Access to society journal content varies across our titles. His philosophical contributions are primarily in philosophy of religion and philosophy of science. The publisher has supplied this book in encrypted form, which means. Richard swinburne books list of books by author richard. Swinburne also intends to show that this probability is greater than pe k, the likelihood that we will see e if there is no god. Richard swinburne, is there a god richard swinburne, was. The picture of the universe that science gives us iscompleted by god. This book is a short and nontechnical presentation of the cumulative argument for the existence of god. Mar 30, 2017 professor richard swinburne university of oxford speaks at the philosophy society lecture series, 10th march 2016. Was jesus god swinburne richard abroad studyresearch one pdf. This updated edition features a new, stronger argument as to why theism doesand materialism does notprovide a very simple ultimate explanation of the. Swinburne is a christian apologist someone who sets out to defend the christian religions ideas.
T his book is described as a sequel to is there a god. It is a powerful one, which connects strongly with how people think and reason. Richard swinburne concludes that despite philosophical objections, most traditional claims about god are coherent that is, do not involve contradictions. Richard swinburne has a section titled, why god allows evil, which talks about why god allows evil. He explains why a good god would not expel evil if the god had the power to do so.
In all that time little in his position seems to have changed, despite the fact that it has been attacked in detail. Evidence confirms makes more probable an explanatory hypothesis in so far as 1 given the hypothesis the evidence is to be expected, that is the hypothesis makes the evidence probable, 2 the evidence is not. This book assesses the worth of arguments for and against the existence of god. Richard swinburne has 34 books on goodreads with 4105 ratings. These are 1 events occur over periods of time, never at instants, 2 time has a metric if and only if there is a unified system of laws of nature, 3 the past is the realm of the causally unaffectible, the future of the causally affectible, 4 some truths can only be known at certain periods. The existence of god by richard swinburne goodreads. This book, in a sense, represents the rest of the story.
Review by richard dawkins, for the sunday times1 of richard. The existence and nature of god edited with an introduction by alfred j. He also writes about religious experience and science. Swinburne uses scientific reasoning to argue that the best answers to these questions are given by the existence of god. Review by richard dawkins, for the sunday times1, of richard swinburne. Freddoso university of notre dame press notre dame london a theodicy of heaven and hell richard swinburne i most theistic religions have a doctrine of the afterlife in which the eternal fate of a man depends on how he has led his life on earh. For swinburne, it is true that some people believe that there is a god as a result of a direct religious experience in a community where the existence of god is not challenged.
I began my academic life at the university of oxford, with undergraduate 19547 and graduate 19579 degrees in philosophy and then a diploma in theology 195960. At this point in the book swinburne s formerly sober and largely rigorous style of argument has been abandoned and replaced with rambling flights of subjective speculation. Swinburne is a leading advocate of theism, which is the belief in one god as the creator and ruler of the universe. Faith and reason henceforth far is the final volume in richard swinburne s trilogy on the philosophy of religion. In this paper i discuss critically richard swinburnes concept of god, which i find to be. An explanatory hypothesis is probable insofar as it leads us to expect many otherwise inexplicable events to be explained, is simple, and fits in with background knowledge this is knowledge. The christian god by richard swinburne in the christian god, richard swinburne examines basic metaphysical categories1. In this compelling new edition, richard swinburne, one of the most distinguished philosophers of religion today, argues that contrary to the claims of richard dawkins and others, science actually provides good grounds for belief in god.
Only when that task is done does he turn to an analysis of divine properties, the divine nature, and the christian doctrines of the trinity and incarnation. Swinburne gives a rigorous and penetrating analysis of the most important arguments for theism. Evidence for god why believe that there is a god at all. Richard swinburne the author is no doubt an informed and learned individual, but this only goes to show that where matters of spirituality are concerned, in the chaos and ignorance which prevails at the moment, one can make any claim imaginable with hardly any fear of contradiction. Richard swinburne s most popular book is is there a god. Revised edition of the best short philosophical book about god. Oxford university press, paperback edition 1997 144 pages. Like its predecessor it reiterates in brief many of the arguments put forward in swinburne s earlier writings. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Over the last 50 years swinburne has been a very influential proponent of natural theology, that is, philosophical arguments for the existence of god.
Professor swinburne uses the methods of scientific reasoning to argue that the best answers to these questions are given by the existence of god. Revised edition, oxford university press, paperback 144 pages. He has written many technical works of religious philosophy over the last 50 years but also some popular philosophy aimed at the general reader. The existence and nature of god a theodicy of heaven and hell. The orderliness of the universe and the existence of human beings already provides some reason for believing that there is a god as argued in richard swinburne s earlier book is there a god. On first appearance, richard swinburne s the existence of god offers a highly structured, coherent, and rigorous argument for god s existence grounded in bayes theorem, inductive reasoning, confirmation theory, the intrinsic probability of simple hypotheses, substance dualism, and moral realism. Four principles about time have the consequence that god must be everlasting, and not timeless. See all books authored by richard swinburne, including is there a god. He is an emeritus professor of philosophy at the university of oxford. Review by richard dawkins, for the sunday times1 of.
Swinburne, in the space of 125 pages, manages to sum up many of his books in easy to comprehend, interesting, and thoughtful bits of. In the coherence of theism richard swinburne writes that a person cannot be omniscient and perfectly free. No other work has made a more powerful case for the probability of the existence of god. Richard swinburne short intellectual autobiography. At least since darwins origin of species was published in 1859, it has increasingly become accepted that the existence of god is, intellectually, a lost cause, and that religious faith is an entirely nonrational matter the province of those who willingly refuse to accept the dramatic advances of modern cosmology. Features new sections on how the existence of god explains the universe, drawing on ideas from physics about multiple universes. He has done important work in metaphysics, epistemology and the philosophy of religion. It is with this approach that this essay will be concerned. My answer is that to suppose that there is a god explains why there is a world at all. There is a straightforward reason why the two passages are not in tension, but recognition of this reason raises a problem for swinburne s argument in the existence of god the conclusion. It was plain that the object of the book was show by means of philosophical arguments that god exists. This new, updated edition of richard swinburne s popular introductory book is there a god. The existence of god by richard swinburne librarything.
Swinburne 2011 free will and modern science, oxford university press, paperback. Swinburne departs from the received tradition of natural theology by denying that god is a necessary being, so on his view gods existence is itself a brute fact. This updated edition features a new, stronger argument as to why theism doesand materialism does notprovide a very simple ultimate explanation of. It may seem today that the answers to all fundamental questions lie in the province of science, and that the scientific advances of the twentieth century leave little room for god. An analysis of richard swinburnes the existence of god. During my period as an undergraduate i developed my abiding interest in all the central problems of philosophy, and especially in the issue of whether there is adequate. Richard swinburne, the existence of god, and exact numerical values. Swinburne is an emeritus professor of philosophy at the university of oxford. Professor richard swinburne university of oxford speaks at the philosophy society lecture series, 10th march 2016. In the coherence of theism swinburne examined the claims of theism and came to the provisional conclusions that a theism was not demonstrably incoherent and b a more feasible but indirect way of arguing for the coherence of theism was to provide grounds for thinking theism. Swinburnes the coherence of theism is a valuable and very welcome contribution to the. But if one brute fact is preferable to many, then theism still wins the explanatory sweepstakes.
This edition is a shorter version of the existence of god, 1979. Swinburne departs from the received tradition of natural theology by denying that god is a necessary being, so on his view god s existence is itself a brute fact. Sep 05, 2009 the existence of god 2nd edition by richard swinburne is an impressive and significant philosophical work on the existence of god. In this work, swinburne attempts to construct a series of inductive arguments for the existence of god. Cosmologists have rolled back their theories to the moment of the big bang, the discovery of dna reveals the key to life, the. See john calvin, institutes of the christian religion, book 1, chapter 5.
Swinburne now claims that it is probable that the main christian doctrines about the nature of god and his actions in the world are true. The existence of god richard swinburne university of oxford. Swinburne argues compellingly that the existence of the universe, its lawgoverned nature and finetuning, human consciousness and moral awareness, and evidence of miracles and religious experience, all taken together and despite the occurrence of pain and suffering, make it likely that there is a god. The existence of god richard swinburne why believe that there is a god at all. God professor richard swinburne formulates theism as a theory to explain facts. He presents a new, stronger argument why theism does and materialism does not provide a very simple ultimate explanation of the world.
His philosophical contributions are primarily in the philosophy of religion and philosophy of science. In virtue of his omnipotence and perfect goodness, god must be a. In the existence of god swinburne writes that god is a person who is omniscient and perfectly free. Although my views on many minor matters involved in the argument of the. Swinburnes premise is to weigh the evidence for and against theism and determine which way the balance falls. Richard swinburne existence of god world of digitals.
There are also smaller alterations at various other places in the book. Unfortunately, it is an often richard swinburne, the emeritus nolloth professor of the philosophy of religion at oxford and one of the foremost philosophers of our time, is my elvis. In the course of these various alterations, i have connected what i have to say with recent important new books and articles. An analysis of richard swinburne s the existence of god 2010 by gabe czobel. Evidence confirms makes more probable an explanatory hypothesis in so far as 1 given the hypothesis the evidence is to be expected, that is the hypothesis makes the evidence probable, 2 the evidence is not otherwise to be expected, 3 the hypothesis is simple, and 4 it fits with background knowledge i. Over the last 50 years swinburne has been an influential proponent of philosophical arguments for the existence of god. The picture of the universe that science gives us is completed by god. The coherence of theism investigates what it means, and whether it is coherent, to say that there is a god. Books by richard swinburne author of is there a god. This new, updated edition of richard swinburnes popular introductory book is there a god. It is a virtue of clear writing that you can see what is wrong with a book as well as what is right. This content was uploaded by our users and we assume good faith they have the permission to share this book. Richard swinburne, nolloth professor of the philosophy of the christian religion at oxford, has been arguing for the existence of god since the appearance of his book the coherence of theism in 1977.
Richard swinburne argues compellingly that if there is a god, then the main doctrines which the christian church teaches about god are very probably true. Richard swinburne what did the author intend by naming his book the existence of god. At least since darwins origin of species was published in 1859, it has increasingly become accepted that the existence of god is, intellectually, a lost cause, and that religious faith is an entirely nonrational matterthe province of those who willingly refuse to accept the dramatic advances of modern cosmology. You can also see where he is going to, and there is something almost. Richard swinburnes argument to the simplicity of god via. In this compelling new edition, richard swinburne, one of the most distinguished philosophers of religion today, argues that contrary to the claims of richard. An explanatory hypothesis is probable insofar as it leads us to expect many otherwise inexplicable events to be explained, is simple, and fits in with background knowledge this is knowledge of how things work in fields outside the scope of the hypothesis and this last criterion drops. Pdf the coherence of theism download read online free.
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