In 1974, George H. Smith wrote a little book called Atheism: The Case Against God. In it, he made an ontological argument against God's existence. I found it intriguing, since I'm currently studying the ontological argument for God's existence. So let's take a look at it in reverse. To be is to be something as opposed to nothing, and to be something is to be something … [Read more...]
On the Importance of Terminology: Evolution
Words. When it comes to communication, everything, literally everything, comes down to words. A vast system of sentences, propositions, grammatical structure, arguments, and syllogisms are all constructed with words. Behind every word is a set of meanings. In this sense, words are merely a placeholder, a token, through which everyone receives the meaning intended by the speaker … [Read more...]
Introduction to The Freed Thinker – First Edition
First impressions matter. As this is my first post to this forum I had considered a short introduction but saw the oozing narcissism that such a post might expose and therefore decided for a slightly different route – faux humility perhaps. Instead of laying myself bare on the plate, I will present a brief excursion into projects that I am currently working my way through. … [Read more...]
Issues with Answers in Genesis
When I say I have issues with Answers in Genesis (AiG), I'm not referring to their Young Earth Creation (YEC) interpretation of Genesis 1-11. My issues are with the considerable amount of time and effort they spend leveling false accusations against those who believe in Old Earth Creationism (OEC). AiG is the most widely followed YEC ministry, and unfortunately their divisive … [Read more...]
Do Christians Commit the Fallacy of Composition?
When I debate atheists, from time to time I point out when they commit some of the standard logical fallacies. The genetic fallacy probably comes up as often as any other. This occurs when you incorrectly assume that by proving the origin of a belief, you have thereby disproven the validity of that belief. For example, atheists often claim that morality is merely the … [Read more...]
Review: Seven Days That Divide the World by Dr. John Lennox
In Seven Days that Divide the World: The Beginning According to Genesis and Science, John Lennox addresses the science and theology relevant to the age-of-the-earth debate. This is a controversy that continues to escalate within the church, as young-earth advocates claim that acknowledgement of biblical authority and inspiration requires a young-earth interpretation of … [Read more...]
Philosophers' Carnival…
...is out, and includes my submission Does Grounding Moral Truth in God’s Nature Violate Hume’s Is-Ought? Thanks, Nick :) Submit to the next carnival here. . … [Read more...]
Deep Hunger and Dark Games
I'm a big fan of honesty in fiction. I don't want cookie-cutter personalities, saccharine love, or shallow stereotypes. I want the author to convince me to cheer for heroes and against villains - and I want to know why the heroes and villains are worthy of the label. I want grit and beauty, despair and hope, love and loss. If a story tells me what the world is like, I … [Read more...]
Does grounding moral truth in God’s nature violate Hume’s is-ought?
The short answer is, no, only if you try to justify that truth by referring back to God’s nature. Here is the long answer. It is possible to blend Hume’s is-ought distinction in Ethics with Plato’s justified-true-belief theory of knowledge. A catchy name for it is the Ought-Is-Belief theory of knowledge, moral or otherwise. … [Read more...]
How To Fix Society According To Atheists
Yet another tactic that I see atheists use against God and religion, is visualized in the picture above (You'll have to click on it a few times to read it) This picture is apparently trying to convey that the quality of life in these societies is better because they're some of the least religious countries in the world. Such reasoning is quite problematic however, for various … [Read more...]