The cosmological argument forms part of natural theology and aims to demonstrate the existence of God by appealing to a “first cause”. In order to introduce the cosmological argument, both of the following cannot be true: Every effect has a cause An infinite chain of causes is impossible It is widely believed that an infinite […]
Month: March 2021
Faith and Justification
Justification is the support that is given to a proposition or claim. Usually something is justified if we can support the claim with some kind of good evidence. For example, justification that the moon exists is that you can see it with your eyes. Justification that your eyes are working correctly now is that they […]
Evaluating Arguments
Logic takes care of itself; all we have to do is to look and see how it does it. – Ludwig Wittgenstein An argument is a reason or set of reasons given in support of a conclusion. It need not be contentious and is distinct from an argument in the sense of an aggressive exchange. […]
Stylometrics
Introduction In 1980 three statisticians at Brigham Young University “examined the frequencies of noncontextual words in a precedent-setting analysis” of the Book of Mormon. Among the findings, it was concluded that: “Text clusters of major Book of Mormon authors and Joseph Smith. Linear discriminant analysis indicates that the writing styles of the major Book of […]
Chiasmus
Chiasmus is a literary technique in which two or more ideas are presented in a “criss cross” structure in order to make a larger point or produce an effect. It is a technique employed to lay emphasis on what the speaker wants to communicate. Chiasmus was popular in ancient literature, including Hebrew, Greek, and Latin […]
Atonement theory
Introduction The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the central part of the Plan of Salvation but how does an atonement actually work? Although it may not be necessary to fully understand how it works, it is beneficial to explore and appreciate the effects of the atonement in our lives. Atonement theory is a way of […]
Ontological argument
In Mormon thought, God is a self-existing being. Joseph Smith said: We say that God Himself is a self-existing being. Who told you so? It is correct enough; but how did it get into your heads? 1 Richard Swinburne defines x as existing of ontological necessity if: there is not at any time any cause, […]
Paradox of the stone
Introduction The paradox of the stone asks whether God (an omnipotent being) can create a stone so heavy that he can’t lift it? If the answer is yes, then we have found something (i.e. not being able to lift a stone) that an omnipotent being cannot do. If the answer is no, then we have found […]
The Scholarly Problem
Introduction Deseret News noted: David Campbell, a University of Notre Dame associate professor and another adviser on the survey, noted that the more educated (Mormon) respondents were, the higher their levels of religious commitment. “I was a little surprised by that,” said Campbell, who is LDS and who has extensively studied on the role of […]
Messianic myths
Introduction The argument from messianic myths is not so much an argument but rather a couple of related assertions: The messianic story of Jesus is remarkably similar to older messianic myths The messianic story of Jesus was copied from these older messianic myths This reasoning has largely been abandoned and all claims have been found […]