jmclatchie, Author at Jonathan McLatchie | Writer, Speaker, Scholar

Undesigned Coincidences and the Synoptic Puzzle: A Reply to Kurt Jaros

2 Comments / Biblical Reliability, Undesigned Coincidences / jmclatchie

An important feature of undesigned coincidences, which I think is all-too-often overlooked by critics, including Jaros, is the failure to understand the evidential significance of an appearance of casualness. This is what drives many to assume that the evangelists had to have no knowledge of each other’s work before we can argue for an undesigned coincidence.

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Revisiting the Noetic Effects of Sin: A Reply to Dr. James White

Apologetic Method / jmclatchie

I recently published an article on the noetic effects of sin and apologetic methodology. This week, Dr. James White, whom I am going to be debating as part of a round table discussion on apologetic systems this coming Friday, devoted a significant portion of his Dividing Line program to responding to what I wrote. In this article, I respond to Dr. White’s critique of my position.

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A Bayesian Approach to Intelligent Design

Biological Design, Existence of God, Intelligent Design, Philosophy, Probability Theory, Science / jmclatchie

The Bayesian formulation of biological design arguments is, in my opinion, deserving of greater attention. Bayesian inference is widely used when dealing with design in the physical sciences. Perhaps the time has come for this structure of argument also to be used in design arguments in the life sciences.

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Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels: A Reply to John Nelson

Biblical Reliability, Undesigned Coincidences / jmclatchie

Nelson has not offered compelling reason to reconsider the use of undesigned coincidences in the cumulative argument for the substantial reliability of the gospels, and the Scriptures more broadly.

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The Secular vs. Sacred Distinction: Is it Valid?

Practical Christianity, Secular vs. Sacred / jmclatchie

It is appropriate to distinguish between the secular and the sacred, provided that the territory at which they overlap is recognized. Things which are sacred should not be secularized, but what is secular can and should be made sacred such that the gospel may be advanced through it.

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The Argument From Prophecy and Bayes Theorem (Part 2): Failed Biblical Prophecy?

2 Comments / Non-Messianic Prophecy, Philosophy, Probability Theory / jmclatchie

Fulfilled prophecy carries much more epistemic significance than apparently unfulfilled prophecy, because of the principle of epistemic asymmetry

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The Argument From Prophecy and Bayes Theorem (Part 1): How to Express the Evidence of Prophetic Fulfillment

2 Comments / Non-Messianic Prophecy, Probability Theory / jmclatchie

The probability of the evidence given your hypothesis does not need to be high for your data to carry evidential value. Rather, it only needs to be higher on the assumption that your hypothesis is correct than on the assumption that it is false.

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Why I Am an Evidentialist: A Brief Appraisal of Apologetic Systems

1 Comment / Apologetic Method, Probability Theory, Theology / jmclatchie

In my judgment, what matters with an apologetic system is primarily its adherence to sound principles of reason and secondarily its persuasiveness. Arguments that are unsound can be persuasive to the uninitiated, and the apologist must resist the temptation to compromise his intellectual integrity by forsaking sound principles of reason for the sake of effectiveness.

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Book Review: The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers: Learning to Interpret Scripture from the Prophets and Apostles, by Abner Chou

Book Reviews, Messianic Prophecy, New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Predictive Prophecy, Theology / jmclatchie

Chou’s book is a thoughtful contribution to the discussion of the New Testament use of the Old Testament, which commands attention from those who would dismiss the New Testament authors as taking passages from the Hebrew Bible out of their original context and contorting their meaning to confirm their Christian bias.

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The Noetic Effects of Sin and Apologetic Methodology

4 Comments / Apologetic Method, Theology / jmclatchie

Proponents of the presuppositionalist school of apologetics typically stress the vitality of reckoning with the noetic effects of sin — that is, the effect of the fall upon the mind. Van Tilians argue that sin has corrupted man’s ability to properly comprehend the things of God and understand spiritual things. In particular, sin is understood to have impacted our ability to reason and think rationally, especially in relation to God.

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JONATHAN MCLATCHIE

jmclatchie