Author Archives: MikeB

Watson: On Responding to the Gospel

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In chapter 26 of his Institutes Volume 2, the British, Arminian theologian Richard Watson (1781–1833) explores the response of an individual to the Gospel. Using 1 Corinthians 4:7 as a starting point, Watson first presents the case from the Calvinist point of view of a Mr. Scott.

By Frank Vincentz (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

By Frank Vincentz (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

“Let the blessings of the Gospel be fairly proposed, with solemn warnings and pressing invitations, to two men of exactly the same character and disposition: if they are left to themselves in entirely similar circumstances, the effect must be precisely the same. Continue reading →

The Cyrus Cylinder and testable theories

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Karl Popper pondered the question “When should a theory be ranked as scientific?” and came up with the following criteria (summarized from the article):

  • confirming a theory is easy.
  • a scientific theory should be falsifiable.
  • testing a theory means trying to prove it is false.
  • testing a theory means verifying its predictions are observed.

While not everyone holds to Popper’s philosophy of science the criterion of testability, falsifiability and predictability are considered important for any scientific theory. In fact the claim that is often leveled against “religion” is that it can’t do any of these things and thus can easily be dismissed by the scientific community. Continue reading →

Philosophy’s Revenge on Science (Humor)

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Our church has a Senior Seminar that we do each year. The goal is to prepare graduating high school seniors for the next phase in life and to grapple with living out their faith in a complex world. I am teaching the section on philosophy and logic.

Ted Talk: Stephen HawkingIt is always fun to come up with examples that can illustrate various forms of a logical argument. I call this one Philosophy’s Revenge. Continue reading →