God and Argument

A.J. Pell is rector of Christ Church in Hope, B.C., and a lecturer in
the Anglican Studies Programme at Regent College in Vancouver.

God and Argument is a book of philosophy, not theology. William Sweet
has drawn together 14 philosophers from eastern Canada, plus one each
from Belgium, Scotland, and the United States, to discuss “God as
Object of Philosophical Argument” (the title of his introductory
essay).

The book is divided into three major parts. “Conditions for God and
Argument” has five essays that delve into the problem of basic
conditions necessary to allow any discussion of God as principle or
concept. “(Re)situating Arguments about God” contains six essays
that explore how a restating of the classical arguments for the
existence of God (e.g., Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Kant) might meet
some of the objections to them. The four essays in “Reconsidering
Arguments concerning God’s Existence” ponder the teleological
arguments of process theology and intelligent design claims.

The fact they have made contributions to this volumes indicates that
all these authors, even “militant atheist” Danny Goldstick, are open
to the possibility of philosophical theology (i.e., of applying the
methodology of various schools to philosophy to talking about God). The
value of these essays lies in their ability to clarify arguments about
God. Although not of uniform quality, they deserve a place in courses in
the philosophy of religion.