian Bird, who says this could be the most significant project of his career."

https://sonomachristianhome.com/2017/03/christian-writerproducer-brian-bird-talks-the-case-for-christ/

The Case For Christ Movie Trailer

Interview with Lee Strobel

Evidence For God?

First of all, I concur with Alvin Plantinga who calls belief in God, a properly basic belief. Nevertheless there are good reasons to believe in God. I don't call it "evidence" in the sense of "scientific evidence", i.e. using the scientific method, as it is defined and limited to empirical data, which excludes spirits, disembodied minds, extra dimensions, metaphysics and the like.

This limitation imposed through the science method speaks as to its general inadequacies. For example, science cannot prove or validate the scientific method. This was known as Positivism, and has been weighed in the balances and found wanting. The scientific method cannot prove that I exist apart from my body, nor can it prove that I exist apart from my mind (in a sort of matrix or dream). These are, however, properly basic beliefs. If you are a materialist (physicalist), you would obviously take issue with the former, while recognizing the latter.

What I'm saying is that by the very attributes of God, as defined in Holy Scripture, and the limitations of the scientific method, it's a misunderstanding to suggest "scientific" proof for the existence of God. We're not going to produce God's body or pieces of it to examine, because God is spirit. We can, however, look at our physical world and ourselves, and explore their nature, how they function, their origins and through scientific observations, make reasonable conclusions, through deductions and inductive arguments.

The following is part of a growing list I've been working on. I actually lost my first list and started working on a new one. The arguments come from numerous sources, including Alvin Plantinga, C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaefer, William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland, Vishal Mangalwadi, Peter Kreeft, Dinesh Desouza, etc.

Here's a few of them:
The cosmological argument,
The teleological argument,
The argument from design,
The moral argument,
The argument from efficient causality,
The argument from contingency,
The argument from consciousness,
The argument from meaning,
The transcendental argument,
The ontological argument,
The argument from reason,
The argument from human dignity,
The argument from pragmatism,
The argument from human flourishing,
The argument from physical constants,
The argument from simplicity,
The argument from the origin of life and its evolution,
The argument from self,
The argument from natural laws,
The argument from the resurrection,
The argument from evil,
The argument from love,
The argument from justice,
The argument from æsthetics,
The argument from purpose,
The argument from miracles and providence,
The argument from human spirituality and religious experience,
The argument from religious need,
The argument from joy,
The argument from near death experiences and consciousness after death,
The argument from changed lives,
The evidence of fulfilled prophecy,
The argument from coherence,
Pascal's Wager.

I think that the existence of God is the best explanation to each of the above, and I find the accumulative case to be quite overwhelming.

In contrast to theism, I find naturalism/materialism to be incoherent, inherently restricting possibilities and scientific progress, contradicting human experience and impossible to live out consistently, while Christian theism provides an opportunity for personal growth, social order and paves the way for scientific progress.

For example, it was within a Christian context that slavery was abolished, even though it was one of the oldest and most globally established practices, even within early Judaism. But, it was Christians, such as William Wilberforce who heralded the call for its abolishment. Furthermore, with the rise of scientific progress in combination with state mandated "scientific" atheism, we have seen the most depraved human acts ever devised against other human beings. Science without God, not only closes the mind, it lacks the moral compass by which to judge right from wrong and denies human dignity. We can actually see this played out in many of the hateful debates online. Sadly, I have also seen Christians to take part in the insults and name calling. We will never win anyone with such disparaging remarks.

Christians should never be ashamed for believing in God, and following Christ. May God give us the grace to live out loud!

The Apostles

The Apostle Paul writing an epistle while in prison.
Illustration by Gustave Doré

“Tradition and legends say that Matthew was killed by a sword in Ethiopia; Mark died after being dragged by horses through the streets of Alexandria, Egypt; Luke was hanged in Greece; Peter was crucified upside down; James the Just (half brother of Jesus) was clubbed to death in Jerusalem; James the son of Zebedee was beheaded by Herod Agrippa I in Jerusalem; Bartholomew was beaten to death in Turkey; Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross in Greece; Thomas was reportedly stabbed to death in India; Jude was killed with arrows; Matthias, successor to Judas, was stoned and then beheaded; Barnabas was stoned to death; Paul was beheaded under Nero in Rome."

How Christianity Changed the World, Alvin J. Schmid

Primal Love

My God, I look to thee for tenderness
Such as I could not seek from any man,
Or in a human heart fancy or plan –
A something deepest prayer will not express:
Lord, with thy breath blow on my being's fires,
Until, even to the soul with self-love wan,
I yield the primal love, that no return desires.


George MacDonald (1824-1905), Diary of an Old Soul

Why I Became an Atheist: A Satire

I was a Christian all my life, until one day I just got sick and tired of hating everyone, mocking anti-theists, complaining about religious-nones, harassing infidels, burning the Communist Manifesto, banning the Humanist Manifesto, arresting and torturing non-believers, burning down houses and killing the people whose families don't go to church, crucifying atheists, etc. Now that I'm an atheist, I feel so much more happy. My life is filled with peace and love.

 All the time, I thought that Marx, Pol Pot and Mao were bad guys, I couldn't have been more wrong! It was all propaganda! That's right! It turns out that Catholic and Lutheran priests secretly stripped off their neck bands, dyed them in the blood of atheists and tied them around their arms and so began the slaughter of atheists. I already knew that though, because I was one of them. I studied Christian Apologetics at Bob Jones University. It was actually while on my mission that I was finally confronted by the evidence for atheism and once and for all confronted about my hideous beliefs.

You see, only a half-baked kook, that's drank the kool-aid for way too long would ever believe that some "one" is required to create some "thing."  It's completely irrational to believe that a miracle could possibly ever have happened, just because you thought you saw one. All the good things Christians do, while their not killing people is just to go to heaven. I know it's hard to believe, even after they have sent atheists to work camps, but they really aren't good at heart, it's all just a good show, trying to to climb the stairway to heaven and all.

 Atheism is true because Richard Dawkins says it is, and if you need more proof, almost half of the scientists in the world are also atheists. It's practically a scientific consensus! None of the other scientists are really legit, otherwise they would be atheists too. So, you see, atheism is true and Christian so-called intellectuals, scientists and philosophers, are not really very smart. If they were, they would be atheists, because atheism is true. How do I know atheism is true? Because atheists say so! Look, you don't need miracles to explain the universe, all you need is an atheist! I can't put a miracle in a test tube, but I have put atheists on a burning stake. Trust me, atheism is true, Christians are mean, don't be a Christian, be an atheist! You're genes will like you if you do!




Satire: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues (Google). The above is a satire I wrote while reading some comments on a YouTube video of former atheist and police detective, Jim Wallace, sharing his testimony. All of the atrocities listed above, were actually committed against Christians for their faith. Christians do not need to be afraid or discouraged in the face of ridicule and contempt, we just need to let our roots grow deep in God's grace and stand firm in the faith once delivered to all the saints. The man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument. We do not love others because they have first loved us. We are followers of Christ and the way of Christ, and we have been touched by his grace!