22 April 2005
wolfboy...or theist?
What the hell does contemporary theism look like? Do people still wring their beards over the problem of evil; does the publication of a new Richard Dawkins book make them pray yet harder; how can the argument from design retain any salience in a world in which more McDonalds wrappers exist than bibles (er, probably)? Tomorrow I get to find out the answer to all these questions at the meaning of theism, which includes papers by Alvin Plantinga, Richard Norman, Anthony Kenny and John Haldane.
Plantinga's arguments against evolution are truly hilarious, for example: 'Perhaps Paul very much likes the idea of being eaten, but when he sees a tiger, always runs off looking for a better prospect, because he thinks it unlikely that the tiger he sees will eat him.'
Plantinga does come up with attractively named hypotheses like 'transworld depravity', though, so let's hope he steers away from his devastating attacks on naturalism and Darwin....
But who will attend? Will it be populated by be-sandled men with obscure facial hair?... What do theologians eat? Are they bigger than normal human beings? more teeth, perhaps? or reversible knees like horses? Full report to follow...
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Many thanks, btw, to northanger and rob in particular for aid in stabilising the parlous state of my template. May the image of Plantinga never haunt your dreams....
