- Paperback: 160 pages
- Publisher: OUP Oxford (1 Feb 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0198235453
- ISBN-13: 978-0198235453
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 12.7 x 0.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 692,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Is There a God?
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Product Description
Review
"With audacity, [Swinburne] yields nothing to modernity that cannot withstand rigorous philosophical analysis. An essential purchase for seminaries and graduate schools."--Religious Studies Review
Product Description
Is There a God? offers a powerful response to modern doubts about the existence of God. 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. Cosmologists have rolled back their theories to the moment of the Big Bang, the discovery of DNA reveals the key to life, the theory of evolution explains the development of life... and with each new discovery or development, it seems that we are closer to a complete understanding of how things are. For many people, this gives strength to the belief that God is not needed to explain the universe; that religious belief is not based on reason; and that the existence of God is, intellectually, a lost cause. Richard Swinburne, one of the most distinguished philosophers of religion of our day, argues that on the contrary, science provides good grounds for belief in God. Why is there a universe at all? Why is there any life on Earth? How is it that discoverable scientific laws operate in the universe? Professor Swinburne uses the methods of scientific reasoning to argue that the best answers to these questions are given by the existence of God. The picture of the universe that science gives us is completed by God.
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First Sentence
My topic is the claim that there is a God, understood in the way that Western religion (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) has generally understood that claim. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
My topic is the claim that there is a God, understood in the way that Western religion (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) has generally understood that claim. Read the first page
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Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A brief case for theism,
By A Customer
This review is from: Is There a God? (Paperback)
In "Is There a God?" Swinburne seeks to provide a less sophisticated version of the case for theism which appears in his classic "The Existence of God" (1979). While accomplishing his task with great brevity, I concur with the previous reviewer that this book may not be accessible to the lay audience. Swinburne's arguments are characteristically erudite and will require considerable attention on the part of readers. Although this book may not acheive its intended success in the mass market, I consider it an excellent introduction to Swinburne's work. From that standpoint, "Is There a God?" may be used as a primer to his more substantial scholarly writings. In this present title, Swinburne's first ("God"), third ("The Simplicity of God") and sixth ("Why God Allows Evil") chapters are particularly noteworthy. His two-page epilogue summarizes with great clarity one's responsibilities should theism be true. --David A. Frenz
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Uneven Book of Natural Theology,
By A Customer
This review is from: Is There a God? (Paperback)
Swiburne writes clearly and his arguments for God's existence are interesting and suggestive. In the end, though, they come down to the notion that God is the "simplest" explanation for things we observe in the natural world. It was never clear how postulating the existence of something unlike anything else in experience could be a "simple" explanation of the world. Maybe it's "simpler" just to take the existence of the world as an unexplained fact, a mystery. The discussion of why God allows pain and suffering is the weakest part of the book and is almost a parody of traditional theodicy. At one point in his discussion of animal suffering, Swinburne argues that forest fires aren't necessarily bad for animals because they give them an opportunity to escape danger, which he regards as a "significant intentional act." Since "significant intentional acts" are goods things, it follows that forest fires could be good for animals. This sounds like a joke but Swinburne was serious. The reader wondering why God allows suffering would be better advised to read the book of Job.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good for what it is,
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This review is from: Is There a God? (Paperback)
Although I found his philosophical arguments unconvincing, Swinburne writes eloquently a good exposition of the freewill defence. His logic deserves an attempt to understand it. He thankfully does not attempt to impose his views on others, but only to explain his philosophical position, unlike other writers (both theist and atheist) on this topic; this can only be a good thing. As he says himself, this is merely an introduction to his thinking, so I would recommend reading his other books for better justification for his conlucions.
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