William Hasker

Helping readers create a consistently Christian worldview, William Hasker addresses key questions of metaphysics and discusses possible answers. In the Contours of Christian Philosophy series.

Metaphysics

In The Emergent Self, William Hasker joins one of the most heated debates in analytic philosophy, that over the nature of mind. His provocative and clearly written book challenges physicalist views of human mental functioning and advances the concept of mind as an emergent individual. Hasker begins by mounting a compelling critique of the dominant paradigm in philosophy of mind, showing that contemporary forms of materialism are seriously deficient in confronting crucial aspects of experience. He further holds that popular attempts to explain the workings of mind in terms of mechanistic physics cannot succeed. He then criticizes the two versions of substance dualism most widely accepted today—Cartesian and Thomistic—and presents his own theory of emergent dualism. Unlike traditional substance dualisms, Hasker's theory recognizes the critical role of the brain and nervous system for mental processes. It also avoids the mechanistic reductionism characteristic of recent materialism. Hasker concludes by addressing the topic of survival following bodily death. After demonstrating the failure of materialist views to offer a plausible and coherent account of that possibility, he considers the implications of emergentism for notions of resurrection and the afterlife.

The Emergent Self

Noted philosopher William Hasker explores a full range of questions concerning the problem of evil. Hasker forges constructive answers in some depth showing why the evil in the world does not provide evidence of a moral fault in God, the world's creator and governor.

Theodicy for a World of Suffering

The Triumph of God Over Evil

William Hasker reviews the evidence concerning fourth-century pro-Nicene trinitarianism in the light of recent developments in the scholarship on this period, arguing for particular interpretations of crucial concepts. He then reviews and criticises recent work on the issue of the divine three-in-oneness, including systematic theologians such as Barth, Rahner, Moltmann, and Zizioulas, and analytic philosophers of religion such as Leftow, van Inwagen, Craig, and Swinburne.

Metaphysics and the Tri-Personal God

Michael L. Peterson

David Basinger

Bruce Reichenbach

What is the status of belief in God? Must a rational case be made or can such belief be properly basic? Is it possible to reconcile the concept of a good God with evil and suffering? In light of great differences among religions, can only one religion be true? The most comprehensive work of its kind, Reason and Religious Belief, now in its fourth edition, explores these and other perennial questions in the philosophy of religion. Drawing from the best in both classical and contemporary discussions, the authors examine religious experience, faith and reason, the divine attributes, arguments for and against the existence of God, divine action (in various forms of theism), Reformed epistemology, religious language, religious diversity, religion and science, and much more. Retaining the engaging style and thorough coverage of previous editions, the fourth edition adds a critical new chapter on the ontological status of religion and the nature of religious claims. It also features revised treatments of omnipotence, miracles, and providence and updated suggestions for further reading. A sophisticated yet accessible introduction, Reason and Religious Belief, Fourth Edition, is ideally suited for use with the authors' companion anthology, Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, Third Edition (OUP, 2006).

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion

Reason & Religious Belief

Clark H. Pinnock

John Sanders

Richard Rice

Voted one of Christianity Today's 1995 Books of the Year! The Openness of God presents a careful and full-orbed argument that the God known through Christ desires "responsive relationship" with his creatures. While it rejects process theology, the book asserts that such classical doctrines as God's immutability, impassibility and foreknowledge demand reconsideration. The authors insist that our understanding of God will be more consistently biblical and more true to the actual devotional lives of Christians if we profess that "God, in grace, grants humans significant freedom" and enters into relationship with a genuine "give-and-take dynamic." The Openness of God is remarkable in its comprehensiveness, drawing from the disciplines of biblical, historical, systematic and philosophical theology. Evangelical and other orthodox Christian philosophers have promoted the "relational" or "personalist" perspective on God in recent decades. Now here is the first major attempt to bring the discussion into the evangelical theological arena.

A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God

The Openness of God

Incorporating twelve new readings, Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, Fifth Edition, presents eighty-two selections grouped into fourteen thematic sections, providing instructors with great flexibility in organizing their courses. While it deals primarily with the Western and analytic traditions in philosophy, the book also incorporates readings representing continental, Asian, and Islamic perspectives. The selections are enhanced by substantial section introductions, study questions, suggested readings, and an extensive glossary at the end of the book. The fifth edition includes a new section, "Atheism and Nonreligious Approaches to Religion," featuring work by Paul Draper, Ludwig Feuerbach, Michael Martin, Michael Peterson, and Michael Ruse. Seven other additional selections appear throughout the text. An excellent stand-alone text for courses in the philosophy of religion, Philosophy of Religion, Fifth Edition, is also a perfect companion to the editors' textbook, Reason and Religious Belief, Fifth Edition (OUP, 2012), as the two books share the same topical organization. Package Philosophy of Religion, Fifth Edition, with Reason and Religious Belief, Fifth Edition, and save your students 20% (package ISBN 978-0-19-935952-3). To order, please contact your Oxford sales representative or call 800.280.0280.

William Hasker

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