Who are the most prominent Christian philosophers of the 21st century?

Question

The question's title says it all. Who are the most prominent Christian philosophers of the 21st century (if there are any) and why?

By "Christian philosopher", I mean a philosopher who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ and has philosophical works that try to show that this belief is justified.

Answer 1

I'm not sure how to give an exhaustive list of prominent philosophers who are also Christians, but some philosophers who come to mind are: Bas van Fraassen, Michael Dummett (recently deceased), William Alston (recently deceased), Alvin Plantinga, Peter van Inwagen, Marilyn Adams, Robert Adams, Robert Audi, Keith DeRose, Anthony Kenny, Alasdair MacIntyre, Richard Swinburne, Nicholas Walterstorff. idk, there are lots more, but these are some who come to mind. All of them have made significant contributions to areas outside of philosophy of religion or distinctively Christian philosophy (actually, some of them -- van Fraassen, Dummet, for example -- have done very little, if any, work in philosophy of religion).

(Coincidentally, William Lane Craig is not a particularly prominent philosopher, although he's produced some fine work. He's well known in certain circles outside of academic philosophy because he's debated alot of people. Oh, and Craig isn't a fundamentalist. The person who gave the answer about Craig kind of doesn't know what they're taking about.)

Answer 2

Edward Feser—most well-known for his The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism, Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide, and Scholastic Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction*—is one of the most prominent contemporary Thomist philosophers. See also his excellent blog.

_{*This last book is an excellent confrontation of Thomistic thought with modern, analytic philosophy.}

Answer 3

I would say the most important (maybe not always very popular. At least not in the states) are: David Bentley Hart, Richard G. Swinburne, Rowan Williams, Keith Ward, Roger Scruton and of course Robert Spaemann.

Answer 4

William Lane Craig is the top contemporary philosopher for the Christian worldview, if not one of the top philosophers. Here is a subjective list of the top philosophers (in alphabetical order) and Craig is the first Christian on it (#11)

Answer 5

Whether he counts as a philosopher proper or a scholar of philosophy, one important philosopher (in some sense) is Bishop Robert Barron. Bishop Barron is an interesting example of a "21st century philosopher" in that (1) he has formal training in philosophy at the PhD level, and (2) much of his work disseminating his take on things has taken place via YouTube videos, meaning he is a 21st century philosopher in medium as well as chronologically.

I also happen to like Peter Kreeft, and he is at least prolific as an author.

Answer 6

William Lane Craig would be on that list, without a doubt. For the avoidance of all doubt, I disagree with almost everything he says. However, he defends his brand of fundamentalist Christianity with well-sourced cogent arguments, and is a skilled debater.

Answer 7

As written, the question is ambiguous and attempting to answer the question as is leads to the further questions of: do you mean philosophers that are also christian, or - considering your capitalization of an adjective - do you mean people purporting a "Christian philosophy"?

1. As for philosophers that are also christian, do you mean "christian"

   • in the sense of similar to the fictional character known as "Jesus Christ" which is otherwise a "John Frum" amalgamation?
     Answering that would be an entirely subjective evaluation and depend much upon which texts chosen as reference for his character. In the sense of Jesus Christ as presented in the Thomas Jefferson Bible, I'd say of all the living published philosophers: John R. Searle is the most like the unpretentious and thoughtful characterization of Jesus presented in "The Life and Morals or Jesus of Nazareth" - as well for Jefferson's scholarly strategy of consulting different translations as well as his deist redaction of miracles, magic and nonsense.

   • in the sense of raised in a predominantly christian culture?
     There's John R. Searle, Hubert Dreyfus, Nancy Cartwright, Edmund Gettier, Noam Chomsky, Jürgen Habermaas, Daniel Dennett, David Chalmers, etc.

   • in the sense of a philosopher who identifies as a christian?
     Well there's William Lane Craig.
   • in the sense of a philosopher that has received a christian baptism?
     Presumably William Lane Craig, and there's also John Haldane

Given your statement in the comments that you mean the most prominent "philosopher who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ and has philosophical works that try to show that this belief is justified" an answer will depend largely upon what you mean by "philosophy" because:

2. There simply is no "Christian philosophy" - the term is oxymoron. Philosophy has to do with what is, not "what is to Christianity." Philosophy contends with ponderables heuristically and does not deal in hermeneutics and imponderables except to reject invalid and unsound argumentation in support or drawn from of such nonsense. Philosophy has to do with knowledge and truth. Christianity, like all religions, has to do with belief and coherent statements of faith.

To the point of your clarifying comment - every belief is justified by the mere fact that you sincerely believe it. Such is a fundamental difference between statements of belief and statements of knowledge.