SPRING 2010 NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM
+ Sean McDowell encourages students to work hard and trust in their training. pg. 1
+ Highlights from this spring’s colloquium and TPS conference. pg. 4-5
+ Latest Reviews of the newest book by Dr. Scott Rae
& Austin Hill. pg. 9
Pgs. 6-8 Faculty Updates
Pgs. 10-14 Alumni Updates
Pg. 15 Ministry Update
Pg. 16 New Book by Adjunct
Professor, William Havlicek,Ph.D.
sued him for making derogatory statements against Christianity.
“Be confident in your training. You may get nervous as the time draws near, but you have been trained well.”
Doug Geivett encouraged me with these words a few weeks before my first public debate on the topic: “Is God the Best
Explanation for Moral Values?”
The debate took place February
26th at Saddleback College and was co-sponsored by Campus
Crusade for Christ and the
Freethinkers of Saddleback. My opponent was Dr. James Corbett, an AP European History teacher at Capistrano Valley High School.
Dr. Corbett was recently involved in a court case in which a student
The judge ruled the case in favor of the student, focusing on
C o r b e t t ’ s c o m m e n t t h a t c r e a t i o n i s m i s “ r e l i g i o u s superstitious nonsense.”
Needless to say, Dr. Geivett was absolutely correct. As the debate approached, I became more and more nervous! Many different ideas flashed to my mind: Am I really prepared? How well do I know my stuff ? How solid is my case? Will I represent
Christ with my attitude and knowledge? Even though these thoughts flooded my mind, I kept recalling Dr. Geivett’s encouragement to trust my training.
So, in preparation, I re-read some of my former class notes, t a l k e d w i t h m a n y o f t h e professors, and even watched Bill
Craig’s entire debate class
(amongst countless hours of researching both sides of the issue). All these were tremendously helpful and came into
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

PAGE 2 NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM play during the debate.
While you can watch the debate and draw your own c o n c l u s i o n s, ( av a i l a b l e a t www.conversantlife.com/debate), one thing was very clear at the end: Dr. Geivett was correct. My thought that you were crazy. And yet God opened up an amazing opportunity I was happy to take. I don’t know what opportunities will open for you (or for me) in the future, but please allow me to offer a few insights and a word of recently had the opportunity of being the general editor for The
Apologetics Study Bible for
Students, and the response has absolutely blown me away.
Students and leaders have been more positive about this than any training prepared me well. This is not a testament to my intellectual fortitude or debating skills, but a realization of the quality of training we get at Talbot.
Since graduating with the
M . A . P h i l o s o p h y o f
Religion degree in 2003 (as w e l l a s a n M . A . i n encouragement:
This generation of young p e o p l e d e s p e r a t e l y n e e d s
C h r i s t i a n p h i l o s o p hy a n d other project I’ve been involved in. This generation is hungry for truth.
Yes, it’s vitally important that
we learn how to connect with this generation, but don’t buy the lie that apologetics or Christian philosophy no longer
Theology), my training has helped me with my writing, speaking, and teaching ministries. And yet this debate was a whole new
experience for me. What I’ve apologetics. You have probably heard some of the postmodern matter. Given the ubiquity of the Internet, they are more important now than ever.
There is a vacuum in
Western secular thought. Pastor always known in my mind was experienced in my heart: Our training is top notch.
This is not to make you haughty or proud, but to complaints that reason is no l o n g e r i m p o r t a n t t o t h i s generation (personally, I just haven’t found their reasons persuasive enough). Rather, we
Timothy Keller, who ministers in
New York and has written one of the better apologetics books of our time, The Reason for God , says one of the big issues facing the encourage you to keep studying with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. I know how easy it is to get distracted, lazy, and discouraged. But don’t give up! simply need to tell our story and invite people into it.
It’s certainly true that we ought to use narrative, image, emotions, and relationships in our comchurch today is a need for a r e n e w a l o f a p o l o g e t i c s
(“Preparing for the Big Issues
F a c i n g t h e C h u r c h , ” a t gospelcoalition.org).
God has great things in store to use you to reach this generation.
If you told me that I would be publicly debating within seven years of graduating, I would have munication with this generation.
But I’ve found that young people today—whether Christian or non-
Christian—are very interested in discussing reasons for the faith. I
His two reasons made a lot of sense to me. First, Christians in the West will soon be facing missionaries from around the world. Thus, we need to train lay
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM people to be conversant in philosophy, apologetics, and comparative religions. Second, there is a vacuum in secular western thought. According to
Keller, both the Enlightenment faith in progress and postmodernism are dead. What will take its place?
got into many discussions with
U.C. Berkeley students and met with S.A.N.E (Students for a Non-
Religious Ethos), a “free-thinking” group on campus. My students absolutely loved it. In fact, many of them described the trip as life changing. The main reason I am confident enough to take these
S o m e o f o u r ve r y ow n professors have helped lead the current revolution in Christian philosophy. This provides a tremendous opportunity for young Christian philosophers.
Will we carry the torch?
Think outside the box. Every year I take my students on an apologetics mission trip to either
Berkeley or Salt Lake City (lead and planned by Brett Kunkle, a current M.A. Phil student). Last year we took 26 high school students to Berkeley to interact with leading atheists, agnostics, and homosexual activists. We also
WITH ALL YOUR MIND trips is because of the level of training we get at Talbot. The atheists raised some tough objections, but we were ready.
Wherever God leads you after this program, will you think outside the box? Will you push the envelope? Don’t be afraid to try new things.
Pray. My Talbot training certainly prepared me intellectually to debate, but it was prayer that prepared my heart. I can honestly say that nothing has driven me more to my knees than this opportunity. Countless people were praying that I would have
PAGE 3 wisdom, confidence, and humility.
You can have the greatest philosophical arguments, but what is it worth without a humble heart and love? Yes, there is a n e e d f o r a p h i l o s o p h i c a l revolution within Christianity
(and beyond). Yet there is an equally pressing need for this to be lead by people with a compassionate and broken heart for the lost.
The training you are getting at Talbot is the best. And the need for Christian philosophy is tremendous. So, let me encourage you with the same words Dr.
Geivett encouraged me:
“ B e c o n fi d e n t i n yo u r training. You may get nervous as the time draws near, but you have been trained well.” Maybe the time drawing near for you is graduation, a new job, or even a public debate. Regardless, your training has prepared you, and the harvest is plentiful. Let’s go for it! ◆
Sean is the co-author of Understanding
Intelligent Design along with William A.
Dembski (Harvest House, 2008),
Evidence for the Resurrection (Gospel
Light, 2009) and More Than A Carpenter with Josh McDowell (Tyndale, 2009).
Spring 2010

PAGE 4 NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM
The Talbot Philosophical Society recently conducted its fourth annual
Graduate Student Conference, with student presenters from Notre
Dame, Georgetown, U.C. San Diego, and U.C. Davis making contributions to an exploration of cutting-edge philosophical topics.
Attendance for the conference was at an all time high in its four-year history, averaging thirty attendees for each presentation.
Four Talbot philosophy students were on hand to provide critiques, after which each author was given a chance to defend their thesis once more.
Students were also allowed to ask questions of the presenters, which was such a successful dynamic that time was constantly running short for each speaker.
In concluding the conference, the Keynote Address was delivered by Adam Sennet, an a s s o c i a t e p r o f e s s o r o f philosophy at the University of
California, Davis.
The topic chosen for this year was
“Charity and Meta-Ontology,” which appealed strongly to the generally high interest in metaphysics that has been a staple of the Talbot Philosophy program.
After all was said and done, everyone was invited to partake of the festivities p rov i d e d by t h e Ta l b o t
Philosophical Society at the
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM PAGE 5
Talbot Philosophy House, where the presenters and the attendees were able to continue the discussions and enjoy the f e l l o w s h i p o f g r a d u a t e philosophy studies.
Overall, the fourth annual Graduate Student
Conference was a great success for the Philosophical Society as the atmosphere was lively, informative, beneficial, and e n j o y a b l e t o a l l w h o participated.
◆
Dr. Jason Oakes met with fifteen M.A.
Philosophy students at the Philosophy House on
Thursday evening, March 25th, to discuss life in a Ph.D. program.
Dr. Oakes recently earned his
Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of
Oklahoma, and has a heart for helping students transition from the environment found at Talbot to the environment found in secular Ph.D. philosophy programs around the nation. His reflections ranged from what his experience taught him about how to relate to his non-
Christian classmates and professors to how to manage a schedule in a Ph.D. program while also balancing work and a family.
One of Dr. Oakes' primary pieces of advice was to stay involved in a local church.
He insisted that this step, possibly more than any other, will ensure that students remain grounded in the truths of Scripture and continue growing spiritually as they learn to love and serve in the body of Christ.
Dr. Oakes also encouraged students to be actively involved in the lives of their secular classmates and to develop lasting relationships with them, while also taking care to maintain moral integrity in every realm.
He encouraged students to develop thick skin when others criticize our faith, realizing that our beliefs sound genuinely bizarre to those who have thoroughgoing commitments to naturalism.
After his initial remarks and advice, Dr. Oakes answered questions posed by students about the challenges, drawbacks, and benefits of entering a
Ph.D. program.
Though the official meeting length was two hours, many students remained behind to continue the discussion with Dr. Oakes, who was gracious enough to stay and talk as long as students had questions. ◆
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM PAGE 6
Research Professor of Philosophy
Here are some Spring 2010 highlights. More can be detailed from reading the Reasonable Faith
Newsletters at www.reasonablefaith.org
In May, Dr. Craig was in South Africa for most of the month, contributing to a “Faith and
Reason” conference in Cape Town. Details are here: http://bit.ly/cK28EQ
He has been working on his responses for a forthcoming “four views” book on divine providence, in which he’ll defend the so-called Molinist view that God controls history by knowing in advance what any person would freely do in any circumstances in which God might place him.
Dr. Craig has also been writing a response to the philosopher Peter Van Inwagen on “God and Other
Uncreated Beings,” in which he argues that Christian orthodoxy requires us to reject the idea that anything other than God (even abstract things like numbers and properties) is uncreated and, furthermore, that we can reasonably avoid thinking that such things exist.
During April, he debated Victor Stenger at Oregon State University on the existence of God ( http://bit.ly/ c7nUWt ). He spoke to professors at the Harvard Faculty Club and the MIT Faculty Club about “Can we be good without God?” and “Does the universe provide evidence for God?” He also debated at the University of North
Carolina (both at Wilmington and Charlotte) with secular humanist and mathematician Herb Silverman on the existence of God, and then with philosopher Michael Tooley on “Is God real?” ( http://bit.ly/dt3Cuc ).
In March, Dr. Craig went on a 10-day exciting speaking trip in India for the first time, speaking to different university and church audiences along with various evangelistic opportunities. Several details are available here: http://bit.ly/9frsJu .
News about Dr. Craig’s books include the recent release of “ On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and
Precision ,” which can be found at http://bit.ly/bhskJh . Also, the book “God is great, God is Good” (edited with
Chad Meister) won a Christianity Today Book of the Year award in February. An interview with Meister is available at the EPS website: http://bit.ly/aZBxqz .
Professor of Philosophy of Religion & Ethics
This spring Dr. Geivett has been teaching two classes: Epistemology I and Faith, Film and
Philosophy for the MA Philosophy program and for undergrad students at Biola. He participated in a Debate and Apologetics Conference in January at the Southeastern Bible College in
Birmingham, AL. Events in March included a debate with Michael Shermer at Cal State University, Stanislaus, and participating in the Christianity and the Arts Conference in Manchester, CT. In April, he attended the
Bellevue Apologetics Conference in Bellevue, WA. On May 15th, he spoke at the Caleb Conference on the New
Atheism on the topic, “God and the Evidence of Evil” in Huntington Beach, CA. The summer is shaping up to have other speaking opportunities and a chance to catch up on some writing.
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM
Professor of Philosophy of Religion & Ethics
PAGE 7
Dr. DeWeese tells us that it’s good to be back at Talbot after six months away on a study leave.
He really enjoys his colleagues here, and loves teaching the great eager students the Lord brings to us. During Interterm, JP and Garry taught the third (and final) residency for their DMin cohort in the track “Engaging Mind and Culture,” for which Garry did a fair amount of research and thinking about contemporary culture, and learned a lot. He doesn’t know yet if an article will come out of this work, but it reinforced to him the critical role that Christian philosophers can play in helping members of the church learn to think Christianly about the culture in which we live. (By the way, by popular demand, JP and Garry will repeat the DMin track beginning in January 2011. Please mention it to anyone you know who might be interested.)
Current work includes continuing writing a book on science and Christianity for B&H academic, and a paper on
Adam in theistic evolution and Romans 5, for the EPS annual meeting in Atlanta in November. He hopes to see many of you there.
Distinguished Professor of Philosophy of Religion & Ethics
Dr. Moreland has spoken about 10 times around the country, including an evangelistic open forum at the University of Tulsa. He is doing research to develop four new electives that he will begin teaching during the fall of 2011. He is also co-editing a forthcoming book with Oxford University Press tentatively entitled Dialogs in Christian Theism . This spring semester Dr. Moreland is teaching Apologetics to undergraduate students at Biola.
Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion & Ethics
Dr. Pickavance finds it hard to believe that it's already been two years since he returned to Biola!
There's been quite a bit going on professionally this semester. He made a trip in March to Cal
State Sacramento to give two talks. Russell DiSilvestro, one of our grads, is a professor there and arranged what was a fantastic visit. It was great to see past students playing an integral role in a secular department. At any rate, one of the talks, "The Natural View of Properties of Identity" was a precursor to a paper that will be included in a volume of new essays on substance (published by Philosophia Verlag), edited by another of our grads, Robert
Garcia. The other talk, "The Problem of the Criterion", is something he hopes to clean up and publish somewhere in the next couple years. He also agreed to co-author a book with Rob Koons--his dissertation supervisor at Texas--called The Fundamentals of Metaphysics . It will serve as Wiley-Blackwell's advanced introduction to metaphysics. This is a great opportunity, one he’s extremely grateful for! Please be praying for him as he navigates for the first time the process of writing a book, and pray that it would be received well and further the reputation of Talbot Philosophy.
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

PAGE 8 NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM
Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Philosophy
In late December Dr. Horner was a keynote speaker at the Venture 2010 Northwest Campus
Crusade for Christ Winter Conference in Portland. He gave two plenary addresses, “A Biblical
Vision of Worship” and “The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Worship.” He also presented an apologetics seminar, “Too Good Not to be True: A Case for Moral Apologetics.”
On January 15 he presented an Evening on Mars Hill lecture at North Hills Church in Carlsbad, California.
It was entitled, “Lessons from Le Chambon” – using the small village of Le Chambon in France, where 5,000 villagers saved 5,000 Jews from the Holocaust during WWII, as a model for acting on behalf of the unborn in our time.
Dr. Horner was recently invited by the editor of Christian Scholar’s Review to respond to “C.S. Lewis on
Pleasure and Happiness,” an article critiquing Horner’s eudaimonistic interpretation of Lewis’s ethical vision.
Three articles published by Dr. Horner in 1991, “Are All Religions Created Equal?,” "The Blind Men and the
Elephant," and “Getting Clear About Tolerance,” have recently been translated into the Czech language, as
“Jsou si v š echna náboz enství rovna.” (We may also mention, in passing, that Dr. Horner continues to receive positive feedback from leading scholars around the world, who commend his lucid, devastating defense of the proper pronunciation of “Augustine” against Garry DeWeese in June 2009’s Philosophia Christi).
Professor of Philosophy of Religion & Ethics; Department Chair
Dr. Rae has been on Sabbatical this spring, working on three different book projects that will be out later this year or early in 2011. The first is a book on the integration of faith and business, entitled
Business as Transformational Service: The Shape of a Calling to the Marketplace , co-authored with Kenman L. Wong of
Seattle Pacific University and published by IVP Academic. The second is also co-authored with Dr. Wong--the third edition of our textbook in business ethics, Beyond Integrity: A Judeo-Christian Approach to Business Ethics , published by Zondervan. The third is a reworking and updating of a book on infertility and assisted reproduction, formerly entitled Brave New Families, now titled, Outside the Womb , co-authored with Joy Riley, MD. Also coming out this spring is a book that answers the critics of capitalism in the aftermath of the mortgage meltdown, co authored with MA Phil grad, Austin Hill, entitled The Virtues of Capitalism: A Moral Case for Free Markets, published by
Northfield Publishing, an imprint of Moody Press.
Dr. Rae is also spending some Sabbatical time preparing for a two week series of lectures in Australia from
July 15-31--he is the keynote speaker at a conference entitled “Christians in the Public Square” and will be lecturing at the Presbyterian Theological Colleges in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. He will also be preaching at Grace Fellowship Church in Costa Mesa on April 25 and at Mariners Church in Irvine on May 29-30.
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM PAGE 9
Capitalism brings out the best in people. It stabilizes society, fosters creativity, rewards initiative, promotes cooperation, engenders civility, and encourages personal responsibility. People who possess those virtues also make better neighbors and a better society.
In this timely and balanced book, Austin Hill and Scott Rae agree with capitalism's critics that the economy is essentially a moral issue, but they argue that free markets are the solution to financial disasters rather than the cause.
Sure there are legitimate criticisms of the market system -- and real limits to what it can and should accomplish -- but, in the end, capitalism both depends upon and sustains classic Judeo-Christian virtues better than any of its rival systems. Thoughtful and engaging, The Virtues of Capitalism pushes against the tide of current public opinion and some of the administration's proposed economic policies with a principled defense of capitalism.
Biola University has recently published a review of the book, which can be accessed here: http:// www.biola.edu/news/articles/2010/100511_capitalism.cfm
Several others have weighed in on the book as well:
“Hill and Rae shrewdly reveal the positive effects of religious and political traditions on economic performance. Even in the midst of the Great Recession, the authors show that capitalism in the United
States is shaped by biblical values, and leaves man economically more and morally better. This vital message couldn’t come at a more propitious moment—as a needed guide to Americans as we begin to work our way back to a morally founded prosperity."
— TONY BLANKLEY, columnist, The Washington Times
“Capitalism has taken a beating in the popular press over the past few years, and that’s a shame. Done right, capitalism captures the spirit of America by rewarding the diligent for their hard work and challenging the lazy to work harder. The Virtues of Capitalism takes an honest look at the system, celebrating its strengths and spotlighting its weaknesses.”
— DAVE RAMSEY, host of The Dave Ramsey Show and bestselling author of The Total
Money Makeover
“Everyone knows that free markets are more efficient than command-and-control economies. But Austin
Hill and Scott Rae make the important and persuasive case that capitalism is also more fair, more decent, more moral than any system that hands control to bureaucrats and politicians.”
— MICHAEL MEDVED, nationally syndicated talk show host and author of The 5 Big Lies about American Business
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

PAGE 10 NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM
Messages from Alumni
Albert Chan writes: I work for a digital x-ray manufacturer as a business systems analyst during the day. During the evening, I teach business ethics and social ethics for Biola's professional degree completion program (9 courses since October ’08). The director of applied ethics from a top-ranked business ethics program has recently begun helping me with my writing and I’m hoping to publish an article on nepotism shortly.
A current highlight for me has been joining a great group of elders at our close-knit church in La Mirada. My wife Cora is an RN for a local hospital’s Alzheimer’s facility. She actively reaches out to the community in interfaith movements such as
ONE, FIES, and the PTA, plus runs mara and half-marathons when she can (I cannot and will never do such a thing). Our girls Sharla (11) and Kayden (8) are either on the computer (their laptop-for-learning public school requires each student to have a Macbook) or working out (16 hrs/wk) with their gymnastics team. Albert Chan (’97)
Charity Anderson and husband Matthew Anderson (Biola '04):   We currently live in
St. Louis, Missouri where I am finishing my 3rd year in Saint Louis University's
Philosophy Ph.D. program.   I am writing a dissertation on virtue epistemology with John Greco (and working with Eleonore Stump).   Last fall I   spent a semester as an "exchange" student at Notre Dame--which I enjoyed immensely.   Matt is writing a book with Bethany publishers on the significance of embodiment for christians and continues to write at his blog (mereorthodoxy.com).   He has recently started to experiment with podcast interviews, including one with Dr.
Moreland.   Charity Anderson (Biola '04, Talbot '06)
Alex Plato tells us: I am just finishing my second year of coursework at Saint
Louis University and am grateful to Our Lord that so many Talbot friends are around here at SLU.
Philosophy, as you know, can suck the soul out of you if you're not careful and though Aristotle did say truth is dearer than friendship, he also said friendship is dear. (Aristotle probably didn't conceive, as Plato could almost glimpse, that we can be friends with Truth
Himself.
So friendship is dear, truth dearer, but faith in Our Lord's reconciling love is a truth about a friend who is truth.
Faith unites and transfigures the wisdom in Aristotle's comparison.
Indeed, by comparison with Christ, such wisdom is as foolishness, however wise it is - and it is!)   So, life is grand here, with friends, philosophy, and faith.
If you're one of those thinking about coming to SLU be sure to get ahold of us Talbot MAPH alumni here.
We'll put in a good word for you! The program here is very good and, I think, a great fit for me, coming as I did from Talbot.
Ideas for a dissertation are still bubbling in the cauldron, but will probably be some sort of a brew of epistemological issues – brewed things of various sorts
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM PAGE 11
Messages from Alumni being something I look forward each morning, in some evenings and, when feeling like an Anglophile, at tea time.
Despite my more recent interests in Plato's Republic, moral philosophy, moral psychology, medieval philosophy of mind, and political philosophy, it's probably epistemology that'll remain my main research area here at SLU. I am hoping to include in my prospectus next year something on the epistemology of testimony, social epistemology, and perhaps something in the ethics of belief. Alex Plato (’07)
Matt Jordan has accepted a position as an assistant professor of philosophy at Auburn
University's Montgomery campus, beginning in summer 2010. His wife Jen is pregnant with their fifth child, and is due in August.   Matt's paper "Some Metaethical
Desiderata and the Conceptual Resources of Theism" has been accepted for publication in Sophia.   He's also had some opportunities to do philosophical/ apologetic work outside the academy: he facilitated a community-based reading group in Quincy, IL, that discussed Richard Dawkins'   The God Delusion   and Tim Keller's
The Reason for God, and he was recently interviewed for the "Common Sense
Atheism" podcast (http://commonsenseatheism.com).   Matt Jordan (’03)
Mihretu Petros Guta continues coordinating the Apologia Ministry on campus.
He frequently gives public lectures on philosophical issues. Currently he is working on the Apologia website which will soon be launched. Additionally, he regularly contributes philosophical articles to one of the largest Christian magazines in his home country Ethiopia. His third article will soon be published entitled, “Jesus in the Gospels” in which he argues how Jesus models the life of the mind. His second article was published entitled, “The
Existential Problem of Evil”. He recently responded to an article published in the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, and his response has since been published. He submitted two articles to peer reviewed journals and is anticipating a response shortly.
Right now he is finishing his second Masters in Science in Religion and will graduate in December 2010. He recently received exciting news of an unconditional offer to Durham University in England for his Ph.D. in
Philosophy. He is praying for all the logistics (i.e., funding and moving his wife and 2 year old to the UK) to come together. Mihretu Petros Guta (’09)
Matt Getz is enjoying his first year in Notre Dame’s PhD program. He and his wife Sarah
Beth (‘09 MA ICS) also had their first child, Lewis Samuel ‘Jack’, on October 21, 2009.
Matt Getz (‘07)
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

PAGE 12 NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM
Messages from Alumni
Nate King writes: I completed my Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of
Notre Dame in August 2009. My dissertation was entitled The
Epistemology of Disagreement: Puzzles, Solutions, and Applications. I’m currently mining the dissertation for articles while finishing a post-doc here at Notre Dame. Kristie and I were blessed with a daughter, Lily, in the fall of 2008. Lily appears to be interested in philosophy, as she frequently pulls
Philosophy for Dummies from my bookshelf. (I would prefer that she read primary sources, but it’s a start.) When she’s not chasing Lily, Kristie plays the piano for the worship team at our church, Fulkerson Park (Niles, MI).
In other news, after thirty-four years of procrastination, I finally got a real job! Starting in the fall, I’ll take up the position of Assistant Professor of
Philosophy at Whitworth University (Spokane, WA). I’m very grateful for the job, as it represents an opportunity to instill in others the core values that the Talbot faculty instilled in me. As an added bonus,
I’ll be joining the Whitworth community alongside MA Philosophy alum Josh Orozco. Nate King (’01)
Peter Hughes writes: My wife Joanne and just celebrated our fourth anniversary, and we are expecting our second daughter in June.
We are very involved at
Olathe Bible Church, located   on the outskirts of Kansas City.
I help to lead the
Young Families bible study and will be teaching a 12-week apologetics class over
the summer.
We have made many good friends here but certainly miss our friends   in California!
Last fall I had the opportunity to teach statistics as an adjunct professor at the
University of Kansas.
I continue   to work in the investment industry, serving as a portfolio manager for Check Capital Management.
Peter Hughes (MA ’05)
Ross Inman says: After graduation in May 2009, my wife (Suzanne) and I packed our bags and headed to Dublin, Ireland where I soon after began my
PhD in philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin. At the moment, I am in the process of completing my first year of the PhD, with my primary area of research focusing on bringing ancient and medieval metaphysics (particularly material objects and mereology) into dialogue with contemporary issues in metaphysics. My dissertation is titled “A Neo-Aristotelian & Scholastic
Metaphysics of Material Objects” and is being supervised by Peter Simons.
Suzanne and I have been attending Dublin Vineyard Church, a small, diverse community that has welcomed us with open arms to our new home here in
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM PAGE 13
Messages from Alumni
Ireland. We absolutely love our church! We have already been blessed to experience first hand what God has been doing here on the Emerald Isle as well as in Europe at large and consider it a great joy to partner with Him.
Ross Inman (’09)
Ryan Ashlock shares: I graduated from UCI last June (2009) with an MA in history
("concentrations" in American History, World History, and Historical Methodology) and while   there,   some of the historians (professors)   were quite pleased with my   work and consequently,   encouraged me to apply to PhD programs in history (one professor in particular said   I should even look into   applying to Yale and UPenn).
I ended up applying to U. Missouri,   UCI, and yes, Yale too (though I have already received   their letter of denial) and   intend, if admitted, to pursue "intellectual history"   largely in an
"American" context, which   I find, among all the other historical approaches, comports most   nicely with my philosophical training.
Intellectual history is, after all, the study of the history of ideas.
After graduating, I went back   home to help my father in his business.
And while there, I ended up applying for a couple of internships with Washington D.C.-based think-tanks (to see if public policy was something that interested me as a career and "calling").
I was denied at one (the Heritage Foundation) and accepted to another
(the Cato Institute--a libertarian think tank).
I accepted Cato's invitation, and am presently in D.C.
Ryan Ashlock (’07)
Luke Van Horn tells us: I am continuing work on my dissertation here at Notre
Dame. I have two forthcoming papers defending substance dualism, “Merricks's
Soulless Savior,” in Faith and Philosophy , and “No Pairing Problem,” in
Philosophical Studies .
The latter paper is a Biola/Talbot alumfest, as it's coauthored with Andrew Bailey and Josh Rasmussen.
Luke Van Horn (’05)
Scott Waller successfully defended his dissertation, "The Political
Thought of Richard John Neuhaus" in March of this year. His
Ph.D. is in Political Science from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, CA.
His area of specialty involves church-state relations and the jurisprudence surrounding the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Scott Waller (’99)
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

PAGE 14 NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM
Messages from Alumni
Todd Niley says: My wife, Julia,   and I   are currently living in Delaware,
Ohio where she is   teaching at a local elementary school and I am working as an Assistant Pastor at a Vineyard church nearby. We just had our first child in late December. Her name is Ansley Kate and she is keeping us on our toes! We miss Talbot and all of our friends in the La
Mirada area. We hope to   visit in the near future. Todd Niley (’07)
W. Paul Franks tells us: I've been teaching in the philosophy department at Tyndale
University College in Toronto while I finish writing my dissertation (I'm planning an early Fall 2010 defense at the University of Oklahoma). Now that I'm teaching at a Christian university I realize how valuable my time at Talbot was. I'm so thankful that each of my professors there took the time to demonstrate to us how well philosophy integrates with the Christian life. I pray I can model for my students what my Talbot professors modeled for me. My wife and I also recently had the pleasure of welcoming our first child, William Alexander, to the world. As you can see from the picture, he's already beginning to think deep and hard about the good things in life!
W. Paul Franks (’04)
Karl M. Simmons is in his seventh year with the Norwalk-La Mirada USD teaching elementary age children who have moderate to severe disabilities.
He will soon be enrolling in a Level II Education Specialist Credential program.
He is married to Dr.
Crystal G. Bowlby-Simmons (Rosemead ’07), and they are expecting the arrival of their firstborn, Maya Dawn Simmons, in May 2010.
Karl M. Simmons (’03)
Please include a photo of at least 1 megabyte in size and the years of graduation or last year you attended Talbot. Your update will appear in the first available newsletter.
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

PAGE 15 NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM
We hope you’re enjoying our current edition of With All Your Mind. It’s very important to us to keep you well informed about what the MA Phil. program is up to and we hope you find it helpful to you. We trust you’re getting used to reading this in electronic format—this makes it easy for you to pass it along to people who you think might be interested in what we’re doing. We hope you’re encouraged by what you read about what students and faculty are involved in. God continues to use all of us for His Kingdom impact around the world, and we are privileged to play a part in equipping students to make a difference in the university, community colleges, high schools, parachurch organizations and local churches where they are involved.
We are very grateful for your support and partnership with us in this. Our students have more financial needs than we can provide, but your giving helps us make a pretty good dent in what they need. Our faculty have travel opportunities for conferences and presentations that we can’t always fund, but your giving makes it possible for us to attend and present papers at many of these. We are dependent on your support to maintain our level of influence in the various places we have opportunities. If you are not already giving to the program, would you consider being a financial partner with us? We need roughly $30,000/year to provide minimally for what the faculty and students need to maintain the level of influence that has been the norm for us. We have about half of that in consistent giving, and need roughly 50 people to commit to giving $25/month. Would you consider being one of those 50 people who will enable us to keep doing what we’re called to do?
We now offer the ability to debit an account you choose on a monthly basis, and have it done automatically, if that would be of interest to you. You can visit http://giving.biola.edu/giving-ideas/giving-by-electronic-fundstransfer-eft/ for more information and to download the form we need to set this up.
You can also send your one-time check or monthly donations directly to our department. The address is MA
Philosophy Department, 13800 Biola Ave., La Mirada, CA 90639. Please make your checks payable to Biola
University.
Thanks so much for your ongoing partnership with us.
Serving the Kingdom together,
Scott B. Rae
Department Chair
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Spring 2010

PAGE 16 NEWSLETTER OF TALBOT’S MA PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM
by William J. Havlicek, Ph.D.
William J. Havlicek's new and revealing book is based largely on Vincent van Gogh’s astonishing letters, of which over 900 exist. This important work
– the result of over 15 years of research – provides new insight into the artist's true character nurtured from his abiding faith, the influence of family, and the tender solicitude he felt for mankind.
Havlicek's book holds some compelling revelations, among them the role played by Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, his sister-in-law, without whom little of the inimitable Vincent would ever have been known; and the artist's vicarious relationship with
Charles Dickens. But perhaps most revealing is
Havlicek's discovery of how the inspired words of
Victor Hugo, embodied in one of his characters in
Les Misérables, gave Van Gogh the idea for one of his most celebrated paintings of all: The Starry
✁
Night. This particular revelation is sure to astound the art world.
T h e b o o k a l s o dispels much of the myth that has come to s u r ro u n d Vi n c e n t ’s tumultuous life. In the words of the author, the book illuminates instead “...an unknown, adventurous, deeply compassionate man whose essence seems to have been lost in the dramatic and often apocryphal stories surrounding his illness and early death. My effort is to resurrect an unknown aspect of Vincent – one that is even heroic and certainly praiseworthy...”
To learn more about the book or to order your copy, visit creativestorytellers.com.
Please Let us Know How We Can Better Serve You
Mail to:
Talbot Department of Philosophy
13800 Biola Avenue
La Mirada, CA 90639
Name: ________________________ Email: ___________________________ Phone: ________________
Address: ________________________________ City, State, ZIP: _________________________________
❑ I will commit to praying for the MA Phil Program. Please regularly send me a list of prayer requests.
❑ I would like to give financially to the MA Phil Program. Enclosed is my check made to Biola for $ _________ .
❑ Effective on _______________ , my contact information changes to the following:
❑ Please see Dr. Rae’s article on p. 15 for information on giving to MA Philosophy using EFT (automatic debit).
WITH ALL YOUR MIND Spring 2010