Real Atheology

Before her death in 2017, Marilyn McCord Adams had a long and impressive career as a philosopher and theologian. While she had many interests both philosophical and theological, the problem of evil loomed ever-present in her thinking. I intend this video as an introduction to her views on the problem of evil; specifically on the notion of axiological defeat that features so heavily. Adams, M. M.,...

In this episode, Ben Watkins sits down with Professor Pete Mandik to discuss several different ways of conceiving of materialism along with strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Professor Mandik also gives a summary of a view inspire by Quine he calls “Type-Q Materialism.” Additionally, Ben and Professor Mandik discuss various aspects of religious mysticism and touch on the philosophy of Ludw...

The intrinsic probability of a theory is the probability that a theory has purely in virtue of its intrinsic features. In this video, I give a brief overview of Paul Draper's theory of intrinsic probability according to which the intrinsic probability of a theory depends only on its modesty and coherence.

This episode is part interview and part dialogue between Justin Schieber and Christian YouTuber Kyle Alander about Kyle's preferred approach to the problem of evil. Alander adopts a defeat-based approach along the lines of Marilyn McCord Adams, Trent Dougherty, and John Schneider. In this almost four hour long episode, they discuss how defeat is understood in the dialectic surrounding the prob...

In this episode, Ben Watkins sits down to discuss the Van Tillian tradition of presuppositional apologetics often found online along with objective idealism— an epistemological view often associated with Post-Kantians like Hegel, Fichte, and Schelling. Two claims of Van Til are challenged using the resources of objective idealism: Those two claims are (i) Christianity is a necessary condition to k...

In this episode, Ben Watkins sits down with Professor Paul Russell to discuss David Hume, philosophy of religion, and Dialogues concerning Natural Religion. Professor Russell is a leading Hume scholar and author of “The Riddle of Hume’s Treatise” which argues irreligion is central to understanding the naturalism and skepticism at the heart of Hume’s philosophy, specially, that expressed in his “A...

The Hiddenness Series returns. Richard Swinburne's responsibility argument aims to show it's good for God to stay hidden. That way we can investigate God's existence together. Assisting others in this endeavor, says Swinburne, is a very good deed—one we should be thankful to have the opportunity to do. In this video I discuss Swinburne's argument, Schellenberg's response, and T...

This video is a response to a recent video by Christopher Cloos at Christian Philosophy Academy. Chris' Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja9dldyWQwE&t=1445s In his video, Cloos presents an objection to Schellenberg's divine hiddenness argument from a recent essay by Daniel Howard-Snyder which argues that, possibly, God may hide from people to attain a 'better start' to a relationship wit...

In this video, Justin Schieber joins Dr. Gavin Ortlund for a friendly conversation on Schellenberg's argument from Divine Hiddenness.

A few weeks ago, Gavin Ortlund of Truth Unites released a video exploring the argument from divine hiddenness and giving several objections to it. While I appreciated Gavin's wrestling with the argument, I did not think his objections are successful. This video seeks to respond to those objections by clarifying aspects of Schellenberg's reasoning. Gavin Ortlund's video: https://www.you...

Welcome back to the Hiddenness Series. In the last episode, we looked at Schellenberg's concept of a nonresistant nonbeliever which plays a central role in his argument from Divine Hiddenness. To refresh, somebody is a nonresistant nonbeliever if they (1) fail to believe that God exists and (2) that failure is not the result of their resistance to God. We also looked at the concept of resistan...

According to Schellenberg’s argument from Divine Hiddenness, a nonresistant nonbeliever is, simply put, somebody who fails to believe in God in such a way that the failure is not itself the result of resistant self-deception. A key premise of the divine hiddenness argument just is the claim that such persons exist and/or have existed in the past. For most people, this premise will appear obvious a...

In this episode Justin Schieber continues the hiddenness series by presenting J.L. Schellenberg’s Argument from divine hiddenness. Since the 1993 publication of his Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason Schellenberg’s argument has received widespread attention and still generates deep engagement. This is because many atheists find it to be quite powerful and persuasive. Many theists find it challengi...

Broadly speaking, Arguments from Hiddenness are philosophical arguments with atheistic conclusions arising from the fact that either the felt presence of, the nature of, or the very existence of God is somewhat less clear than we might expect if God existed. As with the problem of evil, there is no single argument from hiddenness. Rather, there is a whole family of arguments united by these ideas....

This is our second discussion with philosopher doctor Kenny Pearce. In this episode we pick up the conversation by discussing Pearce's thoughts on the practice of apologetics in contrast to philosophy. This led to a consideration of what arguments for or against God may need to be retired or deemphasized. In particular, Pearce explains why the moral argument isn't the most promising argume...

In this episode Ben Watkins continues his series on Hume with a look at section IX of Hume's Dialogue's Concerning Natural Religion. Section IX finds Hume's Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes presenting and subjecting to analysis a cosmological argument for the existence of God. Ben and Dr. Joe Campbell discuss the argument as presented and the various criticisms that Hume brings to bear thro...

In this episode, Justin Schieber sits down with Jeffrey Jay Lowder for a wide-ranging interview. Fans of the show will no doubt be familiar with Jeff's work. From founding Infidels.org and the Secular Outpost to his contributions to The Empty Tomb and his several public debates, Jeff has earned his reputation as a fair-minded and philosophically informed atheist. We discuss the origin of infid...

In this episode, Ben Watkins sits down with Matthew Adelstein to discuss utilitarianism and theism. Utilitarianism, in its classical forms, claims that what we morally ought to do is act in ways that would maximize happiness and minimize suffering. This simple moral calculus is open to several important objections, but if true, has important consequences for theism as traditionally conceived. If G...

This debate was between Christian apologist Eric Hernandez and atheist podcaster Justin Schieber. The event was organized by Capturing Christianity and held on May 6, 2023 at the Lanier Theological Library in Houston, TX. Visit capturingchristianity.com for this and similar events.

As a follow up to the last episode which gave a general overview of Hume's famous essay, Ben Watkins interviews philosopher Dr. Bill Vanderburgh on his 2019 book David Hume on Miracles, Evidence, and Probability. The conversation explores some of the reasons the text is often misinterpreted. The importance of placing Hume in his historical context is emphasized in response to common objections...

In this episode, Real Atheology co-host Ben Watkins takes us on a tour through parts one and two of Hume's controversial essay 'Of Miracles'. Ben begins by providing context that serves to undercut some popular but ultimately uncharitable readings of Hume's central thesis. With the infamous argument clarified, other common objections are also explored.

Perhaps the most common response to the problem of evil is an appeal to the goodness of free will. Free will, it is argued, is so good that it justifies God's policy of non-intervention in cases where evil is the result of the free actions of moral agents. in his 2019 article published in The Heythrop Journal titled The Moral Problem with the Free Will Defense Against the Problem of Evil, Dr....

In the second part of Ryan's interview with Dr. Kenny Pearce, they discuss some of the issues surrounding the debate between Protestantism and Catholicism. In the second half the discussion turns to the issue of apologetics and whether there exists a clean distinction between it and philosophy of religion.

In this first part of Ryan Downie’s interview with Dr. Kenny Pearce, strategies for productive dialogue with those who hold opposing views are discussed.  The conversation then turns to discussing the value of historical approaches to philosophy. Finally, they discuss Leibniz contributions to philosophy of religion and the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to cosmological argum...

In this, the second half of Justin's interview with Dr. Dustin Crummett, they discuss an early paper of his in which he expands on an objection to the argument from divine hiddenness. The objection, known as the responsibility objection, claims that one reason God might have to keep belief from non-resistant persons is the good of the responsibility on the part of some in helping others learn trut...