Christianity Commons^™

Love And The Winter: C.S. Lewis, Nigel Biggar, And Marc Livecche On Enemy Love, Jason Lepojärvi

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Abstract: In this paper I tackle two difficult questions about enemy love, with C. S. Lewis as my guide. First, how do we forgive a person who has deeply injured us? Second, can the Christian command to “love thy enemy” be reconciled with the military task of killing one’s opponent in war? After defining “love”, “enemy”, and “enemy love”, I discuss these two questions in light of the things that most endanger enemy love: resentment and violence. According to Lewis, the virtue of forgiveness and the religious habit of prayer play a crucial role in overcoming resentment. As for violence, …

"Companions In Shipwreck: J. R. R. Tolkien's Female Friendships" Chapter In Apprehending Love Edited By Olli-Pekka Vainio And Pekka Kärkkäinen, Jason Lepojärvi

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

No abstract provided.

Infinite Cardinalities, Measuring Knowledge, And Probabilities In Fine-Tuning Arguments (Chapter 5 Of Knowledge, Belief, And God: New Insights In Religious Epistemology), Isaac Choi

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

This paper deals with two different problems in which infinity plays a central role. I first respond to a claim that infinity renders counting knowledge-level beliefs an infeasible approach to measuring and comparing how much we know. There are two methods of comparing sizes of infinite sets, using the one-to-one correspondence principle or the subset principle, and I argue that we should use the subset principle for measuring knowledge. I then turn to the normalizability and coarse tuning objections to fine-tuning arguments for the existence of God or a multiverse. These objections center on the difficulty of talking about the …

Book Review: Reason And Faith: Themes From Richard Swinburne, Isaac Choi

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

A review of Reason and Faith: Themes from Richard Swinburne: Michael Bergmann and Jeffrey E. Brower(Eds.): Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016

ISBN: 978-0198732648

Excerpt: "The papers in this volume were originally presented at a conference at Purdue University, organized by the volume’s editors, in honor of Swinburne’s eightieth birthday. The contributors are all prominent and senior scholars in the field, and several begin with personal reminiscences and tributes to how Swinburne’s work inspired and even helped to initiate their interest in philosophy of religion."

Becoming The Real Deal: Building A Life Of Integrity, Howard R. Macy

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

The Beane Lecture, given at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa April 1, 2014.

From the conclusion: "As we choose to persist in the habits of truth-telling, transparency, and trustworthiness, we can build lives of integrity. We can be “the real deal.” I could make a strong case for doing this based on biblical teaching. But frankly, I think that almost universally we want integrity in our life together, in our relationships, in our business and agreements with one another, in our leadership, and in our courts. We like people who tell the truth, who are genuine, and who we …

The Beauty Of The Ethical: An Everyday Ethics That Brings Grace To Life, Ross W. Mccullough

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt: "Malcolm Muggeridge entitled his reflection on Mother Teresa Something Beautiful for God. Perhaps the force of that expression does not immediately strike us, but consider how curious a statement it is: that here was something—an act, a project, a life—beautiful for God. By far the most curious aspect, and the hardest to see afresh and not as mere formula, is that it was for God; but I leave that to a subsequent essay, with only the saints, here Teresa and Irenaeus, to point toward my sequel. For now note instead that it was something beautiful."

The Virtue Of Civility In The Practice Of Politics (Chapter Three Of The Virtue Of Civility In The Practice Of Politics), Philip D. Smith

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt: "This chapter has more than one goal. First, I want to introduce readers to the apparatus of practices, institutions and virtues (PIV) that helps us understand what virtues are. Second, I want to explore the notion of politics a little, to see what its main problem is. (I will claim, perhaps surprisingly, that business management is largely a variation of politics.) Third, I want to reintroduce civility and suggest that it is an important contributor to solving the political problem (and problems of management).

Throughout this chapter, I will emphasize process. As we shall see, process is integrated in …

Can Belief In God Be Confirmed?, Mark S. Mcleod-Harrison

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

A basic thrust behind Alvin Plantinga's position that belief in God is properly basic is an analogy between certain non-religious (and presumably justified) beliefs such as ' I see a tree' and theistic beliefs such as 'God made this flower'.1 Each kind of belief is justified for a believer, argues Plantinga, when she finds herself in a certain set of conditions. Richard Grigg challenges this claim by arguing that while the non-religious beliefs are confirmed, beliefs about God are not. I wish to explore this challenge, clarify it and suggest that on one understanding it is irrelevant and on another …