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Do Nice Atheists Surprise You?
I was able to participate in a Dogma Debate episode recently. The topic was God's existence and Jesus's resurrection. Interestingly, despite being an atheist radio show, it was the hosts (headed by David Smalley) who actually had to deal with a lot of “hate mail” from atheist listeners, and I got the opposite! Most of the mail I got wan Read More
“Faith just means belief without evidence!”
Some atheists insist that “Faith just means belief without evidence.”1 This is perhaps the most common talking point made by New Atheists in particular, and their figureheads.2 When you encounter it as an apologist, consider the following strategy: Step 1: Get the atheist to articulate his/h Read More
“God-belief is unscientific!”
Atheists often complain that the God hypothesis is unscientific, and that this is a problem for the God hypothesis. The objection captures a widely publicized sentiment among non-believers that faith and science are in some sense incompatible: the belief that God exists is taken to be subjective and personal, while beliefs about how the world Read More
“‘God-did-it’ is just a substitute for ignorance!”
Many atheists feel that any evidential argument for God's existence amounts to “god of the gaps” reasoning—an argument from ignorance. That is to say, many derisively represent any purported theistic evidence as an “I don't understand it, therefore God did it,” even while being aware that no theist would endorse this representation.1 Read More
3 ways philosophy helps understanding God
So I just had a delightful time discussing God's properties with the Reasonable Faith group at the University of Texas at Dallas. The discussion was on thinking philosophically about God's properties, although we only got to a couple of them. After saying something about my own journey has an apologist who was originally antagonistic towards phi Read More
Why New Atheists tend to love science and hate philosophy
Among the so-called “New Atheists” (that is, those zealous about their atheism) and their iconic authors and speakers, a disrespect for academic philosophy is all too common. It is psychologically interesting that this special class of atheists—the kinds who go to atheist conventions—celebrate science together so passionately. The reverence has Read More
Why didn't God just create us perfect in heaven?
If God exists, then God is obviously the ultimate source behind God's own decisions. Similarly, most Christian philosophers will say you are the ultimate source behind your own decisions, and your resemblance to God in this aspect and others is what makes you an incredibly valuable thing. In fact, if the story of Jesus as told below is Read More
Does evolutionary theory rebut the Leibnizian cosmological argument?
We've been commenting on Dogma Debate episode #121, where I was a guest. In Read More