After examining the evidence, cosmologists and physicists have largely embraced the fact we live in a universe that began to exist at a point in the distant past. At this point of “cosmic singularity” all space, time and matter came into existence abruptly, beginning in an extremely hot and dense state and expanding rapidly. Everything came from nothing. This view of the … [Read more...]
The Legitimate Use of Thomas Aquinas in Apologetics
Much has been said of the 13th-century philosopher, Thomas Aquinas, from both secular as well as religious critics alike. For instance, Bertrand Russell once wrote with respect to Aquinas that he “cannot. . . feel that [Aquinas] deserves to be put on a level with the best philosophers either of Greece or of modern times” [1]. This is due to Aquinas’ apparent prior commitment to … [Read more...]
5 Arguments for the Existence of God
Why should one make an argument for the existence of God? Why, moreover, provide five of them? Is it that the evidence for God is so weak, that believers need multiple arguments, working together in their persuasive power, to change the minds of unbelievers? Questions of whether or not these arguments are useful, or if they can actually coerce religious belief has been an area … [Read more...]
Nietzsche and Two Unpleasant Implications of Darwinism
“There was a type of enjoyment in overpowering and interpreting the world in the manner of Plato,” contended Friedrich Nietzsche, “different from the enjoyment offered by today’s physicists, or by the Darwinians and anti-teleologists who work in physiology, with their principle of the ‘smallest possible force’ and greatest possible stupidity”(Nietzsche 2002, 15-16) Nietzsche’s … [Read more...]
David Hume’s Genuine Theism
“All the new discoveries in astronomy,” explained David Hume quo Philo, “which prove the immense grandeur and magnificence of the works of Nature, are so many additional arguments for a Deity, according to the true system of Theism.” (DNR 165) Superstition, following Hume, ravishes from us the “presents of God and Nature”. Liberation from the slavery of the grossest … [Read more...]
Teleological (Design) Arguments
[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: Scripture for YouVersion: Short audio/video: Three questions (1 fill-in-the-blank, 1 multiple choice, and one discussion question): References for further reading: Collaboration notes: Collaborators: [Add your name … [Read more...]
Cosmological Arguments
[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: Scripture for YouVersion: Short audio/video: Three questions (1 fill-in-the-blank, 1 multiple choice, and one discussion question): References for further reading: Collaboration notes: Collaborators: [Add your name … [Read more...]
Evaluation of Darwin's Doubt by Stephen C. Meyer, Part 4
This is the fourth and final installment in my book review series on Darwin's Doubt. Part III: After Darwin, What? In chapters 15 and 16, Meyer explores the various "post-Darwinian" models that have been proposed to account for the massive amount of biological information required to give rise to new body structures and ultimately, new body plans. … [Read more...]
Nietzsche’s Rejection of Darwinian Evolution
“The error of the Darwinist school has become a problem for me: ” wrote Friedrich Nietzsche, “how can one be so blind as to fail to see clearly here? … That the species represent progress is the most unreasonable assertion in the world:” (Nietzsche 2003, 258) In a period of ten years, Nietzsche drifted from admiring Darwin and his company as “great names of England” to … [Read more...]
Arguments from Language
[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: Scripture for YouVersion: Short audio/video: Three questions (1 fill-in-the-blank, 1 multiple choice, and one discussion question): References for further reading: Collaboration notes: The Argument from Language. The … [Read more...]