Intro Your last post was helpful in clarifying your position on some of the philosophical issues we have been discussing. It was not entirely clear to me exactly how your own beliefs relate to those of Socrates and Confucius, but I assume, based on what you say, that you would fall somewhere in between Socrates’s Read More…
Author: jedsanford
Skepticism and Ethics
Skepticism – To what degree? It is clear to me that you are not a Skeptic; that is, you do not think it is impossible to know anything. You do have beliefs about various topics that you believe are true. Nor are you an Agnostic; that is, you do not think that in principle we Read More…
Christianity and Marxism
I don’t think any reasonable person could deny that it is important to consider the impact of socioeconomic factors and class struggle in history. I would also certainly agree that there are lots of gaps in the historical record, which frequently included the now-lost voices of marginalized people. I think it is also good that Read More…
Imagination, Authority, and Knowledge
Epistemology I sense that in some ways we have significantly different epistemological approaches. I think we would both agree that one should have a healthy balance of skepticism and trust, but I think we disagree about where that balance lies, with you leaning significantly more towards skepticism. I recently ran across a quote by Phillips Read More…
On Belief
I have to admit that you raise a lot of good points in your last post on the Holy Spirit. I can really understand where you’re coming from, but I think you go too far in saying that the past 2,000 years of church history back up the hypothesis that Jesus did nothing to ensure Read More…
On Christian Origins
Belief I suppose I would have to agree that belief that an extraordinary event has occurred requires somewhat stronger evidence than belief that an ordinary event has occurred. I would also have to agree that agnosticism can be a reasonable position to hold on an issue; everyone is agnostic about certain matters. On important issues Read More…
The Historical Case for the Resurrection of Jesus
I. Presuppositions When assessing the historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection, the matter of presuppositions is of fundamental importance. If someone believes that miracles are in principle impossible, no amount of evidence will convince them that Jesus rose from the dead, since they have ruled out this possibility a priori. If someone believes that miracles might Read More…
Response to 5 Objections
Introduction My intention in this series will be to speak as a voice for historic Christian orthodoxy broadly speaking (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant). However, I will do so from the perspective of someone who is a Protestant Christian, having Protestant biases and being more knowledgeable about the Protestant tradition than other Christian traditions. Read More…