There’s an argument I’ve run across several times, that theism, and specifically Christianity, forms a much better basis for science than does atheism. Indeed, some people go so far as to claim that only Christianity provides a foundation for science. Matt Slick at CARM lays it out well (though Don Johnson Ministries makes a similar argument). After listing a number… Continue reading Does Christianity Offer the Best Basis for Science?
Chapter 3: The First Cause If you thought Feser’s “Unmoved mover” argument was just mental masturbation, the sort of sophistry that gives philosophy a bad reputation and evokes the image of a tweed-wearing ivory tower professor using five-dollar words to ask meaningless questions, then you can skip his First Cause section, because it’s more of… Continue reading The Last Superstition: The First Cause
Let’s take a peek over at Eve Keneinan’s post Keeping Track, which recounts a Twitter discussion between her, @MrOzAtheist, and Mark Houlsby, about Houlsby’s assertion that There is no evidence for God. Therefore God does not exist. Here’s a representative excerpt from Keneinan’s recap/rebuttal: But evidence is an epistemological concept, pertaining to knowledge, to how… Continue reading It’s Too Soon to Ask for Evidence, and What Is Evidence, Anyway?
Over at The Way of the Mister, Brian Dalton makes an important point: I’ve often heard the argument that “I don’t have enough faith to believe in {evolution/the Big Bang/atheism}”, and maybe you have, too. Hell, it’s the title of a book by apologist heavyweights Norman Geisler and Frank Turek. “I don’t have enough faith”… Continue reading Even the Faithful Have Given Up on Faith
So I ran out of good podcast episodes, and was listening to The Mar. 18, 2014 episode of Bryan Fischer’s Focal Point (or, as George Orwell might have put it, the Two Hours’ Hate). He started by railing against Bill Maher. For those who missed it, Fischer, along with the rest of right-wing America, got… Continue reading Apologetics of the Day: God Hides to Show He Exists
Paul Taylor, who helps Eric Hovind run the family misinformation mill in the absence of his father Kent, accuses people who think Noah’s Ark was just a story of not having done our homework: Question 1: How did they all fit on the boat and who put them in there? Don’t forget that there were… Continue reading Paul Taylor’s Fickle Exactness
(I could’ve sworn I wrote about this earlier, but I can’t find it in the archive now. So sorry if this is a duplicate.) Let’s say you’re visiting a foreign country, along with a native. As you’re wandering the forest, you see a mechanical watch on the ground. You pick it up, open it, examine… Continue reading Paley’s Computer
I had a lengthy discussion with one Nathanael Brown. (I’m sorry that the discussion is disordered, that you have to read it bottom to top, and there isn’t good threading. Blame Twitter.) Since this started in the context of demonstrations on the National Mall, both for and against, about whether the Bible’s rules about marriage… Continue reading Christians Are Better than Their Religion
In case you don’t remember how Judas dies, here’s Matthew 27:3-10: 3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4“I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that… Continue reading Shit My Bible Says: The Multiple Deaths of Judas
You may remember that an editorial by Richard Dawkins in which he explains why he won’t debate William Lane Craig, has caused a bit of a tempest in the religious teapot. At issue is the fact that Craig has defended divinely-commanded genocide in the Bible, not just once but twice, and Dawkins doesn’t want anything… Continue reading More Christians Endorse Genocide
