Introduction Cognitive Dissonance is all the rage these days. In other words, more and more skeptics are trying to postulate that the birth of the Jesus movement is the result of cognitive dissonance. As N.T Wright says: “One theory which would go against this conclusion [that the rise of Christianity is best explained by Jesus' bodily resurrection] was very popular a few … [Read more...]
Is Morality Objective?
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The first principle of value that we need to rediscover is this: that all reality hinges on moral foundations. In other words, that this is a moral universe, and that there are moral laws of the universe just as abiding as the physical laws.(1)” He helped build the Civil Rights movement upon these moral laws: whites are not superior to blacks and … [Read more...]
What CSI Tells Us About Our Desire for Truth
I recently read a post by Jill Carattini of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. In the post she discusses the reason for the popularity of forensic criminal science dramas on television such as CSI, NCIS and Bones. The shows center around the desire to find out what really happened to the victim and to bring the murderer to justice. The investigators are driven to solve … [Read more...]
Exon Shuffling: Evaluating the Evidence
Yesterday, I introduced the subject of exon shuffling and gave a few reasons why such a mechanism cannot explain the origins of the earliest, most ancient proteins. Now I want to offer an evaluation of the arguments, pro and con, for the role of exon shuffling in accounting for the subsequent origins of novel protein folds. … [Read more...]
Exon Shuffling, and the Origins of Protein Folds
A frequently made claim in the scientific literature is that protein domains can be readily recombined to form novel folds. In Darwin's Doubt, Stephen Meyer addresses this subject in detail (see Chapter 11). Over the course of this and a subsequent article, I want to briefly expand on what was said there. … [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...]
Evaluation of Darwin’s Doubt by Stephen C. Meyer, Part I
Because of the length and depth of Dr. Stephen C. Meyer's new book, Darwin's Doubt:The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design, I've decided to spread my review out over multiple posts. In this series, I will not offer a comprehensive summary of the book; many have already done so. Rather, I will highlight some of the key arguments and offer personal … [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...]
Is intelligent design science?
Why is it that Christian apologists have to deal with this topic so often? It seems that whenever I'm in discussion over just about ANY apologetics related topic, I'll typically be challenged by someone over the topic of I.D. as a kind of 'gotcha' move. You see, (insert sarcasm) I must not be rational... after all, I (as a Christian) must believe the whole Intelligent Design … [Read more...]