Plantinga Quotes & Sayings

Things don't look hopeful for Darwinian naturalists. — Alvin Plantinga

The workings of the man's mind sit there naked and exposed, and all the stripped gears and misaligned cogs and broken engines of his misperception are there for easy examination. Read it, and you'll wonder how a man so confused could have acquired such a high reputation; you might even think that philosophy has been Sokaled. — Alvin Plantinga

At every stage, addiction is driven by one of the most powerful, mysterious, and vital forces of human existence. What drives addiction is longing
a longing not just of brain, belly, or loins but finally of the heart. — Cornelius Plantinga

Most of us form estimates of our intelligence, wisdom, and moral fiber that are considerably higher than an objective estimate would warrant; no doubt 90 percent of us think ourselves well above average along these lines. — Alvin Plantinga

The Christian philosopher has a perfect right to the point of view and prephilosophical assumptions he brings to philosophic work; the fact that these are not widely shared outside the Christian or theistic community is interesting but fundamentally irrelevant. — Alvin Plantinga

Recalling and confessing our sin is like taking out the garbage: once is not enough. — Cornelius Plantinga

For the Christian church ... to ignore, euphemize, or otherwise mute the lethal reality of sin is to cut the nerve of the gospel. For the sober truth is that without full disclosure on sin, the gospel of grace becomes impertinent, unnecessary, and finally uninteresting. — Cornelius Plantinga

To show that there are natural processes that produce religious belief does nothing, so far, to discredit it; perhaps God designed us in such a way that it is by virtue of those processes that we come to have knowledge of him. — Alvin Plantinga

Alvin Plantinga is arguably the greatest philosopher of the last century. — Alvin Plantinga

To try deliberately for self-actualization is like trying very hard to fall asleep or to have a good time. — Cornelius Plantinga

Because they are human beings, addicts long for wholeness, for fulfillment, and for the final good that believers call God. Like all idolatries, addiction taps this vital spiritual force and draws off its energies to objects and processes that drain the addict instead of fulfilling him. — Cornelius Plantinga

There is superficial conflict but deep concord between science and theistic religion, but superficial concord and deep conflict between science and naturalism. — Alvin Plantinga

In religious belief as elsewhere, we must take our chances, recognizing that we could be wrong, dreadfully wrong. There are no guarantees; the religious life is a venture; foolish and debilitating error is a permanent possibility. (If we can be wrong, however, we can also be right.) — Alvin Plantinga

People tethered to God by faith can let themselves go because they know they will get themselves back. — Cornelius Plantinga

Hence our verdict on these reformulated versions of St. Anselm's argument must be as follows. They cannot, perhaps, be said to prove or establish their conclusion. — Alvin Plantinga

De jure objections are arguments of claims to the effect that Christian belief, whether or not true, is at any rate unjustifiable, or rationally unjustified, or irrational, or not intellectually respectable, or contrary to sound morality, or without sufficient evidence, or in some other way rationally unacceptable, not up to snuff from an intellectual point of view. — Alvin Plantinga

In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight
a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be. — Cornelius Plantinga

We can formulate Plantinga's version of the ontological argument as follows: 1) It is possible that a maximally great being exists. 2) If it is possible that a maximally great being exists, then a maximally great being exists in some possible world. 3) If a maximally great being exists in some possible world, then it exists in every possible world. 4) If a maximally great being exists in every possible world, then it exists in the actual world. 5) If a maximally great being exists in the actual world, then a maximally great being exists. 6) Therefore, a maximally great being exists. — William Lane Craig

The existence of God is neither precluded nor rendered improbable by the existence of evil. Of course, suffering and misfortune may nonetheless constitute a problem for the theist; but the problem is not that his beliefs are logically or probabilistically incompatible. The theist may find a religious problem in evil; in the presence of his own suffering or that of someone near to him he may find it difficult to maintain what he takes to be the proper attitude towards God. Faced with great personal suffering or misfortune, he may be tempted to rebel against God, to shake his fist in God's face, or even to give up belief in God altogether. But this is a problem of a different dimension. Such a
problem calls, not for philosophical enlightenment, but for pastoral care. The Free Will Defense, however, shows that the existence of God is compatible, both logically and probabilistically, with the existence of evil; thus it solves the main philosophical problem of evil. — Alvin Plantinga

To be a responsible person is to find one's role in the building of shalom, the re-webbing of God, humanity and all creation in justice, harmony, fulfillment and delight. To be a responsible person is to find one's own role and then, funded by the grace of God, to fill this role and to delight in it. — Cornelius Plantinga

Patience is like good motor oil. It doesn't remove all the contaminants. It just puts them into suspension so they don't get into your works and seize them up. Patient people have, so to speak, a large crankcase. They can put a lot of irritants into suspension. — Cornelius Plantinga

If we don't know that there is such a person as God, we don't know the first thing (the most important thing) about ourselves, each other and our world. This is because the most important truths about us and them, is that we have been created by the Lord, and utterly depend upon him for our continued existence. — Alvin Plantinga

It must be an odd feeling to be thankful to nobody in particular. Christians in public institutions often see this odd thing happening on Thanksgiving Day. Everyone in the institution seems to be thankful 'in general.' It's very strange. It's a little like being married in general. — Cornelius Plantinga

The mere fact that a belief is unpopular at present (or at some other time) is interesting from a sociological point of view but evidentially irrelevant. — Alvin Plantinga

If you believe in evolution and naturalism then you have a reason not to think your faculties are reliable. — Alvin Plantinga

A humble person is more likely to be self confident ... a person with real humility knows how much they are loved. — Cornelius Plantinga

The way to thrive is to help others thrive; the way to flourish is to help others flourish; the way to fulfill yourself is to spend yourself. — Cornelius Plantinga

Is it a fact that those who believe in a Heavenly Father do so because or partly because their earthly fathers were inadequate? I doubt it. If it is a fact, however, it is of psychological rather than theological interest. It may help us understand theists, but it tells us nothing at all about the truth of their belief; to that it is simply irrelevant. — Alvin Plantinga

To speak of sin without grace is to minimize the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the fruit of the Spirit, and the hope of shalom. — Cornelius Plantinga

Human sin is stubborn," says Cornelius Plantinga, "but not as stubborn as the grace of God and not half so persistent, not half so ready to suffer to win its way."3 Stubborn, persistent, unrelenting grace that changes us. Now that's good news indeed. — Dave Harvey

All sin is equally wrong, but not all sin is equally bad. — Cornelius Plantinga

We know the excitement of getting a present - we love to unwrap it to see what is inside. So it is with our children. They are gifts we unwrap for years as we discover the unique characters God has made them. — Cornelius Plantinga

Reason is the power or capacity whereby we see or detect logical relationships among propositions. — Alvin Plantinga

But lack of evidence, if indeed evidence is lacking, is no grounds for atheism. No one thinks there is good evidence for the proposition that there are an even number of stars; but also, no one thinks the right conclusion to draw is that there are an uneven number of stars. The right conclusion would instead be agnosticism. — Alvin Plantinga

Suppose we concede that if I had been born of Muslim parents in Morocco rather than Christian parents in Michigan, my beliefs would be quite different. [But] the same goes for the pluralist ... If the pluralist had been born in [Morocco] he probably wouldn't be a pluralist. Does it follow that ... his pluralist beliefs are produced in him by an unreliable belief-producing process? — Alvin Plantinga