Archive: May, 2011
Happy trails to you
“Tomorrow I fly to Notre Dame for something called the “Logos Workshop”, an interdisciplinary meeting of biblical scholars, philosophers, and theologians, to debate papers on the topic of hermeneutics and biblical inspiration from such luminaries as Kevin Vanhoozer and Eleonore Stump, with other luminaries like as Alvin Plantinga and Nicholas Wolterstorff milling about in the crowd. Yes [...]
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Inerrancy, liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons
The word “Cretan” means (not surprisingly) an inhabitant of Crete. But it also means an uncouth, uneducated person as in: “When we were in Moscow I tried taking Billy to the Bolshoi Ballet but the Cretan listened to his heavy metal garbage the whole time on his iPod.” So the word “Cretan” in fact doubles [...]
Read moreSpeaking in Brazil
You may know that two years ago I published a book called Finding God in the Shack (Authentic, 2009), a guide to William Paul Young’s The Shack and the many controversies it has spawned. While Finding God sold well, the Portuguese translation of that book, Encontre Deus na Cabana (Planeta, 2009) became a bestseller in Brazil where it sat [...]
Read moreAlister McGrath writes fantasy? What’s next? A cookbook?
This is an unabashedly churlish review of Alister McGrath’s new book The Aedyn Chronicles: Chosen Ones. It is based on a quick read of the first chapter. That first chapter was photocopied and handed to me — unsolicited mind you — from a pastor who is a big fan both of Alister McGrath the Theologian [...]
Read moreReincarnation and Christianity
Andrew EC posed the following question in the “Godidit” thread: If 500 Hindus claim to have witnessed a reincarnation, would you believe? Is there any non-first-hand (i.e., testimonial) evidence that would convince you of supernatural/divine/miraculous/magic activity other than the religion you accept? This is an interesting question because long-time readers of the blog (at least [...]
Read moreSpeaking at the Society of Edmonton Atheists
FYI, I have been invited to speak to the Society of Edmonton Atheists, though I am not sure if that makes me an honorary atheist for the evening. (But then, as my atheist friends love to say, I’m an atheist about every god but one. So maybe I am being invited to speak under the aegis [...]
Read moreHow to support the troops on Memorial Day
On Monday, May 30th 2011 Americans will commemorate Memorial Day, an annual observation of Americans who have died in war. But how best to observe Memorial Day (which, incidentally, doubles as the unofficial start of summer)? First, let’s consider how not to commemorate it. I suggest you avoid going to city park, getting sloshed on [...]
Read moreCan you name one scholar who accepts the resurrection but isn’t a Christian?
Over the last week I have had the following question posed to me two or three times: “Can you tell me of just one scholar who accepts the resurrection of Jesus but who isn’t a Christian?” Of course this isn’t just an innocent question. I feel like the ticket person at an old drive in [...]
Read moreGoddidit and The Chatty Skeptic Doll
Is it possible that a historian could invoke divine agency as the best explanation of past events such as the reports of an empty tomb and post resurrection appearances that we find in a number of the documents collected into the New Testament? Robert thinks not. In the thread on “Heathenism, Naturalism, and other unstated [...]
Read moreHeathenism, naturalism, and other unstated prejudices
I am afraid I must pillory The Atheist Missionary for awhile longer folks. The reason is simple: we are getting close to the really important issue, the dogmatic philosophical presuppositions that wear the trousers in his otherwise free thinking mind. And it is of especial importance because these are not merely TAM’s philosophical presuppositions, but [...]
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