In September of 2014 I was privileged to attend a conference in honor of the greatest living natural theologian. For the uninitiated, this is what "natural theology" is (also here). The initiated hold Swinburne in awe because of his writings.  Richard Swinburne has produced an unparalleled string of carefully argued, in many cases ground-breaking books in philosophy of religion and in analytic theology (see the links below).

Many "big guns" of philosophy of religion came out to present at the conference, and to a person they related how Swinburne had inspired them to think deeply and carefully about various philosophical and theological issues. For my part, his The Christian God was the book that inspired and provoked me to look deeply into the issue of the Trinity. Professor Swinburne has a manly way of taking a stand on hard issues, fashion be damned. You may agree or disagree, but you will think.

The conference was called  Faith and Reason: Themes from Swinburne, and it was hosted by Purdue University. On a warm September  day-after-the-conference, Professor Swinburne and I sat outside on a bench on Purdue's lovely campus. In this episode, I interview Professor Swinburne about his life and work. How has he been so productive? What advice does he have for aspiring analytic  theologians? How has his work influenced academic theology?

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Next episode: an interview with Professor Swinburne on his views on the Trinity.

Links for this episode:

Professor Swinburne's home page

an encyclopedia entry which partially analyzes his work

Conference organizers Dr. Jeffrey Brower and Dr. Michael Bergmann, and the conference website (lecture videos coming soon)

Swinburne's books on philosophy of religion and analytic theology

The Coherence of Theism (1st edition - 2nd, substantially re-written edition out shortly)

The Existence of God, 2nd ed. (kindle)

Faith and Reason, 2nd ed. (kindle)

The Evolution of the Soul, 2nd ed. (kindle)

Revelation: From Metaphor to Analogy, 2nd ed. (kindle)

Responsibility and Atonement (kindle)

The Christian God (kindle)

Providence and the Problem of Evil (kindle)

Is There a God?, 2nd ed. (kindle)

Was Jesus God? (kindle)

The Resurrection of God Incarnate (kindle)

Mind, Brain, and Free Will (kindle)

debates

Unbelievable Radio Show / podcast debate with Dr. Bart Ehrman on "God's Problem" - evil and belief in God

2006 debate: Does God exist? vs. R. Joseph Hoffmann

2012 Amsterdam Veritas Forum debate: Is there a God? vs. Herman Philipse

2011 panel discussion: Is there a ghost in the machine?

lectures

2011  lecture at Notre Dame - What does the Old Testament mean?

2011 Cambridge on Simplicity, Complexity, Science, Dawkins and God

2014 on The Probability of the Resurrection of Jesus

2012 Biola interviews

on atonement

on arguments for God's existence

with Dr. Timothy O'Connor on Neuroscience and the Soul

on doubt and faith

on the future of philosophical theology

on the defense of Christian doctrine

on creedal Christianity

on the "new atheists"

Closer to Truth interviews with Robert Kuhn (all of them)

arguments for atheism

Is God perfect?

 other interviews

2014 interview by Total Philosophy: part 1, part 2, part 3

2008 Brazil interview by Desiderio Murcho