Groothuis' "Christian Apologetics" ch.10: The Ontological Argument

This chapter from Groothuis' Christian Apologetics on the ontological argument will probably boggle my mind forever.  Here's what I've got, though.

The first premise below is okay, because the idea of a perfect being is conceivable (not contradictory).

Anselm's first ontological argument:
1.  God is the greatest possible being.
2.  Actual existence is better than possible (mental) existence.
3.  Because 1 & 2, therefore God, as the greatest possible being, does not merely have possible (mental) existence, but also actual.

Question:  What if the greatest actual being is not the greatest possible being?

Groothuis' "Christian Apologetics" ch.9: In Defense of Theistic Arguments

One thing I found helpful in this chapter of Groothuis' Christian Apologetics was the distinction between general revelation and natural theology.  Not all general revelation is 'natural'--"God may have revealed himself in a way not susceptible to argumentation.  If so, this general revelation would be more a matter of intuition than intellection," (p. 174).  I think the moral hunger common to every human fits in this category.

I appreciated that general revelation in the Bible was referenced.  Romans 1:19-20:  "What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been are, so that people are without excuse."  Romans 2:14-15:  "(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵ They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)"

Groothuis' "Christian Apologetics" ch.8: Faith, Risk and Rationality

Selected favorite quotes from Groothuis' Christian Apologetics:

p. 158:  "Pascal does not mention hell overtly in his famous argument."

p. 161:  "First, prudential matters do not determine beliefs; they merely prime the pump for investigation and consideration.  One must consider the credibility of any religious claim in addition to its prudential promises."

Question:  "Yet this does not mean that we could not choose to cease believing in Christianity," (p. 163)--how does that relate to 'perseverance of the saints'?  This use of the world belief implies not mere intellectual assent (the sort "even the demons" give), but actual faith.

(discussion index)

Groothuis' "Christian Apologetics" ch.7: Why Truth Matters Most

Selected favorite quotes from Groothuis' Christian Apologetics:

p. 147-148:  "most postmodernists are not skeptics but nonrealists.  Knowledge for them is not difficult but easy: just assent to the language game in which we find ourselves--unless we deem it a totalizing metanarrative."

p. 148:  "Scripture repeatedly promises that confident knowledge of God is possible for humans rightly related to their Maker (see Romans 8:15-16)."

p. 149-150:  "...some Christians supported slavery and female subjection as perpetual and God-ordained institutions when, in fact, they do not appear as such in Scripture itself.  The postmodernist 'hermeneutic of suspicion' calls us to reevaluate such claims to see if they may be based more on the vested interests of the powerful than on truth itself.  But this hermeneutic of suspicion itself must presuppose that the true can be separated from the false according to wise judgment.  So, if we look back at the interpretation of Scripture held by the Southern slave owners and traders, we discern that their reading was adversely affected by their investment in the institution of slavery.  That is, both their hermeneutic and their racist views were wrong, false and out of alignment with reality.  The hermeneutic of suspicion cannot properly function without the concept of objective truth."

p. 151:  Dorothy Sayers:  "In the world it calls itself Tolerance; but in hell it is called Despair.  It is the accomplice of the other sins and their worst punishment.  It is the sin which believes nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, loves nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and only remains alive because there is nothing it would die for."