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Steven B. Cowan [17]Steven Britt Cowan [1]
  1. Compatibilism and the Sinlessness of the Redeemed in Heaven.Steven B. Cowan - 2011 - Faith and Philosophy 28 (4):416-431.
    In a recent issue of Faith and Philosophy, Timothy Pawl and Kevin Timpe seek to respond to the so-called “Problem of Heavenly Freedom,” the problem ofexplaining how the redeemed in heaven can be free yet incapable of sinning. In the course of offering their solution, they argue that compatibilism is inadequateas a solution because it (1) undermines the free will defense against the logical problem of evil, and (2) exacerbates the problem of evil by making God the “author of sin.” (...)
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  2.  26
    Molinism, Meticulous Providence, and Luck.Steven B. Cowan - 2009 - Philosophia Christi 11 (1):156-169.
    Molinism entails that God cannot actualize just any possible world because God has no control over what counterfactuals of freedom (CFs) are true. This fact confronts the Molinist with a dilemma. If God has a plan for the course of history logically antecedent to his cognizance of the true CFs, then God would have been implausibly lucky if any actualizable world corresponded to his plan. If, on the other hand, God did not have a plan for the course of history (...)
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  3. The grounding objection to middle knowledge revisited.Steven B. Cowan - 2003 - Religious Studies 39 (1):93-102.
    The Molinist doctrine that God has middle knowledge requires that God knows the truth-values of counterfactuals of freedom, propositions about what free agents would do in hypothetical circumstances. A well-known objection to middle knowledge, the grounding objection, contends that counterfactuals of freedom have no truth-value because there is no fact to the matter as to what an agent with libertarian freedom would do in counterfactual circumstances. Molinists, however, have offered responses to the grounding objection that they believe are adequate for (...)
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  4.  33
    On Target with “Molinism, Meticulous Providence, and Luck”.Steven B. Cowan - 2009 - Philosophia Christi 11 (1):175-180.
    Scott Davison has raised some challenges to my case against the commensurability of meticulous providence and what I call Scheme-B Molinism, the view that God formulates his plan for the course of history consequent to his cognizance of the true counterfactuals of freedom. In this rejoinder, I attempt to clarify certain points of my argument and respond to his criticisms by showing that he has not dealt adequately with the relevant biblical texts or alleviated the worry that the Molinist view (...)
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  5.  60
    Or Abstractum.Steven B. Cowan - 2021 - Philosophia Christi 23 (1):175-185.
    George Berkeley is famous for the metaphysical principle esse is percipi or percipere. Many Berkeleyan idealists take this principle to be incompatible with Platonic realism about abstract objects, and thus opt either for nominalism or divine conceptualism on which they are construed as divine ideas. In this paper, I argue that Berkeleyan idealism is consistent with a Platonic realism in which abstracta exist outside the divine mind. This allows the Berkeleyan to expand Berkeley’s principle to read: esse is percipi or (...)
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  6.  32
    Won’t Get Foiled Again.Greg A. Welty & Steven B. Cowan - 2015 - Philosophia Christi 17 (2):427-442.
    Jerry Walls has attempted to make the case that no orthodox Christian should embrace compatibilism. We responded to his arguments, challenging four key premises. In his most recent response, Walls argues that none of our rebuttals to these premises succeed. Here we clarify aspects of our previous arguments and show that Walls has not in fact undermined our defense of Christian compatibilism.
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  7.  34
    A Reductio Ad Absurdum of Divine Temporality.Steven B. Cowan - 1996 - Religious Studies 32 (3):371 - 378.
    In this paper, I present an argument to show that the doctrine of divine temporality (the view that God is in time, but everlastingly eternal) is incoherent. The doctrine of divine temporality entails that God has traversed an actually infinite series of moments in order to reach the present. But I show that an actually infinite series of moments cannot be traversed. Hence, God could not have traversed his infinite past to reach the present. Therefore, the doctrine of divine temporality (...)
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  8.  68
    A Reductio Ad Absurdum of Divine Temporality: STEVEN B. COWAN.Steven B. Cowan - 1996 - Religious Studies 32 (3):371-378.
    Theists believe that God is eternal, but they differ as to just what God's eternality means . The traditional, historic view of most Christian philosophers is that eternality means that God is timeless. He is ‘outside’ of time and not subject to any kind of temporal change. Indeed, God is the creator of time. Lets call this view divine timelessness.
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  9.  38
    Complementarianism Unfazed.Steven B. Cowan - 2011 - Philosophia Christi 13 (1):181-187.
    Adam Omelianchuk argues that my defense of the distinction between woman’s equality in being and subordinate role fails. I respond that his case misses the point of certain aspects of my argument, that it begs the main question, and that it depends upon an unclear notion of metaphysical equality/inferiority.
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  10. Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: A Compatibilist Reconciliation.Steven Britt Cowan - 1996 - Dissertation, University of Arkansas
    This dissertation attempts to reconcile the apparent inconsistency between a strong view of divine sovereignty and human moral responsibility. God's absolute sovereignty over his creatures entails that human beings cannot do otherwise than they do. If so, then it would seem to follow that human beings cannot be held morally responsible for their actions. The notion that God has Middle Knowledge is often defended as a way out of this apparent inconsistency. It is argued, however, that counterfactuals of freedom have (...)
     
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  11.  28
    God, Libertarian Agency, and Scientific Explanations.Steven B. Cowan - 2002 - Philosophia Christi 4 (1):125-137.
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  12.  37
    “it Would Have Been Good For That Man If He Had Not Been Born”: Human Sinfulness And Hell As A Horrendous Evil.Steven B. Cowan - 2008 - Philosophia Christi 10 (1):239-247.
    Critics of the doctrine of eternal punishment may charge that this doctrine constitutes a horrendous evil unworthy of a perfectly good and loving God in that those experiencing eternal torment have lives not worth living. I respond to the problem of hell as a horrendous evil by arguing, first, that it is not clear that eternal torment constitutes a horrendous evil; and, second, that by adding to the traditional doctrine of hell the Christian belief in human sinfulness and our just (...)
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  13.  74
    Problems in Epistemology and Metaphysics: An Introduction to Contemporary Debates.Steven B. Cowan (ed.) - 2020 - Bloomsbury Publishing.
    Problems in Epistemology and Metaphysics takes a pro and con approach to two central philosophical topics. Each chapter begins with a question: Can We Have Knowledge? How are Beliefs Justified? What is the mind? Contemporary philosophers with opposing viewpoints are then paired together to argue their position and raise problems with conflicting standpoints. Alongside an up-to-date introduction to a core philosophical stance, each contributor provides a critical response to their opponent and clear explanation of their view. Discussion questions are included (...)
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  14.  19
    Theos, Anthropos, Christos: A Compendium of Modern Philosophical Theology.Steven B. Cowan - 2001 - Philosophia Christi 3 (2):571-574.
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  15.  25
    The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus.Steven B. Cowan - 2007 - Philosophia Christi 9 (2):483-487.
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  16.  26
    “That’s Just Your Interpretation”: Responding to Skeptics Who Challenge Your Faith.Steven B. Cowan - 2003 - Philosophia Christi 5 (1):332-336.
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  17.  2
    Idealism and Christian Philosophy.James S. Spiegel & Steven B. Cowan (eds.) - 2016 - New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
    When it comes to contemporary philosophical problems, metaphysical idealism-or Berkeleyan immaterialism-is not taken seriously by most philosophers, not to mention the typical Christian layperson. This state of affairs deserves some attempt at rectification, since Idealism has considerable explanatory power as a metaphysical thesis and provides numerous practical and theoretical benefits. -/- Such thinkers as George Berkeley and Jonathan Edwards believed that Idealism is especially amenable to a Christian perspective, both because it provides a plausible way of conceptualizing the world from (...)
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