Christian philosophers revile Christian philosopher for advocating Christianity

Sep 29, 2016 by Jill

By Dr Edward Feser, LifeSite:

Richard Swinburne, emeritus professor of philosophy at Oxford University, author of many highly influential books, and among the most eminent of contemporary Christian thinkers, recently gave the keynote address at a meeting of the Society of Christian Philosophers (SCP). In his talk, which was on the theme of sexual morality, he defended the view that homosexual acts are disordered – a view that has historically been commonly held within Christianity and the other major world religions, has been defended by philosophers like Plato, Aquinas, and Kant, and is defended to this day by various natural law theorists. So, it would seem a perfectly suitable topic of discussion and debate for a meeting of Christian philosophers of religion. Of course, that view is highly controversial today. Even some contemporary Christian philosophers disagree with Swinburne. I wasn’t there, but apparently his talk generated some criticism. Fair enough. That’s what meetings of philosophers are about – the free and vigorous exchange of ideas and arguments.

Yet for some reason, Michael Rea, president of the SCP, posted the following statement on his Facebook page over the weekend:

I want to express my regret regarding the hurt caused by the recent Midwest meeting of the Society for Christian Philosophers. The views expressed in Professor Swinburne’s keynote are not those of the SCP itself. Though our membership is broadly united by way of religious faith, the views of our members are otherwise diverse. As President of the SCP, I am committed to promoting the intellectual life of our philosophical community. Consequently (among other reasons), I am committed to the values of diversity and inclusion. As an organization, we have fallen short of those ideals before, and surely we will again. Nonetheless, I will strive for them going forward. If you have thoughts or feedback you would like to share with me, I would welcome hearing from you via email or private message.

End quote. Rea’s statement has received a lot of feedback on Facebook – both positive and negative – and has gotten attention elsewhere online as well (such as at Rod Dreher’s column at The American Conservative).

Read here

Read also: Did Swinburne get Swindled? from Rightly Considered

Swinburne, Homosexuality, and the Society of Christian Philosophers by Jim Spiegel, Wisdom & Folly