nce of God, the attributes of God, religious language, and the problem of evil. Logic is the study of valid thinking and argument. Epistemology, one of the principal branches of philosophy, studies knowledge itself. Metaphysics is the study of reality, the origin and nature of that which is known. Although other disciplines within philosophy exist, the above-mentioned five branches are most relevant to Christians.
Philosophy can be approached from a variety of methods, each of possible value in confirming Christian beliefs. Socrates favored the method of interrogation. This "question method" presupposes that the truth is innate and the role of the interrogator is to stimulate its recall. Zeno's method was reductio ad Absurdum, the objective of which is proving the absurdity of opposing arguments. Aristotle used deductive and inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning argues from the general to the specific. Inductive reasoning argues from the specific to the general. The scientific method involves problem statement, observation, hypothesis, hypothesis testing, and conclusion. The three contemporary philosophical methods are existentialism, phenomenology, and the analytic method. According to the existentialist method "there is more to truth than pure scientific facticity" (Geisler and Feinberg 47). The phenomenological method seeks to uncover the essential truths by discarding all presuppositions. The analytic method involves verification or clarification.
The tools of philosophy involve proper argumentation. An argument is defined as "any group of statements or propositions, one of which is claimed to follow from the others" (Geisler and Feinberg 56). Arguments can be either inductive or deductive. All arguments must be clear, reliable, and arranged in logical sequence.
Philosophers, Christian and non-Christian alike, ask many of the same questions. They examine life's purposes and presuppositions. Philo...