Date

11-11-2026

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Apologetics (PhD)

Chair

Connie Johnson

Keywords

Fatherlessness, Argument from Desire, Divine Fatherhood, Christian Apologetics, Paternal Longing. Father Absence and Child Development, Attachment Theory and Religion, Spiritual Adoption, Christian Identity and Belonging, God as Father, Christian Argument from Paternal Longing.

Disciplines

Christianity | Practical Theology

Abstract

This dissertation examines fatherlessness as a sociological, psychological, and theological problem while advancing an abductive apologetic argument that the persistent human longing for paternal presence, identity, security, and belonging is more comprehensively explained by the Christian worldview. Building upon C. S. Lewis’s Argument from Desire, the study develops the Christian Argument from Paternal Longing, employing inference to the best explanation to evaluate whether paternal longing provides meaningful evidence for God’s existence. Through interdisciplinary research integrating sociology, attachment theory, biblical theology, and historical-theological analysis, the dissertation compares Christian explanations with developmental, evolutionary, sociological, and psychological alternatives. Its central finding is that fatherlessness reveals three significant dimensions of human longing: dependable paternal presence, secure identity and belonging, and enduring relational commitment. Although naturalistic explanations illuminate the psychological origins and consequences of these desires, the study argues that Christianity offers a more comprehensive explanation by integrating their relational, moral, and existential dimensions. The abductive findings suggest that persistent paternal longing may function as an existential clue pointing toward divine Fatherhood rather than merely reflecting psychological deprivation. This argument does not deductively prove God’s existence but strengthens Christianity’s explanatory plausibility within a cumulative apologetic case. Biblical theology identifies Jesus Christ as the definitive revelation of the Father, while spiritual adoption and the church as God’s household provide theological and communal responses to fatherlessness. Ultimately, the dissertation contributes a distinctive abductive application of the Argument from Desire, connecting paternal longing with divine Fatherhood, redemption, and permanent belonging.

Download

Share

COinS