David Basinger

David Basinger is an American analytic philosopher of religion who has spent his career at Roberts Wesleyan College (later Roberts Wesleyan University) in Rochester, New York, where he has served as professor of philosophy and ethics and as chief academic officer. He completed his doctoral work at the University of Nebraska and is associated with the evangelical analytic tradition of philosophy of religion that emerged in dialogue with figures like Alvin Plantinga and William Hasker.

Basinger is best known as one of the principal architects of 'open theism' (or the 'openness of God' view), defended jointly with Clark Pinnock, Richard Rice, John Sanders, and William Hasker in The Openness of God (1994). On this view, God's omniscience does not extend to future free actions, which are genuinely undetermined. The position drew sharp critique from classical theists and Calvinists such as Bruce Ware and John Frame, who charged it with diminishing divine sovereignty.

His other major contributions concern the epistemology of religious diversity, where he defends a moderate exclusivism arguing that religious disagreement does not undermine the rationality of committed belief, against pluralists like John Hick. He has also written on petitionary prayer, miracles, and divine providence. With Michael Peterson, William Hasker, and Bruce Reichenbach, he co-authored the widely used textbook Reason and Religious Belief and co-edited Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings.