I was recently reading a discussion on Facebook about the various passages in the Bible that are used by atheists to claim that the God of the Bible is immoral. All sorts of claims swirled around. Jesus commanded us to murder children. God was a premeditated murderer. For the most part, it was a group of atheists ganging up on one or two theists, and unfortunately the only … [Read more...]
Vajrayana – Fast Track to Nirvana
Vajrayana Buddhism, also called “Thunderbolt Vehicle” or “Diamond Vehicle,” is considered by some to be the third vehicle in Buddhism, the other two being, Mahayana, and Theravada. It is widely believed that this school of thought originated as a reaction to the highly philosophical Mahayana Schools in India in the Nalanda University, one of the earliest universities in the … [Read more...]
Slideshow: What Best Explains Jesus’ Empty Tomb?
There is little to no debate among both Christian and non-Christian historians on the facts of Jesus’ empty tomb. By contrast, there is widespread debate as to what best explains those facts. The historical facts of Jesus’ death and empty tomb are these: Jesus was murdered and buried. Three days afterward, his body went missing. Accounts of Jesus’ appearance to both his … [Read more...]
The Resurrection of Jesus: A Christian Apologetics Cornerstone
Jesus' resurrection after his crucifixion and death is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. The apostle Paul, after giving an account (1 Cor 15) of this event, says that if it didn't happen, the Christian religion is useless. He adds that, then, Christians should be most pitied because they are still in trouble with the God of the universe. But even on a practical note, it … [Read more...]
7 Tips on Engaging Skeptics Like Paul Did in Athens [Part 2]
3 More Cultural Engagement Tips Today, we’re moving on in my new series of posts called, “7 Tips on Engaging Skeptics Like Paul Did in Athens.” In part one, we took a brief look at some historical background and focused on two simple lessons from Paul’s encounter in Acts 17: Care About People Prepare for Insults and Interest In this article, I’ll share 3 more cultural … [Read more...]
Convince Me There’s A God – Archaeology 2
Solid evidence. Something an investigative journalist can sink his teeth into. That’s what I needed to see in 1971. Christians I had invited on my radio talk show to intimidate and make fun of were turning the tables on me. Me! A well-known, hard-core atheist talk show commentator, I was actually listening to Christians talk about why they believed in the existence of God. … [Read more...]
A Response to the Friendly Atheist (Part 2)
This post continues a response to the July 30 CNN opinion piece article by Hemant Mehta, “The Friendly Atheist”, entitled “Why are millennials leaving church? Try atheism”. In Part 1, we looked at a number of arguments Mehta makes that I believe are either flawed or weak. Let’s now examine a few more. … [Read more...]
A Response to the Friendly Atheist (Part 1)
It’s rare for me to get worked up anymore over statements that atheists make about Christianity. For many years now, I’ve debated and exchanged dialogs—both in person and over the Web—with many atheists and hatetheists (there is a difference) and have gotten pretty used to the primary arguments of the former group and the flawed caricatures / misrepresentations of the latter, … [Read more...]
Religion and Violence
“Religion poisons everything. As well as a menace to civilization, it has become a threat to human survival.” – Christopher Hitchens (1) We are often told that religion, including Christianity, is the cause of great evil in the world—that in the words of Christopher Hitchens, “religion poisons everything." It is claimed that if religion is removed violence will be greatly … [Read more...]
No Christian Children?
In The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins writes that “a Christian child” is nonexistent. As he puts it: Atheists need to raise their own consciousness of the anomaly: religious opinion is the one kid of parental opinion that – by almost universal consent – can be fastened upon children who are, in truth, too young to know what their opinion really is. There is no such thing as a … [Read more...]