Dictionary of Apologetic Terms

Agnosticism: The view that God's existence cannot be known (theism) nor denied (atheism). The term (coined by T. H. Huxley in 1869) was later extended to include the view that knowledge must be restricted to what is available to the senses, and that anything not so available (including therefore religion and God) is irrelevant to life today. A “hard” agnostic is one that says unequivocally that God cannot be known by anyone. In contrast, a “soft” agnostic makes the more modest claim that while evidence of God’s existence is lacking, perhaps knowledge of God is not entirely impossible.

Aristotle: Greek philosopher and naturalist who provided the philosophical basis of science which proved dominant for 18 centuries. One of Plato’s finest pupils, Aristotle was an advisor to Philip II of Macedon and a tutor to his young son who was to become Alexander the Great. Aristotle’s collected lectures cover most of the knowledge of the time in science, and some other fields such as logic and ethics, and include much of his own work in zoology and anatomy. Aristotle’s status as one of the dominant figures in philosophy has never changed.

Epistemology: The branch of philosophy dealing with the theory of knowledge. Some basic epistemological questions are: “What is knowledge? How do we acquire knowledge? What can be known?” Three major schools in epistemology include empiricism, rationalism, and skepticism.

First Cause: The original cause of all effects. Developed by Aristotle as an explanation of motion (i.e. the Prime Mover), the concept was applied in philosophy of religion and forms the basis of the Cosmological Argument. Since all observable phenomena are effects, there must be a cause for all observable phenomena. There cannot be an infinite regress of causes, therefore there exists an uncaused First Cause. The First Cause is identified as God by Theists.

Igneous: Rocks formed when molten rock (magna) cools.

Isotope: An atom of a given element that is distinguished from another atom of the same element by a difference in the number of neutrons in the nucleus. All atoms of a common element have the same atomic number (protons in the nucleus), but may vary in mass number (sum total of protons plus neutrons in the nucleus).

Materialism: The assertion that physical objects are all that ever existed. The cousin to naturalism, a materialist must also deny the supernatural, but in the process denies other immaterial entities like logic, information, and theories. Thus materialism is self-defeating in that it uses immaterial entities to support its own view that there are no immaterial entities.

Naturalism: The assumption that there must be a naturalistic explanation for every event – repeatable or empirical as well as non-repeatable or historical. It denies that miracles are possible because it denies the existence of the supernatural. Naturalists assert that evidence for repeatable phenomena is always greater than evidence for unrepeatable, one-time events like miracles. Therefore miracles are not to be considered as possible causes. Naturalists believe that everything which happens in the natural world is caused by the natural world. Though naturalism denies the supernatural, it does not refute it. Rather, evidence for the supernatural is just not considered. Naturalism simply begs the whole question in favor of naturalism. Further, it denies the reasonable conclusion that the finite, material universe was made by an infinite, immaterial, supernatural Being. For by definition finite things cannot cause themselves. (see ‘First Cause’).

Rationalism: The philosophy which first assumes that human reason is sufficient or even the only means for acquiring true knowledge. A rationalist believes that only what is knowable by logic is certain. It is often contrasted with empiricism which holds that the senses take precedence in acquiring knowledge. In philosophy of religion it is contrasted with the position that revelation is the primary source of true knowledge.

Steady State: A general theory in astronomy that holds that the universe has no beginning or end but remains constant throughout time and contains the same density of material (on average) at all points. In order to compensate for the observed expansion of the universe, it is thus necessary to postulate the continuous spontaneous creation of matter.

Supernaturalism: The belief that there is an immaterial reality beyond the physical and which (or Who) can actively enter into and was the cause of the material. It is distinguished from materialism where all that exists is matter and from pantheism where nature itself is immaterial. For theists God is above all, for pantheists God is all, and for materialists there is no God at all.