Paul Copan

Paul Copan (, born September 26, 1962) is a Christian theologian, analytic philosopher, apologist, and author.

He is currently a professor at the Palm Beach Atlantic University and holds the endowed Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics.

He has written and edited over 40 books in the area of philosophy of religion, apologetics, theology, and ethics in the Bible.

He has contributed a great number of articles to various professional journals and has written many essays for edited books.

For six years he served as the president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society.

Paul Copan's father, Valery Copan, was of Ukrainian origin, and his mother, Valtraut (Kirsch) Copan, was born in Riga, Latvia.

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and then moved to Connecticut as a teenager.

From 1980 to 1984, he attended Columbia International University and earned a B.A. degree in biblical studies.

Copan attended Trinity International University, where he received his M.A. in philosophy of religion, as well as his M.Div.

at Trinity International.

Copan received the Prof. C.B. Bjuge Award for a thesis that “evidences creative scholarship in the field of Biblical and Systematic Theology.”

Copan started his career by working on the pastoral staff of First Presbyterian Church in Schenectady, NY from July 1989 – December 1995.

He also served as a volunteer campus minister for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Union College from 1992 – 1995.

He was an Adjunct Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion/Systematic Theology at Trinity International University (Deerfield, Illinois) from September 1996 – May 1998, and returned as a Visiting Associate Professor from June 2000 – June 2003.

In May 2000, Copan received his Ph.D. in philosophy of religion from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

His dissertation topic was "The Moral Dimensions of Michael Martin’s Atheology: A Critical Assessment."

He was a Visiting Associate Professor of Christian Thought at Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, NY from January 2002 – January 2004.

He was Adjunct Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, MN from Fall 2003 – March 2004.

Currently, Copan holds the Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics, and is a Professor of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, FL, where he has worked since 2004.

He helped establish the university's M.A. in Philosophy of Religion program, which began in 2021.

Additionally, an undergraduate degree in Apologetics at Palm Beach Atlantic University will be launched in August 2022, with Copan set to teach many of its courses.

He has criticized the presumption of atheism, (i.e. the notion that atheism should be one's default position when evaluating arguments over the existence of God).

He argues that such a position rigs the rules, since atheism is just as much a claim to knowledge as theism.

The only natural default position is agnosticism.

Copan cites atheists such as Baggini and Flew in arguing that atheism is not a mere lack of belief but a rejection of belief in God or gods.

He argues that atheists often slide into defending agnosticism when asked for reasons for their view.

He suggests that scientific naturalists will argue that all claims of knowledge have to be scientifically verifiable; otherwise, they are meaningless.

Copan argues that such a position commits the fallacy exemplified in Horton Hears a Who: "If you cannot see, hear, or feel something, it does not exist."

Copan argues that this position is an arbitrary philosophical (rather than scientific) pronouncement.

He also argues that the position of the scientific naturalist is self-refuting because scientism itself cannot be scientifically verified.

Copan also believes that belief in God is generally not a psychological crutch, claiming that the argument that Christianity is wish fulfillment itself falls victim to a number of fallacies.

He notes that Freud himself admitted to Oskar Pfister that psychoanalysis of religion has no clinical evidence, and are merely Freud's personal views.

Copan also argues that it is odd and arbitrary to claim that whatever brings comfort and solace is false.

He notes that a comforting father figure, while unique to the biblical faith, is not at the heart of the other world religions.

Copan also notes that the wish fulfillment argument against Christianity is a classic example of the genetic fallacy, claiming that because one can explain how the belief arose, that the belief is therefore false.

Copan is also a critic of presuppositionalism, arguing that Christians can use common ground to engage non-Christians in debate.

He argues that presuppositionalism begs the question.

It assumes that God exists in order to argue that God exists.

Instead, Christians can begin dialogues with non-Christians with common ground such as the law of non-contradiction.

He has lectured and debated at many universities over the course of his career, including the University of Helsinki (2017), Moscow State University (2002), Nanyang University in Singapore (2019), the University of Reading (2017), Cambridge University (2017), Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University (2017), Boston College (2001, 2002) and Boston College Law School (2012), and Harvard University (2000).