http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ThxrHkO-Mk The God Question, a TV series bringing together world renowned contributors on both sides of the debate on God and science, explores the question of whether there is design evident in the universe. The series, a Scottish venture that promises to reach 170 million potential viewers internationally, features figures of note in the … [Read more...]
What is the Purpose of Atheist Apologetics?
Over the years, I have seen a lot of skeptical arguments against the Christian faith. There are plenty of websites written by people who claim to be former Christians who now have made it their life purpose to ‘disprove’ Christianity. What are the similarities between the purpose of these atheist websites and the Christian apologetic endeavor? As I have already said before, in … [Read more...]
America After 9/11: Is Religion Evil?
Attitude Adjustment How did 9/11 change America’s attitude toward religion? A recent post on CNN’s Belief Blog says: “Before 9/11, many atheists kept a low profile. Something changed, though, after 9/11. They got loud… Criticism of all religion, not just fanatical cults, was no longer taboo after 9/11.” Indeed. Around the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, American Atheists hit the … [Read more...]
Racism and the Anti-Supernatural Bias
I recently purchased Irving Hexham’s Understanding World Religions after meeting the author at a conference.[1] As I began to read, I was amazed to discover that “racism has clearly affected modern thinking about the nature of religious studies.”[2] Hexham identifies a rarely discussed hidden bias against African religious traditions. The Hidden Bias He writes, “Even though … [Read more...]
Irony In Rejecting Eyewitnesses
One of the objections that come up when discussing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, is that we cannot trust the Apostles. Even though the Apostles were eyewitnesses to the events of Jesus, they cannot be trusted because they are biased. It strikes me, and should you too, that someone would complain that an eyewitness believes what they saw. I mean, if I … [Read more...]
Do We Have a Soul (Part 3)
(Part 1, Part 2) (I continue the case for the soul and some objections to the view) The last philosophical argument for substance dualism concerns the nature of free will. Advocates of libertarian free will (as the model of human action) affirm that intentional action is the exercising of a first or originating mover to bring about some effect for a reason. This view … [Read more...]
Making Sense of the Historical Jesus Debate (vid)
Check out the interview I did with my mentor, Dr. Darrell Bock, after his presentation on “Making Sense of the Historical Jesus Debate” at the Table Conference in Carrollton, Texas. In this video clip, I ask him three questions about orality in the New Testament, the claim that there were many Messiahs in Jesus’ day and how to proceed in a spiritual conversation with someone … [Read more...]
At the core of doubt
In the story of Peter walking on the water, Matthew records Jesus' response when Peter became frightened and started to sink. Jesus said, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31) This phrase has often been interpreted as a rebuke of all doubt. The understanding is that Jesus is telling Peter that it was wrong to doubt, the inference being that all doubt is … [Read more...]
Convince Me There’s A God – Archaeology 3
For those of you who have studied Biblical archaeology, you'll recognize that I am not mentioning the greatest discoveries of the last 40 years during this series. That's because I'm limiting my comments to those discoveries available for me to consider during the early part of 1971. These findings, and others too many to mention in a limited series, were part of my journey … [Read more...]
The Flagellar Filament Cap: "One of the Most Dynamic Movements in Protein Structures"
Imagine you are an archaeologist surveying the remains of a formerly technologically advanced civilization. You stumble across the device depicted in the figure above. With its pentagon-shaped plate and its carefully crafted leg-like extensions, it looks like it came from some sort of machine. Immediately, you intuitively infer that the device was designed intentionally, for a … [Read more...]