“Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey's mind,” rhetorically asked Charles Darwin, “if there are any convictions in such a mind?” (Darwin 1881) In Darwin’s July 3rd 1881 letter to William Graham, we encounter a problem of epistemological uncertainty of our cognitive faculties. Darwin believed that Graham had accurately portrayed his conviction that “the Universe … [Read more...]
Questions That Are Off-Limits- Part 2
Last month we looked at questions that atheists tend to shy away from for whatever reason, and we looked at questions that are truly off-limits to those in an atheistic world. Today, we will see if Christianity has any such questions. What is Off Limits In The Church? One of the great advantages of Christianity over atheism is that the questions that are off limits in … [Read more...]
Questions That Are Off-Limits- Part 1
I have always been a curious person. I love to ask questions. What things work, how they work, and why they work. Math and the sciences had a great appeal to me in school. I always interacted with the teacher or professor. I was always trying to make connections among different pieces of knowledge that I was being taught. As I got older, if someone told me something, I liked to … [Read more...]
How do you believe that? – Agnostics should be skeptical all the way down
Everyone thinks they know something. Many also strive to be reasonable, logical, or rational. But is that even possible? Why trust one’s mind when it comes to reason, logic, and rationality? As a Christian, I believe that “God is a knower, and indeed the supreme knower… We human beings, therefore, being created in his image, can also know much about our world, ourselves, … [Read more...]
The Necessity Of God And The Death of Philosophy
I saw this image on Facebook the other day (states "God isn't an option, He's a necessity"). As a Christian I accept this because it is a part of the truth of Christianity (and consequently, reality). But the unbeliever doesn't tend to accept it or even appreciate the significance of this statement...especially if they claim to know anything (even as minimal as that they … [Read more...]
Arguments from Reason
[This post is a work in progress as part of the CAA Catechism.] [Add the title only in the title field, not in the body of the post.] Summary in 400 words or less: The atheist Francis Crick once declared that, “'You,' your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of … [Read more...]
GOD: The Best Explanation? Part 3
HOW DID THE UNIVERSE BEGIN TO EXIST? Part 1 Part 2 (pt.3) In this episode of our series "GOD: The Best Explanation?", we begin to investigate if the scientific fact of the beginning of our universe can be adequately explained by the existence of God. Amazingly, in the 20th century alone, we have discovered at least 5 different ways in which we can demonstrate scientifically … [Read more...]
GOD: The Best Explanation? Part 2
Can Atheism Explain the Existence of our Universe? Part 1 In this second installment of our new miniseries, "GOD: The Best Explanation?", we begin to investigate whether a personal Creator God might or might not be a good explanation of the features we observe about our universe and reality in general. In this video we will take a look at Feature #1 that needs to be … [Read more...]
Is Naturalism Rational? The Self-Defeating Epistemology Behind Evolutionary Theories of Cognition (Part 3)
This is Part 3 in a 3 part series on evolutionary theories of cognition. This part discusses Alvin Plantinga's Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism. Part 1 examined C.S. Lewis’ Argument from Reason and part 2 covered Plantinga’s Argument from Proper Function. See Part 1 of this article here and Part 2 here. Alvin Plantinga’s Evolutionary Argument Against … [Read more...]
Book Review: The Word of God and the Mind of Man
The Word of God and the Mind of Man by Ronald Nash is a book about Christian epistemology (how we know what we know). I was enjoying a philosophy lecture series by Dr. Nash, and while discussing epistemology, he mentioned this book. The book is divided into two parts consisting of a total of twelve chapters. In the first part, Nash provides a case against different religious … [Read more...]