Richard Swinburne
God's existence is the simplest explanation of the universe, its order and consciousness.
Life
Richard Swinburne (born 1934), a British philosopher, was professor of the philosophy of religion at Oxford. He defends God's existence through a cumulative argument: the existence of the universe, its order and consciousness are better explained by a personal God than by any other hypothesis. He uses probability tools (Bayes' theorem) and has also written on evil, resurrection and the soul.
Main works
Argues that the idea of a personal God is coherent.
A cumulative, probability-based case for God.
Offers a theodicy: why God allows evil.
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceTheism is the simplest explanation of the universe, its order, and human consciousness; the cumulative case makes God more probable than not.
Swinburne, The Existence of God (1979, 2nd ed. 2004)
Substance dualism: the soul is distinct from the body, and neuroscience cannot explain conscious life without it.
Swinburne, The Evolution of the Soul (1986)
Humans have libertarian free will: our choices are not fully caused by prior states, which grounds responsibility.
Swinburne, The Evolution of the Soul (1986); Responsibility and Atonement (1989)
Moral truths are objective and necessary, holding independently of what anyone thinks, though God gives extra obligations.
Swinburne, The Christian God (1994); Providence and the Problem of Evil (1998)
Rational evidence supports faith: reason weighs the case for God, and revelation can then be judged by it.
Swinburne, Faith and Reason (1981)