Erick Nelson
Philosophy and Christianity
I have written four major papers having to do with issues in Christianity,
especially having to do with the questions, "Is Christianity True?" + "How
can we know?" I wrote three of these simply because I had
developed an interest in an issue and couldn't find any book that seemed to
give an adequate analysis. I started by writing my notes to gather my
thoughts, and
developed each part in order to keep it all straight in my head! These are posted here, along with some other articles
and papers I have written over the years.
These papers and investigations are really the main reason I have a web site, and I certainly welcome feedback from the internet readership and would be glad to think through these things together with you. Contact me at ErickNelson@cox.net
One of the leading obstacles to having an appreciation of Jesus today is the widespread view that reason and evidence are not relevant to knowing whether Christianity is true.
William Lane Craig, arguably the leading Christian apologist today, advances a version of "Reformed Epistemology", largely following Alvin Plantinga, contending that we know Christianity is true only by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, and not through reason and evidence.
This thesis is provably false, suffering from 7 major problems which have never been answered - and, ironically, serves to undermine Christian apologetics everywhere. This is published by J.W. Montgomery's online journal, the Global Journal of Classical Theology Vol 6, No 3.
The Metaphorical Gospel Theory
Perhaps the most popular and powerful objection to Christianity today is the contention that historic Christianity has always misunderstood the meaning and intent of the gospel - that the Claims made about Jesus, and the accounts of his words and deeds, were never intended to be taken literally, but are metaphorical, spiritual stories.
Scholars such as Marcus Borg, Bishop John Shelby Spong, and John Dominic Crossan (each with his own emphasis and viewpoint) are major proponents of this view, which I call the "Metaphorical Gospel Theory."
This thesis is clearly refuted by the internal and external evidences, and neither Spong nor Borg were able to provide any answers when asked pointed questions. Mark Allan Powell, who chairs the Historical Jesus Section of the SBL, took up this theme and wrote an article based on this paper in Vol 1.2 (June 2003) of the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus.
Structured Stories with Eyewitness Control
One of the major obstacles to an understanding of the historical reliability of the gospels is the commonly accepted solution to the Synoptic Problem, that is, the belief that Matthew and Luke copied from an existing Mark gospel and possibly from each other.
This theory is now largely accepted by New Testament scholars and their students, conservative and liberal alike. The only question still debated is the order of literary dependence (e.g. priority of Mark vs. Matthew), not the fact of it. However, critically looking afresh at the texts side-by-side, along with the arguments used to support this theory, seems to show that - whatever their literary sources - they did not directly copy each other.
But what is the right answer, then? I propose a scenario, which I call "Structured Stories with Eyewitness Control", which fits not only the internal (textual) phenomena but also the external evidence.
This paper presents a logical/evidential answer to the question "Why do you think Christianity is true?" and looks not only at the evidence but at the philosophical questions underlying this problem. Written in 1977 for J.W. Montgomery. Most ancient paper. 172 pp
21 short writings on issues as they've arisen when corresponding with friends. Includes discussions of Big Bang, what about those who haven't heard?, skepticism, historiography, world views and religious options, evidence and faith, and others.
GRADUATE PAPERS
Epistemology: Inference from Direct Knowledge
This was a graduate philosophy paper examining the question "Can we legitimately make the inference from basic, direct knowledge to the existence and qualities of objects in the real world?" Most fundamental philosophical paper. 23 pp
Master's thesis at Claremont Graduate School, 1985. It argues that the "intermediary part" of the soul can be well defined and helps to integrate Plato's philosophy. Most technical philosophical paper. 27 pp