Chapter 7 of Loftus’ edited volume The Christian Delusion is by Loftus himself and is titled “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” In the essay Loftus intends to provide the reader with “a brief romp through the Bible with an eye on the failure of a perfectly good omniscient God to communicate […]
Freud and “The Christian Delusion”
Back finally to what I once started: a close reading, review and critique of John Loftus’s book The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails (Prometheus, 2010). I’ve been doing this for a few months now but I had taken a two month hiatus. For those interested in catching up on the review to this point I […]
How to hate your enemies: Lessons from the Psalms (Part 4)
Let’s begin with the question we ended off with last time: “why did God include the voice of the imprecatory psalmist along with that of Jesus?” To answer that question (or at least provide one possible, and to my mind very plausible, answer), we should look first at another text: 2 Samuel 12. Here’s the […]
How to hate your enemies: Lessons from the Psalms (Part 3)
Does God really hate the wicked? Does he ask us to? The Psalms would seem to suggest this but C.S. Lewis offers us another approach.
How to hate your enemies: Lessons from the Psalms (Part 2)
We all tend to look at life through rose-colored glasses, at least rose colored where our own assumptions are concerned. As I noted last time round, this is certainly evident in the way that Christians tend to read the psalms, meditating on the praises, thanksgiving and wisdom while screening out all the imprecations. And I […]
The Gap changes its logo: Is nothing sacred?
It was with great shock and dismay this week that many of us learned our favorite retailer of unnecessary clothing has changed its logo. It seems that we live in an age of such superficiality that a retailer like The Gap believes it is no big deal when it casts off the legacy of its […]
How to hate your enemies: Lessons from the Psalms (Part 1)
I just got back from a conference I spoke at in Vancouver, my topics being genocide, doubt, and the imprecatory (cursing) psalms. I offer here some initial thoughts on the imprecatory psalms. A friend of mine says, “I know what you mean by what you do.” Evangelicals say that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is […]
Scientists who praise the universe
In his book Consilience E.O. Wilson, respected scientist, master of ants, and father of sociobiology, has written that “Preferring a search for objective reality over revelation is another way of satisfying religious hunger.” (7) At the core of Wilson’s quest is the unification of knowledge across disciplines, all the way from particle physics to poetry, into […]
Randal’s apologetics debate book
The Swedish Atheist, The Scuba Diver, and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails Randal Rauser talks the Swedish Atheist on Drew Marshall “Meet Randal Rauser, a Christian, and Sheridan, an atheist. Over the course of one caffeinated afternoon, they explore a range of honest questions and real objections to Christian faith. Do people hold to a particular […]
Carl Sagan’s old time religion
I would like to say some more about Sagan’s Pale blue dot fallacy but before doing so let’s say something about Sagan’s (ir)religiosity. It is often assumed that Sagan was an atheist. (Here I am assuming the standard definition of atheist as one who believes there is no God where “God” is defined broadly as […]
You’re not special because the universe is really, really big
Today we’ll start with one of my all time favorite youtube bits, one which offers a magisterial 2 minute journey through the comparative sizes of various celestial bodies. You must watch it before you continue: Star Size Comparison Clearly size is the issue here. We start off with the moon and end up with a star […]
Everybody’s gotta god
A new/old visitor to the Tentative Apologist, whatifitstrue, asks: “When does a belief system (including , perhaps atheism) become a religion…?” So what is religion? Perhaps belief in God, an authoritative revealed text, and a set of sacred rituals? In Bob’s garage is a cherry 70’ Chevelle 454. On the shelf beside the car is […]
Say, whatever became of ole’ whatshisname?
In the last few days I’ve had a few people inquire as to the status of the Tentative Apologist. Yes, I’ve been remiss in keeping the blog crackling along, this is true. But I’ve hardly been resting on my laurels. On the contrary, it’s been a couple weeks of fever pitch activity. Here’s a quick […]
Why Richard Dawkins can’t be the world’s leading atheist
Richard Dawkins is widely touted as the world’s leading atheist. Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. I suppose there’s no easy way to settle the matter. (Counting numbers of books sold or google hits seems a bit arbitrary, no?) But then again, maybe there is a way to settle the matter… William Lane Craig is […]
