William Lane Craig (born August 23, 1949) is an American philosopher and theologian known for his contributions to the
philosophy of religionPhilosophy of religion is a branch of philosophy that asks questions about religion. As with all philosophies, the topics at hand are generated by those who participate...
, the philosophy of time,
philosophical theologyPhilosophical theology is the disciplined employment of philosophical methods in developing or analyzing theological concepts. It therefore includes natural theology as well as philosophical treatments of orthodox and heterodox theology....
, and
historical JesusThe historical Jesus is the figure of the first-century Jesus of Nazareth as reconstructed by scholars using historical methods that include critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, and non-biblical sources for the historical and cultural context in which he lived...
studies. One of the most visible contemporary proponents of
natural theologyNatural theology is a branch of theology based on reason and ordinary experience. Thus it is distinguished from revealed theology which is based on scripture and religious experiences of various kinds; and also from transcendental theology, theology from a priori reasoning.Marcus Terentius Varro ...
, Craig has contributed to a number of proposed
theistic proofsArguments for and against the existence of God have been proposed by scientists, philosophers, theologians, and others. In philosophical terminology, "existence-of-God" arguments concern schools of thought on the epistemology of the ontology of God....
. In 1979, Craig authored
The Kalam Cosmological Argument, which is today the most published-on contemporary argument for theism in philosophy. While Craig holds that
theismTheism in the broadest sense is the belief in at least one deity. In a more specific sense, theism refers to a particular doctrine concerning the nature of God and his relationship to the universe. Theism, in this specific sense, conceives of God as personal and active in the governance and...
can be demonstrated, he also embraces the
Plantingian viewReformed epistemology is the title given to a broad body of epistemological viewpoints relating to God's existence that have been offered by a group of Protestant Christian philosophers that includes Alvin Plantinga, William Alston, and Nicholas Wolterstorff among others...
that no argument is necessary for justified belief in God. A leading philosopher of space and time, Craig advocates a tensed or
A-Theory of timeA-series and B-series are terms introduced by the Scottish idealist philosopher John McTaggart in 1908 which have become classic terms of reference in modern discussions of the philosophy of time, even outside the analytic tradition....
and a
Neo-Lorentzian interpretationWhat is now called Lorentz Ether theory has its roots in Hendrik Lorentz's "Theory of electrons", which was the final point in the development of the classical aether theories at the end of the 19
th and at the beginning of the 20
th century.Lorentz's initial theory created in...
of the
Theory of RelativityThe theory of relativity, or simply relativity, generally refers specifically to two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity...
. An enthusiastic proponent of
MolinismNot to be confused with the quietist doctrine of Miguel de Molinos.Molinism, named after 16th Century Jesuit theologian Luis de Molina, is a religious doctrine which attempts to reconcile the omniscience of God with human free will...
, Craig’s theological research has focused on divine
omniscienceOmniscience is the capacity to know everything infinitely, or at least everything that can be known about a character including thoughts, feelings, life and the universe, etc. In monotheism, this ability is typically attributed to God...
, as well as divine
eternityWhile in the popular mind, eternity often simply means existing for a limitless amount of time, many have used it to refer to a timeless existence altogether outside of time...
and
aseityAseity is a theological term, referring to the characteristic of being un-derived in contrast to being derived from or dependent on another, hence predicable only of God in classical theology. Ideally, this term means that God necessarily exists as opposed to it happening to be the case that God...
. As a New Testament scholar, Craig’s work has centered on the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. He has propounded an historical apologetic which argues
inferentiallyAbduction is a method of logical inference introduced by Charles Sanders Peirce which comes prior to induction and deduction for which the colloquial name is to have a "hunch". Abductive reasoning starts when an inquirer considers of a set of seemingly unrelated facts, armed with an intuition that...
from the particulars of
early ChristianityEarly Christianity is commonly known as the Christianity of the roughly three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus and the First Council of Nicaea in 325....
to what Craig calls “the resurrection hypothesis.” An ardent defender of the Christian faith, and a seasoned debater, Craig has been called “the finest Christian apologist of the last half century.” He is currently a Research Professor of Philosophy at
Talbot School of TheologyTalbot School of Theology is a non-denominational, conservative evangelical Christian theological seminary located near Los Angeles. Talbot is one of the seven schools that comprise Biola University, located in La Mirada, California.-History:...
,
Biola UniversityBiola University is a private, non-denominational, evangelical Christian, liberal arts university located near Los Angeles. Biola's main campus is located in the city of La Mirada in Los Angeles County, California...
.
Early life and education
Craig was born in
Peoria, IllinoisPeoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city was the fifth-largest in Illinois, with a population of 112,936; by 2007 it was the sixth-largest city and had population of 113,546...
, grew up in
Keokuk, IowaKeokuk is a city in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Iowa and one of the county seats of Lee County. The other county seat is Fort Madison. The population was 11,427 at the 2000 census. The city is named after Sauk Chief Keokuk, who is buried in Rand Park. It is located in the extreme...
and was raised in a non-religious family which included a father who was a railroad executive and
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veteran, his mother, a homemaker, an older sister and younger brother.
Craig became a Christian at the age of sixteen, and his vocation and academic studies have reflected his commitment to Christian beliefs within the
evangelicalEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s.Most adherents consider its key characteristics to be: a belief in the need for personal conversion ; some expression of the gospel in effort; a high regard for biblical authority; and an emphasis on the...
tradition. In theological commitments he holds to a
Middle Knowledge/MolinistNot to be confused with the quietist doctrine of Miguel de Molinos.Molinism, named after 16th Century Jesuit theologian Luis de Molina, is a religious doctrine which attempts to reconcile the omniscience of God with human free will...
view of the role of human will in conversion. He has had friendly connections with parachurch ministries such as
Campus Crusade for ChristCampus Crusade for Christ is an interdenominational Christian organization that promotes evangelism and discipleship in more than 190 countries...
and
InterVarsity Christian FellowshipInterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is an interdenominational, evangelical Christian student-led ministry dedicated to establishing witnessing communities on college and university campuses...
.
In his undergraduate studies, Craig was influenced by the writings of
Francis SchaefferFrancis August Schaeffer was an American Evangelical Christian theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He is most famous for his writings and his establishment of the L'Abri community in Switzerland...
,
Edward John CarnellEdward John Carnell was a prominent Christian theologian and apologist, was an ordained Baptist pastor, and served as President of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He was the author of nine major books, several of which attempted to develop a fresh outlook in Christian...
, and Stuart Hackett, the latter of whom Craig studied under.
Craig's tertiary education commenced at Wheaton College, Illinois where he graduated in 1971 with a B.A. degree in communications. He then proceeded to graduate studies at
Trinity Evangelical Divinity SchoolTrinity Evangelical Divinity School is an evangelical Christian seminary located in Deerfield, Illinois. TEDS is a part of Trinity International University, and is operated by the Evangelical Free Church of America....
,
Deerfield, IllinoisDeerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. A portion of the village is in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,420 at the 2000 census....
, where he graduated with two M.A. degrees in 1974 and 1975, one in the philosophy of religion and the other in church history.
In 1977 Craig earned a doctorate in philosophy under
John HickProfessor John Harwood Hick is a philosopher of religion and theologian. In philosophical theology, he has made contributions in the areas of theodicy, eschatology, and Christology, and in the philosophy of religion he has contributed to the areas of epistemology of religion and religious...
at the
University of BirminghamThe University of Birmingham is a British 'Redbrick' university located in the city of Birmingham, England...
, England, and in 1984 a doctorate in theology under
Wolfhart PannenbergWolfhart Pannenberg is a German Christian theologian.-Life and views:Pannenberg was baptized as an infant into the Evangelical Church, but otherwise had virtually no contact with the church in his early years...
at the University of Munich. During his doctoral studies, he was a Fellow of the
Alexander von Humboldtwas a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher, and linguist, Wilhelm von Humboldt...
Stiftung.
Work and publications
From 1980-86 he was an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at
Trinity Evangelical Divinity SchoolTrinity Evangelical Divinity School is an evangelical Christian seminary located in Deerfield, Illinois. TEDS is a part of Trinity International University, and is operated by the Evangelical Free Church of America....
. He also briefly held the position of associate professor of Religious Studies at
Westmont CollegeWestmont College, founded in 1937, is an interdenominational Christian liberal arts college in Santa Barbara, California.- History :Ruth Kerr, owner of the Kerr Mason Jar Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute , later renamed the Western Bible College...
,
Santa Barbara, CaliforniaSanta Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
in 1986. Between 1987-1994 Craig pursued further research at the
University of LeuvenThe Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is the Flemish offshoot of the oldest university in the Low Countries which was originally founded in 1425 . Centrally located in the historic town of Leuven in Flanders, the K.U. Leuven is officially a Dutch-speaking institution. With 35,347 students in...
,
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
. Since 1994 he has been a Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology,
La Mirada, CaliforniaLa Mirada is a city in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is one of the cities that make up the Gateway Cities. The population was 46,783 at the 2000 census....
.
As a philosopher, Craig has defended Christian
theismTheism in the broadest sense is the belief in at least one deity. In a more specific sense, theism refers to a particular doctrine concerning the nature of God and his relationship to the universe. Theism, in this specific sense, conceives of God as personal and active in the governance and...
, both at the popular level and in academic publications. He is often credited with reviving the
Kalam cosmological argumentThe Kalām cosmological argument is a variation of the cosmological argument taking its form from the Kalām tradition of Islamic discursive theology. It attempts to prove the existence of God by appealing to the principle of universal cause. It is believed to be the muslim version of the argument...
for the
existence of GodArguments for and against the existence of God have been proposed by scientists, philosophers, theologians, and others. In philosophical terminology, "existence-of-God" arguments concern schools of thought on the epistemology of the ontology of God....
, which argues for a first cause from the finitude of past events and the origin of the cosmos. His work on the compatibility of divine foreknowledge and human freedom has made him one of the most important contemporary defenders of Molinism, with its doctrine of middle knowledge. In the philosophy of time, he has vigorously defended the tensed or A-Theory of time and a
Neo-Lorentzian interpretationWhat is now called Lorentz Ether theory has its roots in Hendrik Lorentz's "Theory of electrons", which was the final point in the development of the classical aether theories at the end of the 19
th and at the beginning of the 20
th century.Lorentz's initial theory created in...
of the
Theory of RelativityThe theory of relativity, or simply relativity, generally refers specifically to two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity...
, involving a privileged
frame of referenceA frame of reference in physics, may refer to a coordinate system or set of axes within which to measure the position, orientation, and other properties of objects in it, or it may refer to an observational reference frame tied to the state of motion of an observer.It may also refer to both an...
and relations of absolute simultaneity.
He is also a fellow of the
Discovery InstituteThe Discovery Institute is a conservative non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design. Its Teach the Controversy campaign aims to teach creationist anti-evolution beliefs in United States public high school science courses...
's
Center for Science and CultureThe Center for Science and Culture , formerly known as the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture , is part of the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank in the United States...
which is the hub of the
intelligent design movementThe intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of "intelligent design." Its chief activities are a campaign to promote public awareness of this concept, the lobbying of policymakers to include...
. Craig is also a fellow of the
International Society for Complexity, Information and DesignThe International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design was a non-profit professional society that promoted intelligent design.and rejected evolution....
(ISCID). Craig has written on the philosophical and cosmological aspects of the fine tuning of the universe by an intelligent creator.
As a
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
scholar, Craig has published widely on the historicity of the resurrection accounts of Jesus. Like N.T. Wright and
Gary HabermasGary Robert Habermas is an Evangelical Christian, American Christian apologist, theologian, and philosopher of religion....
, Craig has argued that the bodily resurrection of Jesus best explains what can be gleaned from the historical Jesus’ self-understanding, his death and burial, the posthumous apparitions of Jesus, and the origin of the early Christian movement. His work in philosophy has influenced other Christian philosophers, notably Francis Beckwith and
J. P. MorelandJames Porter Moreland , better known as J. P. Moreland, is an American philosopher, theologian, and Christian apologist. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University in La Mirada, California. He received a Ph.D...
.
Craig has edited, authored, or co-authored over thirty books and over a hundred articles in professional journals.
http://www.reasonablefaith.org In the July 2008 issue of
Christianity TodayChristianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 145,000 and readership of 304,500...
, Craig wrote a cover article, titled "
God is Not Dead Yet." In the article, Craig celebrates what he believes is the success of natural theology to deliver arguments for the existence of God. "[New atheism] is blissfully ignorant of the revolution that has taken place in Anglo-American philosophy," claims Craig. "It reflects the scientism of a bygone generation rather than the contemporary intellectual scene."
William Lane Craig authored
Hard Questions, Real Answers in 2003,
Time and Eternity: Exploring God's Relationship to Time in 2001,
Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics in 1994, and co-authored with J.P. Moreland
Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview in 2003. His works depict Christian apologetics in epistemology, ontology, cosmology, theology, morality, logic, and historicity.
Craig has been critical of liberal theology,
metaphysical naturalismMetaphysical naturalism , characterizes any worldview in which reality is such that there is nothing but the natural things, forces, and causes of the kind that the natural sciences study, i.e...
,
logical positivismLogical positivism is a school of philosophy that combines empiricism, the idea that observational evidence is indispensable for knowledge of the world, with a version of rationalism incorporating mathematical and logico-linguistic constructs and deductions in epistemology.[See, e.g., : ...]
,
moral relativismIn philosophy moral relativism is the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect universal moral truths . Instead, Moral Relativism makes claims relative to social, cultural, or historical circumstances. Moral relativists hold that no universal standard exists by which to assess an...
, and the ideas put forth by the
Jesus SeminarThe Jesus Seminar is a group of about 150 individuals, including scholars with advanced degrees in biblical studies, religious studies or related fields as well as published authors who are notable in the field of religion, founded in 1985 by the late Robert Funk and John Dominic Crossan under the...
. He has defended the middle knowledge view of
divine providenceIn theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is the sovereignty, superintendence, or agency of God over events in people's lives and throughout history.-Etymology:...
and is also notable for his work in the philosophy of time. He is a founding member and has served as president of the Philosophy of Time Society.
Public speaking
He is a frequent public speaker and debater on university campuses and he occasionally appears in the national news media. He has engaged many prominent academic
atheistsAtheism can be either the rejection of theism,or the position that deities do not exist.In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities....
and liberal theologians in public dialogue. Some of these debates have been subsequently published as books, which include
Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? Debate with
John Dominic CrossanJohn Dominic Crossan is an Irish-American religious scholar known for co-founding the controversial Jesus Seminar. Crossan is a major figure in the fields of biblical archaeology, anthropology and New Testament textual and higher criticism. He is also a lecturer who has appeared in television...
,
Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Figment? Debate with Gerd Lüdemann
Does God exist? Debate with
Antony FlewAntony Garrard Newton Flew is a British philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, he is notable for his works on the philosophy of religion....
, and
God? Debate with Walter Sinnott-Armstrong.
In March 2006, Craig and New Testament scholar
Bart D. EhrmanBart D. Ehrman is an American New Testament scholar and textual critic of early Christianity. He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill...
engaged in a debate entitled "Is There Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus?" on the campus of the
College of the Holy CrossThe College of the Holy Cross is an undergraduate Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA...
, with Craig arguing in the affirmative and Ehrman arguing in opposition to the affirmative.
http://www.holycross.edu/departments/crec/website/resurrdebate.htm Three years later, Craig debated
Christopher HitchensChristopher Eric Hitchens is an English-American author, journalist, and literary critic. He has been a columnist at Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, World Affairs, The Nation, Slate, Free Inquiry, and a variety of other media outlets...
on April 4, 2009 at Biola University on the topic "Does God Exist?"
External links
- Reasonable Faith, William Lane Craig's website featuring articles, transcripts of debates, audio-visual resources, an online newsletter and discussion forum.
- William Lane Craig on MySpace
MySpace is a social networking website. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California, USA, where it shares an office building with its immediate owner, Fox Interactive Media, which is owned by News Corporation. MySpace became the most popular social networking site in the United...
.
- William Lane Craig (Theopedia; with audio resources)