The Bible is not the only source of knowledge about God. Christians believe that God has revealed himself through creation (Ps 19:1, Rom 1:19-20), which means we should be able to find evidence for God in nature. This approach, referred to as natural theology, develops a philosophy of God based on observations about our world. Today’s show will attempt to “provide reasons for thinking that classical theism is more reasonable because it has a greater explanatory power than naturalism.” We will be taking your pressing questions and strongest objections!

This is part 1 of our apologetics study as we work through “The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology.” Dr. Charles Taliaferro (professor emeritus of philosophy at St. Olaf College). He also contributed to “Natural Theology: Five Views” from Baker Academic and authored “Evidence and Faith: Philosophy and Religion since the Seventeenth Century” from Cambridge University Press.

Content Discussed

  • 0:00 Intro
  • 1:57 Upcoming shows and events
  • 3:03 What is natural theology?
  • 7:41 The “two book” approach to revelation: creation and scripture
  • 11:36 Why not just trust the preaching of God’s word? Why do natural theology?
  • 15:08 What is abductive reasoning and why is God the best explanation?
  • 18:13 Is there an argument from natural theology that you personally enjoy the most?
  • 22:33 Humility and listening in conversations
  • 23:44 Is God the “best explanation” or the “only explanation”?
  • 26:30 Can you prove that God exists?
  • 36:04 How can you reason to God and then accept unreasonable things in the Bible?
  • 45:57 How did God create everything? Just saying he did explains nothing.
  • 50:49 How is theism more reasonable when naturalism is a more simple explanation?
  • 58:38 Isn’t Christianity just God of the gaps reasoning?
  • 1:05:55 If AI is conscious, would that mean that God is not needed for consciousness?
  • 1:16:25 Why aren’t more philosophers theists? Why don’t arguments from natural theology convince more people?
  • 1:23:17 What is the biblical basis for doing natural theology?
  • 1:26:35 What is nontheistic natural theology?
  • 1:30:11 Closing remarks

Check out all the videos from the 2025 Apologetics Book Study

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