Assessing the case for theism › A definite claim, open to argument

Mackie begins with what he calls traditional theism: a personal creator and sustainer of the universe, unlimited in power and knowledge, and wholly good. This is a more definite claim than saying that life contains mystery. Someone might accept an impersonal ultimate reality while rejecting this personal God. An objection to one conception does not automatically defeat every religious possibility.

The book appeared in 1982. Its preface identifies Richard Swinburne's The Existence of God and Hans Küng's Does God Exist? as important opposing cases. Mackie also discusses older arguments and Plantinga's contemporary use of possible worlds. This combination explains the book's scope: it tests both familiar proofs and attempts to reconstruct them. Preface and contents.

Mackie rejects a shortcut that would declare God-talk meaningless because it cannot be directly verified. We can understand a claim even when establishing its truth is difficult. His introduction argues that a strict verificationist account also creates problems for ordinary statements about the past and other people's minds. Rejecting that account lets him engage theism as a truth claim. The believer receives a hearing; the claim still owes us reasons.

For the reader, that distinction is useful before any disagreement begins. Ask someone what they mean by God, then ask what supports that conception. If one speaker means a loving agent and another means the existence of an intelligible universe, an apparent agreement may hide different claims. Mackie's method requires us to keep the conclusion in view throughout the argument.