Paul Crowley

The philosopher Ronald De Sousa once memorably described philosophical theology as "intellectual tennis without a net", and I readily allow that I have indeed been assuming that the net of rational judgement was up. But we can lower it if you really want to. It's your serve. Whatever you serve, suppose I return service rudely as follows: "What you say implies that God is a ham sandwich wrapped in tinfoil. That's not much of a God to worship!" If you then volley back, demanding to know how I can justify my claim that your serve has such a preposterous implication, I will reply: "Oh, so you want the net up for my returns, but not for your serves?" Either the net stays up, or it stays down. If the net is down, there are no rules and anybody can say anything - a mug's game if there ever was one. I have been giving you the benefit of the assumption that you would not waste your time or mine by playing with the net down.