MASTER OF ARTS, PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
We Believe That Philosophy Involves the Passionate Pursuit of Truth, Along with Goodness and Beauty, for the Sake of Christ.
At Palm Beach Atlantic University, the rigorous study of philosophy therefore moves us to pursue wisdom and knowledge for human flourishing. If you are also captivated by this vision for the pursuit of truth, then we invite you to join our dynamic community at PBA. Fueled by the conviction that all truth finds its source in Christ, the Master of Arts in Philosophy of Religion degree (MAPR) aims to prepare you for making an impact in His kingdom in three ways:
An Innovative Degree for the 21st Century Christian Leader
• Strong emphasis on public philosophy that engages thoughtfully with culture
• Vibrant learning community with small, in- person classes throughout the program
• Rigorous philosophical training, exploring a wide variety of topics in religion, theology, ethics, science, culture and art from a Christian perspective
• Affordable tuition, with scholarships and graduate student worker opportunities
• Cutting-edge education from top-tier Christian philosophers with strong ministry experience
• Solid foundation for further postgraduate studies in leading research universities
Learn from leading Christian philosophers who are dynamic teachers and caring mentors with a strong record of academic publishing.
Take classes such as:
- Philosophy of Religion
- Philosophical Theology
- Metaphysics
- Public Philosophy
- Philosophy of Science
- Philosophy and Literature
MASTER OF ARTS, PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION FACULTY
Full-time Faculty
Dr. Paul Gould
Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Director of the M.A. Philosophy of Religion program
Dr. Gould is the author or editor of eleven scholarly and popular-level books, including A Good and True Story (Brazos, 2022), Cultural Apologetics (Zondervan, 2019), Philosophy: A Christian Introduction (Baker Academic, 2019), and The Story of the Cosmos (Harvest House, 2019). He has authored over 20 academic articles and book reviews. He is currently working on a book titled Philosophical Theology: An Introduction, co-authored with Ross Inman (Baker Academic).
Dr. Gould has been a visiting scholar at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School’s Henry Center, working on the intersection of science and faith, and served as the vice president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society.
Dr. Gould’s research primarily concerns:
- Metaphysics: neo-Aristotelian accounts of substance, Platonism, the problem of universals, abstract objects, categorical analysis, the nature of existence, powers ontology, modality, realism
- Philosophical Theology: modeling God, God and abstract objects, divine creating, doctrine of creation, the coherence of the divine attributes, Trinity, Incarnation, human person in relation to creation, fall, redemption, and glorification
- Cultural Apologetics: culture, cultural change, the imagination, beauty, goodness, truth, a theology of story, art, aesthetics, C. S. Lewis
He is the founder and president of the Two Tasks Institute. The institute is dedicated to re-establishing the Christian voice, conscience, and imagination within the Western world so that Christ will be seen as brilliant and beautiful, Christianity viewed as reasonable and desirable, and people will find salvation in and through Jesus Christ.
Dr. Gould is a widely sought-after speaker in apologetics and philosophy. He regularly speaks at universities, churches, and ministries nationwide, including Summit Ministries, the C.S. Lewis Institute, Impact 360, and the Evangelical Philosophical Society’s Annual Apologetics Conference.
LINKS:
EDUCATION: B.A., Miami University (Ohio); M.A., Talbot School of Theology; Ph.D., Purdue University.
Dr. Paul Copan
Professor of Philosophy and Ethics; Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics
Paul Copan is the author and editor of over 40 books, including True for You, But Not for Me (Bethany House); That’s Just Your Interpretation; How Do You Know You’re Not Wrong?; When God Goes to Starbucks and Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God, Is God a Vindictive Bully? Reconciling Portrayals of God in the Old and New Testaments (all with Baker); Loving Wisdom: A Guide to Philosophy and Christian Faith (Eerdmans); and A Little Book for New Philosophers (IVP Academic).
He has co-authored Creation Out of Nothing: A Biblical, Philosophical, and Scientific Exploration (Baker Academic), An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the Way of Wisdom (IVP Academic), The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas (IVP Academic), and Did God Really Command Genocide? (Baker). He has co-edited three books on the historical Jesus and three other books in the philosophy of religion, The Rationality of Theism (Routledge), The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion (Routledge), and Philosophy of Religion: Classic and Contemporary Issues (Blackwell). He has co-edited (with William Craig) Passionate Conviction and Contending with Christianity’s Critics, and Come Let Us Reason (all with B&H Academic), and he is co-editor of The Zondervan Dictionary of Christianity and Science. He has contributed to over 50 books, and he has written many articles and book reviews for various professional and popular journals.
For six years he served as the president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford (2017; 2024), and he regularly speaks on university campuses, at academic conferences, at professional societies (including IVR World Congress and the European Leadership Forum), and to church groups, and institutions (including Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, Impact 360, and Summit Ministries). Paul and his wife, Jacqueline, have six children, and they reside in West Palm Beach, Florida.
LINKS
EDUCATION: B.A., Columbia International University; M.A., M.Div., Trinity International University; Ph.D., Marquette University.
Dr. Brandon Rickabaugh
Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Research Scholar on Public Philosophy, Palm Beach Atlantic University
Dr. Rickabaugh has 18 publications in various academic journals and books with Oxford University Press and Willey-Blackwell. He is co-author (with J. P. Moreland) of The Substance of Consciousness: A Comprehensive Defence of Contemporary Substance Dualism (Wiley-Blackwell). Dr. Rickabaugh’s dissertation, The Conscious Mind Unified (co-directed by Alexander Pruss and Timothy O’Connor; committee members C. Stephen Evans, Todd Buras, and Charles Weaver), received the Baylor University’s Outstanding Dissertation of the Year award.
Dr. Rickabaugh has been a Research Fellow at Baylor University’s ISR for the Accountability as a Relational Virtue Project, Graduate Research Fellow (neuroscience) for the SCP Science Cross-Training Grant (John Templeton Foundation). He is a Cultura Fellow at the Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture.
He was named among the Top 40 Most Impactful Faculty at Baylor University (2018-2019). He has given talks at universities in the US and UK, including Oxford, Durham, UC Davis, UT Austin, CU Boulder, and Yale. He also engages in public-facing philosophy exploring how the nature of consciousness and human persons relate to emerging technologies in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and neuroscience.
Dr. Rickabaugh’s research primarily concerns:
- Philosophy of mind: neo-Aristotelian accounts of consciousness, intentionality, psycho-physical relations, and the ontology of human persons, especially the nature of the human soul.
- Epistemology: perception, direct realism, self-knowledge, interpersonal knowledge.
- Philosophy of technology: artificial intelligence, transhumanism, the impact of technology on culture and science, and human flourishing.
- Philosophy of religion: the existence of God, divine hiddenness, interpersonal relational knowledge of God, publicly available and testable knowledge of Jesus and his way of life.
- Philosophy of spiritual formation: the nature and testable practices of being characterologically transformed into the image of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and how this impacts culture, technology, and psychology.
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Visiting Faculty
Dr. Dr. habit. Ryan Mullins
Visiting Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Palm Beach Atlantic University
Dr. R.T. Mullins is a lecturer and researcher in philosophy, theology, and religions at the University of Lucerne. He has published over 50 essays on various topics in philosophical theology related to models of God, philosophy of time, personal identity, the problem of evil, disability theology, the Trinity, and the incarnation. He has published four books, The End of the Timeless God (Oxford University Press, 2016), God and Emotion (Cambridge University Press, 2020), Dios, las Escrituras y las Emociones (Universidad Peruana Union Press, 2021), and Eternal in Love: A Little Book About a Big God (Cascade, 2024). He is also the co-editor for the Cascade series Studies in the Doctrine of God. Mullins has held research and teaching fellowships at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Cambridge, the University of St Andrews, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Helsinki, and the University of Lucerne. He is a member of different research groups across the UK and Europe such as the Society for the Philosophy of Time, and Emotion and Religion. He is a regularly invited speaker on different YouTube channels and podcasts. He even hosts his own podcast called The Reluctant Theologian. When not engaging in philosophical theology, he is often found at a metal show. You can find out more about his work at rtmullins.com.
Education: B.S., Point University; MA, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; PhD, University of St Andrews.
Dr. Mullins’ research areas:
- Metaphysics: philosophy of time, personal identity, mind/body problem, and free will.
- Philosophical Theology: models of God, doctrines of creation, providence, Trinity, incarnation, resurrection, world religions, evil, and disability.
- Philosophy of Emotion: the ontology of emotions, the relationship between emotions and rationality, emotions and value, and empathy.
Dr. Robert Garcia
Visiting Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Palm Beach Atlantic University
Dr. Robert Garcia is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University (2020-present) and previously taught at Texas A&M (2009-2020).
Dr. Garcia has published widely in top philosophy journals and edited volumes. He has co-edited several books, including Is Goodness Without God Good Enough? A Debate on Faith, Secularism, and Ethics (2009), and Compañero de la Filosofía Contemporánea de la Religión (Companion to Contemporary Philosophy of Religion) (forthcoming). His research has been supported by numerous grants and fellowships.
Currently, Dr. Garcia is writing a book, tentatively titled No Ordinary People: C.S. Lewis on the Uniqueness of Persons, which explicates, expands, and defends Lewis’s view about the uniqueness and value of individual persons.
Dr. Garcia’s research primarily concerns:
- Analytic metaphysics: the nature of objects, substances, and their properties.
- Philosophy of religion: God’s relationship to creatures in a world sustained by God, creaturely uniqueness and the individuative power of divine love, the problem of evil, and the compatibility of freedom and impeccability.
- Philosophy of C. S. Lewis: the relationship(s) between reason, science, imagination, and faith; the existence of God; God and morality; and the nature, value, cosmic-significance, and ultimate destiny of human persons.
Dr. Garcia’s professional affiliations and involvements:
- Member of the Executive Committee of the Society of Christian Philosophers
- Official Partner, Dynamis—The Finnish Network for Metaphysics
- Member of the European Forum for the Study of Religion and the Environment
- Editor of the Objects and Properties category for PhilPapers
- Included in the UPDirectory (the Directory of Philosophers from Underrepresented Groups in Philosophy).
He is married to Amy and has two children.
LINKS:
EDUCATION: B.A., Texas Lutheran University, M.A., Biola University, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame (dissertation advisor: Michael Loux; committee included Alvin Plantinga, Michael Rea, and Peter van Inwagen).
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CAREER OUTCOMES
- Professor or teacher in philosophy, theology, or related fields
- Minister in church or parachurch setting
- Leader in public sector or non-profit ministries
SCHOLARSHIPS
Various need-based scholarships available
Graduate student worker opportunities
PROGRAM DETAILS
The Master of Arts, Philosophy of Religion is a 36 credit-hour degree. Residential students can complete this degree in as few as two years. Non- residential students (requiring separate approval and periodic study weeks on campus) can complete the degree in as few as three years.
Estimated tuition for the Master of Arts, Philosophy of Religion is $22,072. The cost of tuition is based on 36 credit hours needed to complete the degree at $580 per credit and a resource fee of $298 per semester.
Financial aid may include work study programs and student loans. Students must apply for financial aid each year at www.fafsa.ed.gov to determine eligibility. Contact finaid@pba.edu with all financial questions.
Classes are available on-campus in West Palm Beach and also as a hybrid platform, combining synchronous online with periodic study weeks in West Palm Beach.
OUR STUDENTS
Raul Andrés Castañeda Aguilar
Student
Degrees: BSc in Economics, BSc in Finance and International Trade, M.Sc in Economics-Universidad del Rosario (Bogota, Colombia), M.A. Apologetics – Biola University
Interests: Ethics, Philosophy of Science, Political Philosophy
Tripp Almon
Student
Degrees: B.S. Education – University of Georgia
Interests: Philosophy, Apologetics, Worldview
Austin Avery
Student
Degrees: B.A.- Humanities w/ minor in Philosophy—Scarborough College
Interests: Apologetics, ethics, philosophy of mind, Aesthetics
Joseph Bradley
Student
Degrees: B.S. in Business Administration – Middle Georgia State University, Master of Theological Studies and M.A. in Christian Apologetics – Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Interests: Transcendental Arguments, Philosophy and Culture, and Philosophical Theology
Christian Breud
Student
Degrees: B.S. Ministry Leadership – Southeastern University (Lakeland), M.A. Christian Studies (PBA, in progress)
Interests: Analytical Theology, Logic, Apologetics
Linnea Clay
Student
Degrees: BA Philosophy and Bible & Theology – Toccoa Falls College
Interests: Analytic philosophy and Apologetics
Thomas Doane
Student
Degrees: B.A. Theological Studies-Wayland Baptist University
Interests: Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Science, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Website: https://pba.academia.edu/ThomasDoane
Andrew Drinkard
Student
Degrees: B.S. in Criminal Justice – Pensacola Christian College, M.A. in Christian Apologetics – Liberty University
Interests: Philosophical Theology, Ethics, Apologetics
Timothy Fisher
Student
Degrees: B.A. Theology – The Baptist College of Florida
Interests: Cultural Apologetics, Philosophy of Mind, Integration of Philosophy/Apologetics with Pastoral Ministry
Ricky Heers
Student
Degrees: B.A. in Biblical Studies – Palm Beach Atlantic University
Interests: Philosophical Theology, Apologetics, Free Will, Ethics
Jeremy Huntington
Student
Degrees: B.A. in Liberal Arts, with concentrations in Theology and Philosophy, University of St. Thomas (Houston, TX)
Interests: Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Philosophical Theology
Zackary Kralik
Student
Degrees: B.A. Biblical and Theological Studies – Palm Beach Atlantic University, MDIv- Palm Beach Atlantic University
Interests: Philosophy of language, Ethics, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Action, Philosophical Theology
Andrew Mercantini
Student
Degrees: B.A. Politics, Philosophy, and Economics-Palm Beach Atlantic University
Interests: Aesthetics, Logic
Michael Mohajer
Student
Degrees: B.A. Philosophy and English – Tyndale University
Interests: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Religion, Modern Philosophy
Micah Neighbors
Student
Degrees: B.A. Public and Nonprofit Administration – Florida Atlantic University
Interests: Metaphysics, Apologetics, Philosophy in Literature
Madeline Marie Nettles
Student
Degrees: A.A-Gulf Coast State College, B.A Biblical and Theological Studies- Palm Beach Atlantic University
Interests: Philosophical Theology, Apologetics, Philosophy of Mind
Conor Omecinski
Student
Degrees: B.S. in Secondary Education – Clarion University of Pennsylvania; MA in Philosophy – Talbot School of Theology
Interests: Analytic Theology, Philosophy of Religion, Aesthetics, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Metaethics, Ontology
Gabriel Pagel
Student
Degrees: B.A. Media Studies- Azusa Pacific University, M.A. Christian Apologetics- Biola University
Interests: Apologetics, Metaphysics
Elli Patterson
Student
Degrees: BS-Integrated Ministry Studies–The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago
Interests: Philosophical Theology, Logic, History, Apologetics, & Worldview
Juan Reyes-Zayas
Student
Degrees: B.A. Philosophy-University of Puerto Rico, B.S. Information Technology-University of Puerto Rico, M.A. Christian Apologetics- Biola University
Interests: Philosophy of Religion, Free Will
Ibby Rios
Student
Degrees: B.A. Elementary Education- University of Valley Forge, M.Ed. Educational Leadership- Temple University, M.Ed. Instructional Technology- Loyola University of Maryland
Interests: Christian philosophy, Logic, Apologetics, Education
Anna Ruth
Student
Degrees: B.A. in Biblical Studies and TESOL – Huntington University
Interests: Philosophy of Religion, Theology, and Culture
Travis Satterfield
Student
Degrees: B.A. Biblical Studies and History- The Crown College of the Bible, M.S. Educational Leadership- Pensacola Christian College
Interests: History of Philosophy, Transcendental Arguments for the Existence of God (TAG), Culture
Parker Settecase
Student
Degrees: B.S. Kinesiology- Northern Illinois University, M.A. Theological Studies- Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, M.A. Systematic Theology- Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Interests: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, The Simulation Hypothesis
Websites: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYbTRurpFP5q4TpDD_P2JDA
Chad Woolf
Student
Degrees:
B.S. Biblical Studies – Emmaus Bible College, M.A. in Apologetics – Talbot Seminary
Interests: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Technology, Applied Ethics.
Aimee Yun
Student
Degrees: B.S. in Philosophy and Christian Studies, Dallas Baptist University
Interests: Philosophy of Religion, Apologetics, Worldview, Ethics