The Mars Hill Club

Last night's Mars Hill Club live discussion in Costa Mesa was moderated by Chuck Kinzie, who shared with us an interview with Professor Alvin Plantinga by Dr. Daniel Hill. The interview appeared in Issue 34 (2001-2002) of Philosophy Now Journal. It concerned his (then new) book, Warranted Christian Belief, & Plantinga's argument that theistic/Christian belief is intellectually acceptable. For 2 hours we read the article aloud & discussed the different arguments raised by Hill & answered by Plantinga.

I keep a list of books that I cite most frequently. This is so that any time I need to build a 'Works Cited' list, I can cut and paste those books into it. I thought I'd share this list with the community.

Enjoy!

Audi, Robert, Ed. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd Ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Blackwell, Simon. Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.

At the November 2 meeting of the Mars Hill Club, I will be moderating the discussion on the topic of "the other gospels," those writings that call themselves (or are called) "gospels," but which are not among the canonical 4 gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John).

We will be discussing their identity, origin, age, authorship, teachings, authenticity, & their relationship to the canonical gospels.

Good preparation for this topic is Darrell L. Bock's The Missing Gospels: Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities.

It is a popular misconception, even among Christians, that Christianity and science contradict each other. It is thought that since science is superior to faith, that Christianity impedes science, and that no truly thinking person can believe both Christianity and science (Tyra 1-5). Others believe that faith is superfluous and unnecessary since science will eventually solve all problems (Palmer 161). These are all myths that come from a mistaken belief that science constitutes a superior method for investigating truth. Science itself makes up a worldview that is unable to be investigated by the methods of science. Since this is the case, it follows that while science is a powerful tool for investigating truth, it is not the only way to explore truth. Because science does not have the sole claim on truth, other disciplines that make truth claims must be allowed to have a say and given equal footing along with science. From this standpoint Christian faith is not at all contradictory to science but stands equal and consistent with science.

The little Old Testament book of Habakkuk is oft overlooked. This is too bad since it gives insight into some really deep theological concepts, including the problem of evil and salvation through faith. Most people know that the book of Job deals with the problem of evil but few realize that it is not the only place in the Bible that tackles this issue.

Outline and Theology of Habakkuk

The purpose of this blog entry is to outline the book of Habakkuk and describe the author’s theological perspective. Accordingly, I will not delve deeply into commentary on any particular pericope within Habakkuk. This little three chapter book is easily overlooked but provides backup in the New Testament for the doctrine of salvation by faith and was part of the rallying cry of Martin Luther during the reformation (Armerding 495-496; Fee & Stuart 246; McComisky 908; Smith 105-106). It thus would greatly benefit the average Christian to become familiar with this book.

Biographical Data

Kierkegaard lived from 1813 to 1855, in Denmark (Evans, 468). His father was well-off and he was sent to university (468). He started college in 1831 and finished off with his dissertation, On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates, in 1841. He was preparing for life in the church as a pastor and became engaged to Regine Olson. This was not to be. Kierkegaard mysteriously called off his engagement to Regine and quite the track that would lead him into the Church (468). After this incident, he then began a short but prolific writing career. One of his most important works, Either/Or, is a phenomenal piece of philosophy and seems to have been written in an effort to cast himself in such a way that Regine would reject him (Hong & Hong, xiv-xv).

It is said that there are 20 arguments for the existence of God and one against. The Problem of Evil is that singular argument. This subject has confounded philosophers and theologians for thousands of years. In his book ‘The Case for Faith’, Lee Strobel quotes the Greek Philosopher Epicurus:

"Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can but does not want to; or he cannot and does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, and does not want to, he is wicked. But, if God both can and wants to abolish evil, then how comes evil in the world?"

As the co-founder & current director of Answers In Action & Mars Hill Club, I want to welcome you to the newly created Mars Hill Club On-Line.

For nearly 30 years, various Christians & non-Christians have been meeting weekly in Southern California to discuss issues of truth, faith, philosophy, reason, & reality. Founded by me & my late husband, Bob Passantino, this unique forum has become a rich proving ground for good thinking.

Christians have learned the rationl & evidential foundations for the Christian faith; have had their faith strengthened by the ideas & arguments discussed; & have learned to share their faith with others using sound logic, irrefutable facts, & demonstrable truth.

Hello Ken,

I created a simple site for Mars Hill using Drupal, which will support basic blogging capability.