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The Framework

A methodological and intellectual framework within Christian philosophy that employs rigorous analytical reasoning—drawing systematically from the natural sciences, formal sciences, social sciences, humanities, and interdisciplinary fields—to construct positive evidential and logical support for the existence of the God of classical theism and the truth claims of Christianity.

Analytical Theism maintains two core claims: (1) one can arrive at a religious stance through purely analytical means, and (2) honest analytical engagement with reality necessarily opens to transcendence.

Core Concepts

Sources of Evidence

Analytical Theism draws upon a comprehensive range of academic disciplines, treating each as a potential avenue through which features of reality point toward or corroborate theistic conclusions.

Argumentative Structure

Analytical Theism advances its case through several complementary modes of reasoning:

  • Deductive: Proceeding from necessarily true premises to certain conclusions
  • Inductive: Proceeding from observed patterns to probable conclusions
  • Abductive: Identifying theism as the most comprehensive explanation for a range of phenomena
  • Cumulative Case: Synthesizing multiple independent lines of evidence
  • Convergent: Iterative processes that move increasingly closer to truth

Theological Conclusion

Affirmation of a personal, transcendent, omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect God—the God of classical Christian theism—as the best explanation for the cumulative evidence drawn from creation, reason, and human experience.

Historical Lineage

Analytical Theism stands in continuity with a long tradition of Christian intellectual engagement:

  • The Patristic synthesis of faith and Greek philosophy (Augustine, Origen)
  • Medieval scholasticism (Anselm, Aquinas, Duns Scotus)
  • Early modern natural theology (Leibniz, Paley, Butler)
  • Contemporary analytic philosophy of religion (Plantinga, Swinburne, Craig)