# Is Richard Swinburne a Christian?



## bookslover (Oct 19, 2008)

Richard Swinburne, the British philosopher, has a new book out: _Was Jesus God?_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 170pp.

In this book, he answers the question on the very last line of the very last page. He says, in bold type: *Jesus is God.* To get to this place, he travels, through the book, using all his philosophical training and experience (and building on previous books, no doubt) to arrive at this conclusion. I haven't read this book yet, but plan to.

He has affirmed that Jesus Christ is God. As a philosopher, he has reached the conclusion that affirming Jesus' deity is an intellectually acceptable thing to do.

So, my question is (for those who may know more about Swinburne): does this mean that Swinburne is, in fact, a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? Is he, in fact, a Christian? He affirms Jesus' deity on the last page, as I said, but there is no followup chapter or appendix where he tells the reader if this is just "head knowledge" for him or if he truly is a believer.

Does anyone know?


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## Berit (Oct 19, 2008)

Swinburne would consider himself a Christian. He has written on the Trinity before. He is along similar lines as the philosopher William Lane Craig.


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## tellville (Oct 19, 2008)

bookslover said:


> Richard Swinburne, the British philosopher, has a new book out: _Was Jesus God?_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 170pp.
> 
> In this book, he answers the question on the very last line of the very last page. He says, in bold type: *Jesus is God.* To get to this place, he travels, through the book, using all his philosophical training and experience (and building on previous books, no doubt) to arrive at this conclusion. I haven't read this book yet, but plan to.
> 
> ...



Well, he believes Jesus is God, and in the Trinitarian sense as well. Non-Christians don't believe Jesus was God in the Trinitarian sense. Thus, the worse he can be is a heretical misguided Christian 

This doesn't mean he is saved or isn't saved it just means semantically he must be considered a Christian


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## yeutter (Oct 19, 2008)

I met Richard Swinburne at a conference at Biola about four years ago. He is brilliant, humble, and insightful. I consider him a brother in Christ.


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