Norman Geisler
Encyclopedia
Norman L. Geisler is a Christian
apologist and the co-founder of Southern Evangelical Seminary
outside Charlotte, North Carolina
, where he formerly taught. He holds a Ph.D.
in philosophy
from Jesuit Loyola University
. Geisler is well known for his scholarly contributions to the subjects of Christian apologetics
, philosophy
, and moderate Calvinism and is the author, coauthor, or editor of over 60 books and hundreds of articles.
in 2003, after it did not expel Clark Pinnock
, who advocates open theism
. He also testified in McLean v. Arkansas
, defending creationism
.
Geisler is an evangelical scholar, and the author or coauthor of over fifty Christian books defending the Christian faith through logic, evidence, and philosophy. He has also authored many articles and theses on other Christian topics. Dr. Geisler has taught at the university and graduate level for over forty years. Geisler's work Baker Encyclopedia of Christan Apologetics has been well received and is considered a systematic and comprehensive work of Christian apologetics.
Geisler is also known for holding many debates with various scholars, as well as for frequent Christian radio guest appearances. He is considered by many to be a conservative evangelical and signed the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
. He holds a B.A. and a Th.B from Wheaton College and William Tyndale College (1960), and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Loyola University (1970). He is former professor of Systematic Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary and professor of Philosophy of Religion at Trinitiy Evangelical Divinity School.
On December 11, 1981 Norman Geisler testified in court in Little Rock, Arkansas, about how creation should be taught in public schools and said he believes UFOs exist and are the work of Satan. The states first witness in a case filed by the ACLU that challenged a new law that says creationism and evolution should be given equal time in Arkansas schools. He believes that UFOs are, "a satanic manifestation in the world for the purpose of deception."
In the late 20th Century, Geisler entered the Mormon arena. In 1997 he co-authored When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretation, with Ron Rhodes. Forty-seven of the articles listed in the index, regarded Mormonism. In 1998, he helped put together a book entitled The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism, published by Harvest House publishers in Eugene, Oregon. His chapter in this compilation regarded Mormon Scripture. Detailed reviews of this chapter by Mormons appeared in 2000. Danel W. Bachman
has accused Geisler of plagiarism.
In 2009, Geisler co-founded Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Murrieta California. The seminary offers masters degrees in Theology, Apologetics & Divinity. Geisler currently serves as Chair of Christian Apologetics at the school.
(arguing that there is no condition only on God's part), irresistible grace
(arguing instead that God persuades those who are "receptive to God's work") and limited atonement
(arguing that the atonement is limited only in result). Yet critics reject the term "moderate Calvinism". James White
calls it "merely a modified form of historic Arminianism
." Michael Horton notes that historically "moderate Calvinism" referred to Amyraldianism, but "Geisler’s position is much further from Calvinism than Amyraldianism." While Geisler contrasts his position with what he calls "extreme" Calvinism, he does concede that "theologians we classify as extreme Calvinists consider themselves simply ‘Calvinists
’ and would probably object to our categorizing them in this manner." Geisler contributed to the book Four Views on Eternal Security (ISBN 0310234395) under the term "moderate Calvinism" but the general editor did not allow Geisler to use the term "extreme Calvinism", only "strong Calvinism".
, which is a theory of moral absolutism
which resolves the objection to absolutism that in moral conflicts we are obligated to opposites. Moral absolutism is the ethical
view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong regardless of other contexts such as their consequences or the intentions behind them. Graded absolutism is moral absolutism but clarifies that a moral absolute, like "Do not kill," can be greater or lesser than another moral absolute, like "Do not lie". According to graded absolutism, in moral conflicts
, the dilemma is not that we are obligated to opposites, because greater absolutes are not opposites of lesser absolutes, and evil is not the opposite of good but is instead the privation of good. Since evil is the privation of good, only the privation of the greater good counts as evil, since whenever there is a moral conflict, we are only obligated to the greater good. The real dilemma is that we cannot perform both conflicting absolutes at the same time. 'Which' absolutes are in conflict depends on the context, but which conflicting absolute is ‘greater’ does not depend on the context. That is why graded absolutism is also called 'contextual absolutism' but is not to be confused with situational ethics. The conflict is resolved in acting according to the greater absolute. That is why graded absolutism is also called the 'greater good view', but is not to be confused with utilitarianism
.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
apologist and the co-founder of Southern Evangelical Seminary
Southern Evangelical Seminary
Southern Evangelical Seminary is a Christian college in Matthews, North Carolina near Charlotte. The seminary was established in 1992 by Dr. Norman Geisler, a Christian apologist and theologian, and Ross Rhoads, former pastor of Calvary Church and currently the chaplain of the Billy Graham...
outside Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, where he formerly taught. He holds a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
from Jesuit Loyola University
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago is a private Jesuit research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1870 under the title St...
. Geisler is well known for his scholarly contributions to the subjects of Christian apologetics
Christian apologetics
Christian apologetics is a field of Christian theology that aims to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, defend the faith against objections, and expose the perceived flaws of other world views...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, and moderate Calvinism and is the author, coauthor, or editor of over 60 books and hundreds of articles.
Biography
Geisler left the Evangelical Theological SocietyEvangelical Theological Society
The Evangelical Theological Society is a professional society of Biblical scholars, educators, pastors, and students with the stated purpose of serving Jesus and his church by advancing evangelical scholarship. It was established in 1949 in Cincinnati. The number of members in 2005 was over 4,200...
in 2003, after it did not expel Clark Pinnock
Clark Pinnock
Clark H. Pinnock was a Christian theologian, apologist and author. He was Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at McMaster Divinity College.-Education and career:...
, who advocates open theism
Open theism
Open theism is a recent theological movement that has developed within evangelical and post-evangelical Protestant Christianity as a response to certain ideas that are related to the synthesis of Greek philosophy and Christian theology...
. He also testified in McLean v. Arkansas
McLean v. Arkansas
McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education, 529 F. Supp. 1255, 1258-1264 , was a 1981 legal case in Arkansas.A lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas by various parents, religious groups and organizations, biologists, and others who argued that the...
, defending creationism
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
.
Geisler is an evangelical scholar, and the author or coauthor of over fifty Christian books defending the Christian faith through logic, evidence, and philosophy. He has also authored many articles and theses on other Christian topics. Dr. Geisler has taught at the university and graduate level for over forty years. Geisler's work Baker Encyclopedia of Christan Apologetics has been well received and is considered a systematic and comprehensive work of Christian apologetics.
Geisler is also known for holding many debates with various scholars, as well as for frequent Christian radio guest appearances. He is considered by many to be a conservative evangelical and signed the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy was formulated in October 1978 by more than 200 evangelical leaders at a conference sponsored by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, held in Chicago. The statement was designed to defend the position of Biblical inerrancy against a perceived...
. He holds a B.A. and a Th.B from Wheaton College and William Tyndale College (1960), and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Loyola University (1970). He is former professor of Systematic Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary and professor of Philosophy of Religion at Trinitiy Evangelical Divinity School.
On December 11, 1981 Norman Geisler testified in court in Little Rock, Arkansas, about how creation should be taught in public schools and said he believes UFOs exist and are the work of Satan. The states first witness in a case filed by the ACLU that challenged a new law that says creationism and evolution should be given equal time in Arkansas schools. He believes that UFOs are, "a satanic manifestation in the world for the purpose of deception."
In the late 20th Century, Geisler entered the Mormon arena. In 1997 he co-authored When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretation, with Ron Rhodes. Forty-seven of the articles listed in the index, regarded Mormonism. In 1998, he helped put together a book entitled The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism, published by Harvest House publishers in Eugene, Oregon. His chapter in this compilation regarded Mormon Scripture. Detailed reviews of this chapter by Mormons appeared in 2000. Danel W. Bachman
Danel W. Bachman
Danel W. Bachman is an American historian of Mormonism and an instructor at the Institute of Religion of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Logan, Utah....
has accused Geisler of plagiarism.
In 2009, Geisler co-founded Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Murrieta California. The seminary offers masters degrees in Theology, Apologetics & Divinity. Geisler currently serves as Chair of Christian Apologetics at the school.
Moderate Calvinism
Geisler claims to be a "moderate Calvinist". Geisler rejects the traditional Calvinistic concepts of unconditional electionUnconditional election
Unconditional election is the Calvinist teaching that before God created the world, he chose to save some people according to his own purposes and apart from any conditions related to those persons...
(arguing that there is no condition only on God's part), irresistible grace
Irresistible grace
Irresistible Grace is a doctrine in Christian theology particularly associated with Calvinism, which teaches that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save and, in God's timing, overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing...
(arguing instead that God persuades those who are "receptive to God's work") and limited atonement
Limited atonement
Limited atonement is a doctrine in Christian theology which is particularly associated with the Reformed tradition and is one of the five points of Calvinism...
(arguing that the atonement is limited only in result). Yet critics reject the term "moderate Calvinism". James White
James White (theologian)
James Robert White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, an evangelical Reformed Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of more than twenty books and has engaged in numerous moderated debates...
calls it "merely a modified form of historic Arminianism
Arminianism
Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...
." Michael Horton notes that historically "moderate Calvinism" referred to Amyraldianism, but "Geisler’s position is much further from Calvinism than Amyraldianism." While Geisler contrasts his position with what he calls "extreme" Calvinism, he does concede that "theologians we classify as extreme Calvinists consider themselves simply ‘Calvinists
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
’ and would probably object to our categorizing them in this manner." Geisler contributed to the book Four Views on Eternal Security (ISBN 0310234395) under the term "moderate Calvinism" but the general editor did not allow Geisler to use the term "extreme Calvinism", only "strong Calvinism".
Graded absolutism
Geisler advocates the view called graded absolutismGraded absolutism
Graded absolutism is a theory of moral absolutism which resolves the objection to absolutism that in moral conflicts we are obligated to opposites. Moral absolutism is the ethical view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong regardless of other contexts such as their consequences or the...
, which is a theory of moral absolutism
Moral absolutism
Moral absolutism is an ethical view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong, regardless of other contexts such as their consequences or the intentions behind them. Thus stealing, for instance, might be considered to be always immoral, even if done to promote some other good , and even if...
which resolves the objection to absolutism that in moral conflicts we are obligated to opposites. Moral absolutism is the ethical
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong regardless of other contexts such as their consequences or the intentions behind them. Graded absolutism is moral absolutism but clarifies that a moral absolute, like "Do not kill," can be greater or lesser than another moral absolute, like "Do not lie". According to graded absolutism, in moral conflicts
Ethical dilemma
An Ethical dilemma is a complex situation that will often involve an apparent mental conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another....
, the dilemma is not that we are obligated to opposites, because greater absolutes are not opposites of lesser absolutes, and evil is not the opposite of good but is instead the privation of good. Since evil is the privation of good, only the privation of the greater good counts as evil, since whenever there is a moral conflict, we are only obligated to the greater good. The real dilemma is that we cannot perform both conflicting absolutes at the same time. 'Which' absolutes are in conflict depends on the context, but which conflicting absolute is ‘greater’ does not depend on the context. That is why graded absolutism is also called 'contextual absolutism' but is not to be confused with situational ethics. The conflict is resolved in acting according to the greater absolute. That is why graded absolutism is also called the 'greater good view', but is not to be confused with utilitarianism
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall "happiness", by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can...
.
Publications
- General Introduction to the Bible (Moody Press, 1968; revised and expanded, 1986);
- Ethics: Alternatives and Issues (Zondervan, 1971);
- The Christian Ethic of Love (Zondervan, 1973);
- Philosophy of Religion (Zondervan, 1974; revised 1988);
- From God to Us (Moody Press, 1974);
- To Understand the Bible—Look for Jesus (Moody Press, 1975);
- Christian Apologetics (Baker Book House, 1976);
- A Popular Survey of the Old Testament (Baker Book House, 1977);
- The Roots of Evil (Zondervan, 1978);
- Inerrancy (Zondervan, 1979);
- Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective (Baker, 1980);
- Options in Contemporary Christian Ethics (Baker Book House, 1981);
- Biblical Errancy: Its Philosophical Roots (Zondervan, 1981);
- Decide for Yourself: How History Views the Bible (Zondervan, 1982):
- The Creator in the Courtroom—Scopes II (co-author, Baker, 1982);
- What Augustine Says (Baker Book House, 1982);
- Is Man the Measure? (Baker Book House, 1983);
- Cosmos: Carl Sagan's Religion for the Scientific Mind (Quest Publications, 1983);
- Religion of the Force (Quest, 1983);
- To Drink or Not to Drink: A Sober Look at the Problem (Quest, 1984);
- Perspectives: Understanding and Evaluating Today's World Views (Here's Life Publications, 1984);
- Video Series: Christianity Under Attack, in 6 parts (Quest, 1985); also in book: Christianity Under Attack (Quest, 1985);
- False Gods of Our Time (Harvest House, 1985);
- Reincarnation Sensation (Tyndale, 1986);
- Origin Science (Baker, 1987);
- Signs and Wonders (Tyndale, 1988);
- World's Apart (Baker 1989);
- Knowing The Truth About Creation (Servant, 1989);
- The Infiltration of the New Age (Tyndale, 1989);
- The Battle for the Resurrection (Thomas Nelson, 1989);
- Apologetics in the New Age (Baker, 1990);
- Come Let Us Reason: An Introduction to Logical Thinking (Baker, 1990);
- Gambling: A Bad Bet (Fleming H. Revell, 1990);
- The Life and Death Debate (Greenwood, 1990);
- In Defense of the Resurrection (Quest, 1991);
- Thomas Aquinas: An Evangelical Appraisal (1991);
- Matters of Life and Death: Calm Answers to Tough Questions about Abortion and Euthanasia (Baker, 1991);
- Miracles and the Modern Mind: A Defense of Biblical Miracles (Baker, 1991);
- When Critics Ask: A Handbook on Bible Difficulties (Victor, 1992);
- Miracles and the Modern Mind: A Defense of Biblical Miracles (Baker, 1992);
- Answering Islam (Baker, 1993);
- Roman Catholics and Evangelicals (1995);
- Love Is Always Right (Word, 1996);
- Creating God in the Image of Man? (Bethany House, 1997);
- When Cultists Ask (Baker, 1997);
- The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism (Harvest House, 1998);
- Legislating Morality (Bethany House, 1998);
- Baker’s Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Baker, 1999);
- Chosen But Free (Bethany, 1999);
- Unshakable Foundations (Bethany, 2001);
- Why I Am a Christian (Baker, 2001);
- Battle for God (Kregel, 2001);
- Living Loud: Defending Your Faith (Broadman & Holman, 2002);
- Systematic Theology, Vol. 1 (Introduction – Bible) (Bethany, 2002); Vol. 2 (God - Creation) (Bethany, 2003); Vol. 3 (Sin - Salvation) (Bethany, 2004); Vol. 4 (Church - Last Things) (Bethany, 2005);
- I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Crossway, 2004);
- Is Your Church Ready? (Zondervan, 2003);
- Who Made God? (Zondervan, 2003);
- Bringing Your Faith To Work (Baker, 2005);
- Correcting The Cults (Baker, 2005);
- A Popular Survey of the Old Testament (Baker, 2008).
- A Popular Survey of the New Testament (Baker, 2008).
- Love Your Neighbor (Crossway, 2007);
- Conviction Without Compromise (Harvest House, 2008);
- Is Rome the True Church?: A Consideration of the Roman Catholic Claim (Crossway, 2008).
- When Skeptics Ask (Baker, 2008).
- The Big Book of Bible Difficulties (Baker, 2008).
- The Apologetics of Jesus (Baker, 2009).
- Making Sense of Bible Difficulties (Baker, 2009).
- If God, Why Evil? (Bethany, 2011).
External links
- Geisler's official webpage
- "The Dating of the New Testament" by Geisler
- "Any Absolutes? Absolutely!" by Geisler
- "I Believe...in the Resurrection of the Flesh" by Geisler
- "Answering Islam", an interview with Geisler
- "The Battle for the Resurrection", an interview with Geisler by Ron Rhodes