Thank you for the insightful post Dr. Harmon. As Atheists, we definitely appreciate the points you brought up and think they are generally applicable across the board. From our own perspective, encountering the work of sophisticated analytic theist philosophers such as William Lane Craig, Richard Swinburne, Robert Koons, Eleonore Stump, Alexander Pruss, Josh Rasmussen, and many others showed that Theism could be an intellectually rigorous and rational worldview. From our experience, when open-minded Atheists are introduced to the cutting-edge work done by Theists in the philosophy of religion, it has led to a greater amount of epistemic humility and a more humble intellectual temperament.
For many of us, we've had parallel experiences to what you described above, with many of us starting out as Theists, but then encountering intellectual and philosophical Atheism as epitomized by individuals like J.L. Mackie, J.H. Sobel, Graham Oppy, William Rowe, Evan Fales, Quentin Smith, and others. These individuals showed us that Atheism could withstand not only the objections of many popular apologists but also the arguments offered by sophisticated Theistic philosophers of religion.
Regardless we are excited about the rest of your series and look forward to part II.
Thank you for the insightful post Dr. Harmon. As Atheists, we definitely appreciate the points you brought up and think they are generally applicable across the board. From our own perspective, encountering the work of sophisticated analytic theist philosophers such as William Lane Craig, Richard Swinburne, Robert Koons, Eleonore Stump, Alexander Pruss, Josh Rasmussen, and many others showed that Theism could be an intellectually rigorous and rational worldview. From our experience, when open-minded Atheists are introduced to the cutting-edge work done by Theists in the philosophy of religion, it has led to a greater amount of epistemic humility and a more humble intellectual temperament.
For many of us, we've had parallel experiences to what you described above, with many of us starting out as Theists, but then encountering intellectual and philosophical Atheism as epitomized by individuals like J.L. Mackie, J.H. Sobel, Graham Oppy, William Rowe, Evan Fales, Quentin Smith, and others. These individuals showed us that Atheism could withstand not only the objections of many popular apologists but also the arguments offered by sophisticated Theistic philosophers of religion.
Regardless we are excited about the rest of your series and look forward to part II.