So...guess I'm the new guy

[Vincenzo Vinny G.]

I suspect I will regret asking,but who is Alvin Platinga? A prominent American apologist?

This is Alvin Plantinga:



and this is one article I found that, shall we say, doesn't seem to like him very much.

Here's another though a little less forthright in tone.

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That avatar is a damned Briton! Why do you have a Briton as your avatar...?

That's no damned Briton; that's BoJo, the famous comedy Tory Mayor of London. I once saw him on his bike riding around Westminster. He didn't see me, though - or if he did he never said anything.

Among laymen, nobody knows who Plantinga is. Among dumb atheists, Plantinga is an idiot. Among theist and atheist philosophers Plantinga is considered the greatest philosopher alive today. I suggest that all knowledgeable atheists approach him and his work with seriousness.

PS- He defeated the logical problem of evil.

PPS- You can hate his arguments, but I'm firmly of the opinion that you have to respect his work. Here's a review of his book in the NYT. I think they characterize his reputation fairly given his weight among philosophers. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/books/...wanted=all