Atheist Alain de Botton believes that atheists and secularists can borrow a lot of good things from religion: Religions merit our attention for their sheer conceptual ambition; for changing the world in a way that few secular institutions ever have. They have managed to combine theories about ethics and metaphysics with a practical involvement in education, fashion, … [Read more...]
Atheism and the burden of proof
When someone makes a claim about the world, if they want to convince others, they are required to provide justification for that claim. This is not a contentious or strange idea, but what does this mean for atheism? Is atheism a belief and does it require justification? In this article I will show that atheism is a belief about the world and that it does require a justification … [Read more...]
What Shall We Make of Richard Dawkins?
Traditionally I am not one to write on the New Atheists, but one individual in particular has always been of keen interest in my studies regarding atheism, science, religion, and topics akin to the like. There is plenty of literature in response to the New Atheists and their anti-religious claims, with even more literature regarding an exhaustive analysis of each individual’s … [Read more...]
Could atheism be a properly basic belief?
Could people have a properly basic belief that God does not exist so that they do not need any other arguments or evidence for that belief in order to be justified in holding it? A recent conversation reminded me of what is now a rather old argument in relation to the question of belief in God (old in terms of twentieth century arguments anyway). Essentially, the issue was … [Read more...]
Confessions of a functional atheist
One of the accusations against Christians is that we have a psychological need to believe a fantasy. In other words, the atheist thinks that we make up a belief in God to provide comfort against the unknown. Our belief in God is like whistling as we pass through the graveyard. It doesn't provide any real benefit but it makes us feel better. Honesty requires that I get … [Read more...]
Understanding the Meaning of "Faith"
Introduction. The other day I was involved in a conversation with a group of men at a Men's Breakfast at our church. One of the discussions we were working over was the meaning of this word, "faith." The definition of faith is very much misunderstood by Christians and maligned by skeptics, depending on which side of the conversation one finds themselves. Allow me explain what … [Read more...]
To Tell Truth From Error: The Church's Teaching Responsibility
We don't know how to tell truth from error, and it's time for the church to take responsibility. The Roman Catholic Church in New York is promoting Jesus Christ as "The Original Hipster." I saw that on the news not long ago, just a day after I found out an online poll by Prospect magazine had Richard Dawkins being named the world's top thinker.Neither of these speaks well for … [Read more...]
Science Killed The Christian God? – Part 2
Part 1 Christians Founded Modern Science What can we learn as we look at the lives and scientific contributions of men such as Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Leonardo Da Vinci, Francis Bacon, or Louis Pasteur? One of many things that we see is that the majority of the "Founding Fathers" of modern science were dedicated Christian Theists. These men saw scientific … [Read more...]
Approaching the Existence of God
How do we know God exists? In the past when I was asked this question I used to automatically jump to an argument for God. I would sit down and try to explain it in detail to the individual. I have now decided to take a different approach and back up: I ask the person “How should we approach the existence of God?” or “ What method should we use?” Now, I know … [Read more...]
Science Killed The Christian God? – Part 1
(pt.1) Is Richard Dawkins right in saying that science is the only real discipline that can give us reliable knowledge about reality? Has modern science buried the concept of the Judeo-Christian God? Many atheists and naturalists would respond with a resounding "YES!" This is an all important question to answer in today's rising culture of "Scientism," which states that if a … [Read more...]