Matthew Lawrence wrote in this question and gave permission to blog it and my answer below: Hello Christian Apologetics Alliance. I would like to first off say thank you for the resources that you've given to me. This has helped me boost my faith up greatly. Also I was wondering if you can please help me with an objection to the moral argument. I was talking to a skeptic … [Read more...]
The Cognitive Dissonance Of Evil
The Problem of Evil and Suffering In defending the truth of the Christian worldview, I often come across atheists who point to the supposed incompatibility of a loving God with the existence of evil and suffering. Many defenders of Christianity will move directly to explain to the atheist that without an eternal, unchanging standard, there is no objective morality, thus there … [Read more...]
Atheism And Evil In The Name Of God
Evil in the Name of God I recently saw an animated short created by an atheist on YouTube. In this video, a bunch of theists were trying to tell an atheist about God. But then the theists began to threaten each other with weapons and argue over whose religion was right! Not surprisingly, the atheist character came out as the level-headed one as he tried to calm everyone … [Read more...]
Does God Condone Slavery?
Many may be surprised to learn that in the Old Testament, God expressly forbids the slave trade, commanding that anyone who steals a man is to be put to death, whether he has sold the victim yet or not (Exodus 21:16). Naturally, this raises the question of why God had laws on slavery. It must be understood that there were different types of slavery in the ancient days. One was … [Read more...]
The Legitimate Use of Pascal in Apologetics
I have written two prior treatments of Christian philosophers' usefulness in apologetics* and here I wish to add another to the list: French philosopher Blaise Pascal (1632-1662). Pascal is widely known for his work in mathematics and science, although his recognition and focus on religion and philosophy wouldn't come until later in his life. In 1654, where not too long before, … [Read more...]
Why Does God Allow Evil?
Day of Evil The 9/11 terrorist attacks kicked off a change in the overall tone of conversations about religion. Outspoken “New Atheists” like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett and the late Christopher Hitchens gained a huge following from people who were critical of the Judeo-Christian conception God. Why Does God Allow Evil? Besides just slamming religion in general, … [Read more...]
Are Atheists Smarter Than Christians?
Well, there has certainly been a lot of controversy over an undergraduate psychology assignment given at The Ohio State University. A student anonymously submitted the following question to the people at Campus Reform which was actually on his homework assignment. Theo has an IQ of 100 and Aine has an IQ of 125. Which of the following statements would you expect to be … [Read more...]
Why should I believe something?
People believe all sorts of things. Some believe in aliens, while others don’t. Some believe in global warming, while others don’t. Some believe in evolution, while other's don't. Some believe in a God or gods, while others do not. Why the disagreement, given there are certainly people of good intention and intellect on either side of many important issues? Why should we … [Read more...]
On Behalf of Demea: Hume’s Problem of Evil
“Epicurus’ old questions are yet unanswered.” Said Philo, David Hume’s skeptical character, in Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779). “Is he [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?”(D 10.25) In part 10 and 11 of the Dialogues, Hume explored the … [Read more...]
The Argument of the Shadows
In June, 2002, in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attack, 25-year-old Pat Tillman abruptly left a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals and enlisted in the US Army. He declined all interview requests, asking to be looked upon as any other soldier. Nevertheless, the news turned him into a national phenom overnight. Two years later, he was shot and … [Read more...]