New Books Network – Summary

Episode Title:
J. L. Schellenberg, "What God Would Have Known: How Human Intellectual and Moral Development Undermines Christian Doctrine"
Host: Carrie Lynn Evans
Guest: Professor J. L. Schellenberg
Date: February 5, 2026

Overview

In this episode, Carrie Lynn Evans interviews philosopher J. L. Schellenberg about his book, What God Would Have Known: How Human Intellectual and Moral Development Undermines Christian Doctrine (Oxford UP, 2024). The conversation delves into how advances in human intellectual and moral development challenge classical Christian doctrines. Schellenberg outlines his innovative "problem of contrary development," presents 20 new arguments against the truth of core Christian dogmas, and explores how these critiques intersect with issues of free will, sin, salvation, revelation, and divine hiddenness.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Author's Background and Motivation (02:12–05:21)

• Background: Schellenberg grew up in an evangelical Mennonite household, experiencing both ethnic and religious aspects of the tradition.
  • "Books are to blame. And isn't that appropriate for this venue?" (A, 03:23)
• Intellectual Journey: Exposure to broader scholarship led him to question and ultimately depart from religious belief.
• Motivation for the Book: Sought to promote a philosophical shift from "Christian philosophy" (centered on defending doctrine) to the "philosophy of Christianity" (inclusive of critique and alternative perspectives).
  • "Philosophers can bring a better balance to work on Christianity in philosophy, negotiating a shift from Christian philosophy to the philosophy of Christianity." (B, 01:56)

2. Defining Classical Christianity and Human Development (05:21–10:44)

• Classical Christianity: Defined as long-standing, influential claims originating in the New Testament and formalized by early Church councils (Alvin Plantinga’s summary referenced).
• Human Development: More than evolution—focuses on large-scale moral/intellectual improvement (psychology, religion, violence, sex/gender, biblical criticism).
  • "It's more than just evolution... I'm thinking about improving change." (A, 06:53)
• Central Thesis: God, if existent, would always have possessed the knowledge humans laboriously acquire, so Christian doctrines that ignore these facts are problematic.

3. Human Development as a New Challenge to Christian Doctrine (12:00–15:52)

• Philosophical Landscape: Traditional critiques fixate on science/supernaturalism; Schellenberg targets concrete doctrinal claims in light of human intellectual/moral advancement.
• Personal motivation: Graduate students prompted him to analyze the specifics of Christian dogma itself.
• Key Concept: God’s supposed omniscience should have anticipated (and prevented) the errors and harmful doctrines later developed by humans.

4. Explosion of Knowledge and Historical Developments (16:29–22:37)

• Imaginary Scenario: “Ernest” in 1820 is shocked by the intellectual and moral advances post-1820, particularly in critical religious studies and egalitarian values.
• Equalization of Religions: Christianity, once unique, now one among many belief systems explained by social science.
• Biblical Criticism: Gospels not written by disciples, questionable authorship of Pauline epistles.
• Jesus as Apocalyptic Prophet: Modern consensus views his preaching as rooted in expectations of an imminent transformation, contrasting with later supernaturalized interpretations.

5. Psychology, Morality, and Sin (21:49–32:02)

• Modern understanding of psychology/biology reshapes concepts of sin and moral agency.
• Free Will: Much Christian doctrine rests on “libertarian” free will, but recent science favors determinism or "near-determinism."
  • "Even just saying that... we have what I call near determinism. Even that's enough to cause some serious problems for doctrines of Christianity..." (A, 23:34)
• Sin and Human Nature: The doctrine overstates universal moral guilt ("self-oriented desire") and ignores empirical evidence of altruism, diversity, and mental illness in humans.
  • "Christians have been believing misinformation about sin. God, of course, would have known the truth all along..." (A, 29:49)

6. Alternative Paths and “Spiritual Helplessness” (32:02–37:31)

• Challenges the idea that Christianity uniquely provides salvation from sin ("spiritual helplessness").
• Cites examples of secular altruism, non-Christian religion, psychological therapy, and alternative Jewish conceptions.
• Historical Correction: The portrayal of Judaism as “legalistic” and incapable of overcoming sin is historically inaccurate.
  • "...even in the context of non Christian Judaism, you see examples of alternative ways of overcoming sin..." (A, 36:50)

7. Salvation and Missing Information (37:31–43:07)

• Salvation Not Just Afterlife: Includes rectifying relationships among humans.
• Ordinary Factual Ignorance: Christianity lacked critical knowledge (e.g., epilepsy seen as demonic), leading to harm.
• Moral Ignorance: Christianity’s stance on women, sexuality, etc., often lagged behind secular progress and contributed to harm.
  • "Christian teaching and practice has often contributed to disordered relations between human beings because of missing moral information..." (A, 41:03)

8. Divinity of Jesus and the "Big Narrative" (43:07–46:44)

• The biblical narrative frames morality in tribal, simplistic terms ("the righteous" vs. "the wicked”), emphasizing punishment and violence—contrary to what a perfectly moral God would model or endorse.
  • "Any God who existed at the time would have known...that these things are false, bad, unhelpful." (A, 44:36)

9. The Holy Spirit—A Short Chapter, a Sharp Critique (46:44–49:50)

• Holy Spirit's Role: Truth-related guidance, “fruits” of spiritual character.
• Empirical Record: Said guidance/support is inconsistent and often absent among even devout Christians.
  • "...if [the Spirit] existed and was active...we'd be seeing different behavior from a great many Christians." (A, 48:53)

10. Revelation and Untimeliness Argument (49:50–54:41)

• Doctrine of Revelation: Asserts God revealed all necessary metaphysical truths early (e.g., Incarnation, Trinity).
• Untimeliness: Heavy doctrines provoked centuries of confusion/conflict—an omniscient God would not introduce such burdens prematurely.
• Even if these doctrines are true, revelation would have awaited greater human maturity.
  • "Even if true, these heavy metaphysical doctrines would not have been revealed by God at or around the time of Jesus..." (A, 53:24)

11. Progressive Revelation and Secular Moral Progress (54:41–59:01)

• Christian Rebuttal: God reveals truth in “updates” over time (“progressive revelation”).
• Schellenberg’s Response: Acceptable for mundane facts, but not for moral/spiritual truths. Most significant moral advances came from secular, not Christian, sources.

12. Book of Revelation—A Devastating Example (59:01–65:24)

• Argument Against Revelation from Revelation: The Book of Revelation contains morally/psychologically harmful content likely to inspire violence in literalist readers.
  • "First, all manner of divine acts involving violence and torture... are presented as perfectly appropriate..." (A, 61:11)
• God’s Omniscience: Would never have selected such a text as a vehicle of divine communication.

13. Divine Hiddenness and the "Salvation Message" (65:24–73:42)

• Divine Hiddenness Problem: If salvation is central, a loving God would clearly and universally reveal the path to salvation.
• Empirical Data: Many never encounter Christianity, or find its message unclear or unconvincing—even those open to it.
  • "More and more Christians are bumping into people who don't quite fit that narrative." (A, 74:04)
• Christian Responses: Typically allege non-believers are “resisting God,” while evidence increasingly refutes this narrative.

14. Denominational Diversity and Internal Disagreement (75:24–78:10)

• Christian Diversity: The existence of countless Christian groups, often at odds over core beliefs, undermines claims to a uniquely clear and unambiguous revelation.
  • "It's sad how small an extent [it's a caricature]..." (A, 76:11)

15. Mysterious Ways and Theodicy (78:10–79:55)

• Appeal to Mystery: The claim that God may have “mysterious reasons” for allowing doctrinal flaws is dismissed; a being unconcerned would not be the Christian God.
  • "It's impossible in the strongest sense, metaphysically impossible for this God, the Christian God, not to care about how things go in human life." (A, 79:07)

16. Audience and Philosopher Reactions (80:17–84:00)

• Intended Readership: Anyone concerned with the truth of Christian doctrine, especially philosophers.
• "Passionate Indifference": Advocates a love of truth regardless of one’s prior beliefs or desired conclusions.
  • "Philosophy is more about love than it is about logic." (A, 81:46)
• Gaps in Scholarship: Philosophical atheists focus on general arguments (e.g., “Does God exist?”) rather than critiques of specific Christian dogmas, allowing Christian philosophy to persist uncritically.

17. Future Work—Non-Realist Christianities (87:32–92:02)

• Incipient Christianities: Schellenberg plans a sequel exploring new, possibly non-metaphysical forms of Christianity that might survive/thrive even as classical doctrines fail.
• Religious Fictionalism: Engaging with Christianity as a meaningful narrative (like a powerful novel) rather than a literal metaphysical claim.
  • "Treating [Christian ideas] the way you might a very, very powerful and absorbing novel..." (A, 88:41)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On books shaping his journey:

  “Books are to blame. And isn't that appropriate for this venue?” (A, 03:23)

• On the shift in philosophy:

  "I might produce something that's not yet available in the philosophy of religion, which is a detailed and careful criticism of Christian doctrines." (A, 04:32)

• On sin and empirical reality:

  "Christians have been believing misinformation about sin. God, of course, would have known the truth all along, so we shouldn't imagine that God believes the doctrine of sin." (A, 29:49)

• On missing information and salvation:

  "Christian teaching and practice has often contributed to disordered relations between human beings because of missing moral information like this..." (A, 41:03)

• On progressive revelation:

  "But I think that moral and spiritual information is another thing altogether. The whole idea of revelation is to help us get that right." (A, 56:00)

• On the Book of Revelation’s dangers:

  "It's pretty hard to overdo it when you get a good look at what this book of the New Testament... contains." (A, 59:29)

• On “passionate indifference”:

  "It's passionate because it's a desire to know the truth. It's indifference because if you have it, you want to know the truth regardless of what it may be." (A, 81:26)

Suggested Listening Guide (Timestamps for Key Segments)

• 02:12 Background and intellectual journey
• 05:21 Defining "classical" Christianity and human development
• 16:29 The last 200 years of human intellectual progress
• 23:34 Free will, determinism, and implications for sin
• 32:45 Alternative ways of overcoming sin
• 38:10 What is missing from the Christian solution to salvation?
• 43:41 Jesus, the "big narrative,” and violence
• 46:44 On the Holy Spirit
• 49:50 Arguments about revelation, and “untimeliness”
• 59:29 The "Book of Revelation" argument
• 65:24 The problem of divine hiddenness
• 75:54 Denominational splits and diversity
• 78:37 Can God just be "mysterious" about all this?
• 80:17 Audience and the challenge of philosophical indifference
• 87:39 The possibility of non-realist (fictionalist) Christianity

Tone and Language

• The conversation is rigorous yet accessible, blending patient philosophical reasoning with clear, sometimes wry, articulation.
• Both guest and host maintain a tone of respectful critique, emphasizing argument and evidence over polemic.

Conclusion

This episode offers a deep and nuanced critique of classical Christian doctrine, grounded in developments in human knowledge, psychology, and morality. Schellenberg systematically argues that an omniscient God would have known—and acted differently—about humanity’s intellectual and moral capacities. His challenge to Christian philosophers is to move beyond apologetics and embrace an honest, passionate search for truth, wherever it may lead.