Reasoned Hope Parks Edwards

The Christian worldview involves supernatural events, but many reject the supernatural as rationally credible. One reason given is that such events cannot be empirically tested and are outside the scope of scientific investigation.



But is this true? And is it a good reason to reject belief in the supernatural? In this episode, I discuss these questions and argue this idea makes serious philosophical mistakes about science and knowledge.

Greg Koukl returns as a guest on the podcast to discuss his latest book, Street Smarts.

Greg and I discuss how the book aids Christians in dialoguing with people about Christianity as well as the many contentious issues of our time.

A common critique of arguments for God's existence is they are based on a "God of the gaps" fallacy. In essence, this says that such arguments are fundamentally based on ignorance. They use God as an explanation to fill a gap in knowledge. When this is done, skeptics argue, belief in God is shown to be based upon ignorance instead of knowledge.

But is this true? In this episode, I aim to show why the God of the gaps objection fails as a critique of arguments for God.

Beauty is all around us and it permeates our universe. The existence of beauty is confirmed in the natural world and in works of human creation such as music and art. But what is beauty and how do we best explain it?



In this episode, I argue that beauty is objective and that it requires a transcendent explanation. In this way, the existence of a personal God best explains beauty.

Skeptics claim belief in God's existence is irrational. Furthermore, they claim their position (most often, atheism) is based upon careful reasoning and evidence.

But the argument from reason calls into question the very ability of atheism to provide a grounding for our rational faculties. Furthermore, it shows that pantheism (the worldview of most Eastern religions) also fails to provide a foundation for human reason.

In this episode, I explain and defend the argument from reason and show how reason itself provides evidence for God.

True happiness. Lasting peace. Contentment. Something more. While people may differ on the details of what provides these things, every person alive is in pursuit of them. It seems there is an innate desire for the transcendent that we possess. How does such a desire function as evidence for God's existence? What exactly is a desire for the transcendent and where do we encounter it? Is this just an exercise in wishful thinking? In this episode, I explain what the Argument from Desire is, show how it provides evidence for God's existence, and respond to objections.