“The Christian Post” recently published an article with a thought provoking title, “Atheist Sam Harris Partly Right That God Not Necessary for Morality, Christian Apologist Says.”1 A naïve reader of this article may think that Christianity endorses the atheistic notion that morality does not require God. Is it so? This is our first question. While discussing this subject … [Read more...]
Quentin Tarantino’s Hateful Eight
Quentin Tarantino's latest movie has already won or been nominated for awards centered around script, casting and the soundtrack. In Hateful Eight, he has assembled a stellar cast that delivers sharp dialogue in the midst of yet another homage to a classic genre of film - in this case, the Western. Tarantino has a knack for capturing the bleak depravities of the human heart - … [Read more...]
Wayward Pines
“Before I built a wall I’d ask to know what I was walling in, or walling out." Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines books, which have recently experienced a resurgence thanks to M. Night Shamylan's recent television show of the same name, have sold over 1 million copies in twenty-five countries. Shamylan diverged from the book series around Episode 5; this review will focus on the … [Read more...]
Can We Be Good Without God?
[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: This question needs to be approached in the context that the skeptic poses it. As a Christian, it is tempting to go right to Romans 3:10 and respond that there is no one who is good. However, taking this … [Read more...]
5 Common Objections to the Moral Argument
The Moral Argument for the existence of God has been graced with a long tradition of defense from theistic (and atheistic!) philosophers and thinkers throughout the history of Western thought...and a long tradition of misunderstandings and objections by even some of the most brilliant minds. To be fair, the argument is not always as intuitive as theists like to think it is. … [Read more...]
Kill Thy Neighbor
Theologian and Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer believed that the arts (music, paintings, drama, movies, etc.) reflected the true inner philosophy and beliefs of a society. This being the case, it was not uncommon to find him lecturing in his Swiss L’Abri community not only on the teachings of Christ but on topics such as the metaphysics of the rock group Led … [Read more...]
Breaking down the moral argument
I harp on about the moral argument for theism, some think. That’s only because I think it’s an under-appreciated argument that has a lot more going for it than most of its critics believe. Here I want to lay out a simple version of the argument, explain why I think it works and how to defend it. A very simple version of the moral argument, probably the most common that I see, … [Read more...]
Do Atheists Have Morals?
Atheists really like to fight against us ignorant theists who say they have no morals. We’re the backwards hicks who take instruction from a book written by ignorant goat-herders who believed the earth was flat and that the sky was a dome that contained the sun, moon, and stars (all of which circled the earth!). What do we know about morality? Atheists are so enlightened … [Read more...]
Craig's Moral Argument Refuted?
Recently, it was brought to my attention that a YouTube video claims to have debunked William Lane Craig’s first premise in his moral argument. For a refresher, that premise claims “If God does not exist, then objective moral values do not exist.” The objector claims that if even one of the Euthyphro dilemma’s horns are even possible, then the first premise is false. This is … [Read more...]
Book Review: Sam Harris' Lying
“The 9th commandment defended” is my four words review of Sam Harris’ 26 paged book “Lying”. Harris succeeded to convince me “that lying, even about the smallest matters, needlessly damages personal relationships and public trust”. Harris is simply at his best in this noteworthy essay to which I, as a Christian theist, do concur with him in all areas but one major issue, namely … [Read more...]