Sunday, November 16, 2008

Doug Groothuis Presentation on Natural Theology


"Groothuis is appealing to mythical common ground and the autonomous reasoning of apostate man"--Cornelius Van Til.
"Don't go."--Karl Barth.
This event will be held at Denver Seminary on November 19, 2008; 12-12:50pm

Dr. Doug Groothuis, "A Defense of Natural Theology"

Moderator: Dr. Don Payne

This talk will be a reading from part of my book-in-progress, What Matters Most: Commending Christian Truth Today.

Presentations are kept to a strict 50 minutes to accommodate schedules. Presentations will be held in the Executive Board Room on the second floor of the Graber Administration Building.

(Karl Barth, arch-enemy of natural theology, would not be happy; neither would Van Til, who was equally opposed.)

4 comments:

Jamin Hubner said...

I think you should point out, of course, that they rejected natural theology in completely different ways. I'd like to see your response to some of Van Til's students who criticize the same strand of natural theology as Sproul and yourself in their exegesis of I Cor. 2:6-16 (see Revelation and Reason, 2007, p. 14-39). It'd make for a good, real debate.

David said...

Prof DG,
Could you make this seminar available on audio (mp3)? Besides,
pls have a look at Greg Bahnsen vs RC Sproul debate. Greg Bahnsen presented very strong case against natural theology. Best Db

Katie said...

Dr. G,
Can you provide us with a brief definition for natural theology, it's a term I'm unfamiliar with. I'm just beginning to learn about the role philosophy has played in the development of various theological camps. If not a definition perhaps a weblink that you consider a sound resource to begin research on the topic.

Thank you!
Katie K

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. said...

Theistic arguments (sometimes called theistic proofs or natural theology) are rational arguments for the existence of a monotheistic God, which do not directly appeal to sacred scriptures for their cogency. These arguments claim that there are sufficient reasons to believe that monotheism is objectively true. Monotheism affirms that there is only one God, and that this God is a personal and perfect being of unlimited power and goodness who created the universe out of nothing. This being is worthy of adoration and worship, distinct from the world but continuously involved in it, and capable of generating miracles. The concept of God must be logically coherent for any argument or combination of arguments to establish the existence of such a being, since there are no good arguments for incoherent entities (such as square circles).