Definitions
- a posteriori - a Latin phrase that literally means "from the latter." It is used to refer to justification requiring empirical validation. For example, I can only know how many apples are in the refrigerator after I check.
- a priori - a Latin phrase that literally means "from the former." It is used to refer to a justification that can take place prior to consulting any empirical evidence. For example, I know a priori that I exist.
- Agnosticism - the view that the truth claims regarding the existence of God cannot be known. For example, "I do not believe it is possible to know whether or not there is a God."
- Anthropic Principle - An attempt to explain away the Fine-Tuning Argument by acknowledging the fact that since we see the universe the way it is, we should not be surprised at its fine-tuning. According to this argument, if the universe were not fine-tuned to this degree then we would not be here to observe it.
- Apologetics - comes from the Greek word apologia meaning "a speaking in defense".
- Argument - a set of one or more meaningful declarative sentences or "propositions" known as premises along with another meaningful declarative sentence or "proposition" known as the conclusion.
- Aseity - refers to the characteristic of being un-derived in contrast to being derived or dependent on another. God's aseity refers to his self-existence. He is not dependent on an outside force for his existence, as he was never created.
- Atheism - the explicit view that there are no deities. For example, "I believe there is no God."
- Axiom - a proposition that is not proved or demonstrated but considered to be either self-evident, or subject to necessary decision. Therefore, its truth is taken for granted and serves as a starting point for deducing and inferring other truths.
- Begging the Question - a type of logical fallacy in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly in one of the premises. In other words, the given argument depends on what it is trying to prove. For example, "I would do a great job of running the country because I am great Presidential material!"
- Circular Reasoning - an attempt to support a statement by simply repeating the statement in different or stronger terms. For example, to say "you should get a job because having a job is good for you" is only really saying "you should get a job because you should have a job". For more information, see "Begging the Question".
- Conflate - in logic, this is the practice of treating two distinct concepts as if they were one.
- Cosmology - this is the study of the Universe in its totality.
- Deductive Argument - an argument is said to be deductive when the truth of the conclusion is said to follow necessarily from (or be a logical consequence of) the premises.
- Defensive Apologetics - this type of apologetics seeks to answer challenges to Christianity. Included here are such things as answering the problem of evil or the hiddenness of God.
- Deism - a philosophical belief that a supreme natural God exists and created the universe, but that God does not intervene in the affairs of the universe.
- Dualism - any of a variety of views about the relationship betwen mind and matter, which claims that mind and matter are two ontologically separate categories. In particular, it claims that neither the mind nor matter can be reduced to each other in any way.
- Empiricism - a theory of knowledge which asserts that knowledge rises from real, tangible and provable experiences.
- Epistemology - the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope (limitations) of knowledge. It addresses questions such as "What is knowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", "What do people know?", and "How do we know what we know?"
- Equivocate - to be deliberatly ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information.
- Evidentialism - a theory of justification according to which whether a belief is justified depends solely on what a person's evidence is.
- ex nihilo - a Latin phrase meaning "out of nothing". It often appears in conjunction with the concept of creation, as in creatio ex nihilo meaning "creation out of nothing."
- Existentialism - a school of philosophy that begins with a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. Existentialist thinkers focus on the question of concrete human existence and the conditions of this existence rather than hypothesizing a human essence.
- Fallacy - an argument which may convince some people but is not logically sound.
- Fine-Tuning Argument - the belief that a remarkably delicate balance between the small scale phenomena of atomic and nuclear physics and the large scale phenomena of astronomy and cosmology must exist for the universe to be hospitable to life.
- Humanism (Secular) - a philosophy that upholds reason, ethics, and justice, and specifically rejects the supernatural and the spiritual as the basis of moral reflection and decision making.
- Inductive Argument - reasoning which takes us "beyond the confines of our current evidence or knowledge to conclusions about the unknown." The premises of an inductive argument indicate some degree of support for the conclusion but do not entail it. For example, if we learn that ice is cold, we can induce that all ice is cold even though we have not tested all ice in existence.
- Materialism - a school of philosophy which holds that the only thing which can be truly proven to exist is matter. Fundamentally, all things are composed of material and all phenomena (including consciousness) are the result of material interactions.
- Metaphysics - investigates principles of reality transcending those of any particular science.
- Middle Knowledge (a.k.a. Molinism) - the belief which holds that in addition to knowing everything that does or will happen, God also knows what would happen if he acted differently than he does.
- modus ponens - a logical rule that takes a particular form (the section 'Examples' below for further details).
- modus tollens - a logical rule that takes a particular form (see the section 'Examples' below for further details).
- Molinism - a religious doctrine which attempts to reconcile the omniscience of God with human free will. Molinists hold that in addition to knowing everything that does or will happen, God also knows what would happen if he acted differently than he does. See also "Middle Knowledge".
- Monism - the metaphysical and theological view that all is one, that all reality consists of a single basic substance or element. For example, the statement in Pantheism that "everything is God."
- Mysticism - the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of an ultimate reality, divinity, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition or insight.
- Natural Revelation - the belief that God reveals himself through his creation, and that at least some truths can be learned by studying nature, physics, cosmology, etc.
- Naturalism - a philosophical position that all phenomena can be explained in terms of natural causes and laws. In its broadest and strongest sense, naturalism is the metaphysical position that "nature is all there is and all basic truths are truths of nature".
- Occam's Razor - the principle that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the hypothesis or theory. When multiple competing hypotheses are equal in other respects, this principles recommends selecting the hypothesis that introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest entities.
- Offensive Apologetics - this type of apologetics makes a positive case for Christianity. It includes such things as offering evidence for God's existence, for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, etc.
- Omnibenevolence - the property of being infinitely benevolent.
- Omnipotence - the ability to do everything that is logically possible (in other words, it is logically impossible to make a square triangle).
- Omnipresence - the property of being present everywhere.
- Omniscience - the capacity to know everything infinitely.
- Ontology - the study in philosophy of the nature of being, existence or reality in general, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations.
- Pantheism - the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing immanent abstract God. In this view, the Universe, or nature, and God are equivalent.
- Postmodernism - a philosophical direction that is skeptical or nihilistic toward many of the values and assumptions of philosophy deriving from modernity, such as humanity having an essence which distinguishes humans from animals. Most varieties state that there are no absolutes and everything is relative.
- Rationalism - any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification.
- Relativism - the idea that some elements of experience are dependent on other elements or aspects. A common relativistic statement is "That's true for you but not for me."
- Revelation - the act of revealing or disclosing, or making something obvious and clearly understood through active or passive communication with the divine. Revelation can originate directly from a deity or through an agent, such as an angel.
- Self-Refuting Idea - an idea or statement whose falsehood is a logical consequence of the act or situation of holding them to be true. For example, the sentence "All truth is relative" is self-refuting because the sentence itself is considered universally true (i.e. not relative).
- Skepticism - the doctrine that true knowledge in a particular area is uncertain; an attitude of doubt either in general or toward a particular object.
- Special Revelation - a theological term that states a belief that knowledge of God and of spiritual matters can be discovered through supernatural means, such as miracles or the scriptures.
- Straw Man - an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by substituting a superficially similar proposition (the "straw man") and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position.
- Syllogism - a type of logical argument in which one proposition (the conclusion) is inferred from two others (the premises) of a certain form. A popular syllogism is known as "The Moral Argument". This syllogism is demonstrated in the 'Examples' section below.
- Tautology - repetition of meaning, using different words to say the same thing twice, especially where the additional words fail to provide further clarity.
- Teleology - the philosophical study of design and purpose. This school of thought holds that all things are designed or directed toward a final result, and that there is an inherent purpose or final cause for all that exists.
- Theism - a belief in God such that God is single, supreme, and transcendent as well as remaining an active, immanent force in the universe.
- Theodicy - the branch of philosophy that defends God's goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil.
Entire dictionaries have been devoted to philosophical and theological definitions surrounding these topics. This list is not intended to be exhaustive, but is merely offered as an initial list of terms to help explain some of the basic apologetics concepts.
Examples
Below are examples of the two rules of logic defined above. These examples are provided to offer further clarity regarding these fundamental rules of logic.
modus ponens
The logical rule of modus ponens takes the form:
If P, then Q
P
Therefore, Q
For example:
If my alarm clock goes off, then it is time to go to work
My alarm clock has gone off
Therefore, it is time to go to work
modus tollens
The logical rule of modus tollens takes the form:
If P, then Q
Not Q
Therefore, not P
For example:
If the water is warm enough, then I will go swimming
The water is not warm enough
Therefore, I will not go swimming
The Moral Argument
A syllogism with the following form:
Premise 1: If God does not exist, then objective moral values do not exist
Premise 2: Objective moral values do exist
Conclusion: Therefore, God exists
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