2012 Archive

December 2012

31: Beat your children well? A Review of Corporal Punishment in the Bible by William Webb (13)
30: Would it be wrong to resurrect the Neanderthals? (15)
29: Will love win in Newtown? Reflections on an unspeakable tragedy (3)
29: Everything you ever wanted to know about divine action (except how it really works) (7)
28: Does a candle really illumine the darkness? (7)
28: God and non-God objects. Like, what’s the problem? A response to Justin Schieber (67)
27: A Journey in Mindandcosmosia: God as explanatory posit (19)
26: On the Bad Stuff in the Good Book: A Review of Eric Seibert’s The Violence of Scripture (5)
25: Thomas Nagel, Iconoclast and Antitheist, on Intelligent Design (35)
24: A Debate on the Nativity for Christmas (42)
24: How not to do apologetics: Lessons from Francis Church and Virginia (Part 1) (4)
22: Unbiblical Evangelicalism: Lessons from Rick Warren’s “Daniel Diet” (14)
21: Are we determined by our circumstance? (22)
21: The Wonderful Moments of 9/11 (14)
20: You’re in a dark alley. Would you rather meet ten Christians or ten atheists? (53)
20: Crematoria for the Canaanites? (10)
20: Would the real Gospel please stand up? (30)
19: Is it wrong for Christians to laugh at fart jokes? (5)
18: Why it is wrong to execute minors (7)
18: What a coincidence! An exercise in worldview analysis (15)
17: The time has come to equip the teachers with guns (28)
16: Filicide in “biblical” perspective. But which biblical perspective? (31)
15: Did the “systematic removal” of God from public schools lead to the Connecticut massacre? (98)
14: What happens when you ignore unmarked papers? (0)
14: Would Jesus stone a misbehaving child? (33)
14: Should lazy teenagers be stoned? (8)
13: God, why are you hiding? A Reflection (14)
12: Faith Seeking Understanding: A Conversation with David Marshall (1)
12: Is thinking about God a big waste of time? (16)
11: Can objective moral value exist without God? Revisiting the Question (82)
11: Things to keep atheists and Christians (and almost everybody else) up at night (36)
10: The Cover for My Heaven Book (2)
10: God or Godless in the hands of the barbarians (2)
10: “What On Earth Do We Know About Heaven?” Coming Fall 2013 (3)
09: The Existential Argument and Sam Harris’ Big Diamond (28)
08: In defense of existential arguments for belief in God (19)
08: John W. Loftus and the Ideologue Barometer (78)
08: I’ll shine John Piper’s shoes under one condition (11)
07: Is lip-syncing legitimate performance? (5)
07: Why are you laughing? Reflections on the ethics of gallows humor (16)
04: Christianity is not built on the rock of hell (52)
03: Support this blog by supporting Kiva (8)
03: Two interviews, two book reviews, and three banners (Oh my!) (2)
03: How long, O Lord? An Advent meditation on suburban injustice (5)
01: On reading the Bible’s texts of terror (85)

November 2012

30: God’s suffering: Meditations on Elie Wiesel (6)
29: The age of the hypercar. Sigh. (2)
29: Did God accommodate genocide? (29)
28: Calvinism, Arminianism and Omnibenevolence (65)
27: God or Godless gets blurbed (four from living scholars and four from dead ones) (7)
26: A “Meh” Review of Swedish Atheist (13)
26: The theist’s problem of evil explained simply (17)
25: The Ethics of Book Blurbs (7)
23: Speech acts and imprecatory psalms (27)
22: An atheist at Thanksgiving (45)
21: Jane Goodall and the risks of general revelation (14)
20: Psalm 137 for Family Devotions (23)
18: How good is God Behaving Badly? A Review (59)
18: Are the fat the last socially permissible prejudice? (3)
17: Debriefing ETS (7)
15: Environmental extremism at ETS? (10)
14: Does Calvinism oblige you to withhold hope in your child’s salvation? (54)
13: Academic conferences and the urban food desert (7)
12: Christopher Hitchens and the Revolt against Santa Claus (21)
11: On killing the dog (33)
11: The Meat-Eater’s Dilemma Revisited (2)
10: Why I don’t do book signings (9)
09: How will the Christians know when to commence the killing? (61)
08: Slouching before God (30)
08: A breathtakingly larger canvas: The Cross in cosmic perspective (9)
07: The Cross and the eXtreme Deep Field (119)
05: Intellectual excuses come later? Reflections on Craig and Loftus (103)
05: Merely squeamish? (8)
04: The Meat-Eater’s Dilemma (27)
03: Is it right to eat that which you wouldn’t kill? (31)
03: Another (favorable) review of “Swedish Atheist” (5)
02: Can animal resurrection compensate for suffering endured? (5)
01: Satan and the problem of evil: is the devil in the details? (50)

October 2012

31: Are demons responsible for natural evil? (40)
30: William Dembski on Natural Evil (14)
29: A well written review of The Swedish Atheist and more prattling from J.P. Holding (26)
28: A few shades the other side of silly: Jerry Shepherd defends Tim Keller (55)
28: Schadenfreude (3)
27: J.P. Holding’s review of “The Swedish Atheist, the Scuba Diver, and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails” (18)
26: The Metamucil Scale (5)
26: Randal Rauser talks apologetics on Bob Dutko (3)
25: Is the light of the cross brightened by the flickering flames of hell? (40)
24: Does natural evil always require sentience? (32)
23: What is it like to be a bat bug? Two errors of anthropopathism (8)
22: Why John Piper shouldn’t work at a battered women’s shelter (22)
22: To Hellbound and back: A Review (17)
20: Hopeful universalism and the love of neighbor (5)
20: Darwin was wrong (and why intelligent design theorists are not necessarily happy about the fact) (53)
19: Hellbound is comin’ to town (8)
18: “But God was faithful” as if he might have been otherwise? (18)
17: God wouldn’t use that kind of music … would he? (10)
16: Plausible Christianity in the metalcore community (16)
16: Swedish Atheist now in Kindle (8)
15: Apologetics as argument, ethic and culture (16)
14: Do we need apologists anymore? (15)
13: The Swedish Atheist Book is now available! An Interview with Myself (17)
12: Bat Bugs? Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn (45)
11: Traumatic Insemination and other Natural Evils (49)
10: What place, then, for a creator? An important place, actually. (93)
08: Can a sane mind believe in a singularity? (35)
07: Verboten explanations (68)
05: Three bad ways to defend agnosticism (41)
04: If crime scene investigators reasoned like atheists (13)
04: Do you really believe the universe’s origin was uncaused, or were you just speculating? (16)
04: Kolmogorov complexity, conjunction rules, and the burden of proof (67)
03: One final documented list of Alister McGrath’s Self-Plagiarism (7)
03: On the concept of self-plagiarism and why it is wrong (8)
03: Alister McGrath’s self-plagiarism is even worse than I thought (7)
02: Is Alister McGrath a plagiarist? (38)
01: An Atheistic Riddle (5)
01: Atheist, meet Burden of Proof. Burden of Proof, meet Atheist. (96)

September 2012

30: To be (or believe) is to risk (28)
30: Synchronicity in Margaritaville (5)
28: Is theology baloney? Reflections on the latest Sokal-styled hoax (24)
27: Pedophilia and other unforgivable sins (9)
26: Medicated shampoos that feed the head lice and evangelical curricula that feed the prejudice (13)
26: We are all apologists (10)
25: It’s not easy being Osteen (21)
23: God, miracles, and amazing Kentucky Blue (54)
21: Great movies and an Inspired Book (56)
19: Cheesemakers, Canaanite dogs and the problem of biblical interpretation (81)
17: The Resurrection of Jesus, 52 Pickup, and Prior Probabilities (93)
16: Loftus has no argument and what you can learn from that fact (18)
16: An afternoon spent trying to help Loftus figure out what his argument is (26)
15: Which is more wildly improbable: Christianity being true or Loftus coming up with a good argument? (32)
12: Blaming those who doubt (10)
12: Conversations with the Five Minute Apologist (Part 2) (13)
11: Storytelling Atheological Apologetics (51)
09: Conversations with the 5 Minute Apologist (Part 1) (25)
08: Will resurrected bodies have face mites? (16)
07: Doxaphobia and its foolish pretenders (36)
04: John Loftus, his Outsider Test for something or other, and Skepticism (105)
03: John Loftus admits he uses exaggerated, slanted and/or misleading language (16)
02: Resurrection and Reincarnation: What’s the Difference? (19)
01: Would a heaven that never ended end up being hell? (32)

August 2012

31: Existential reflections on the Clint Eastwood speech (4)
30: Do liberal theologians intend to change the gospel? (11)
28: Bill Nye the Science Guy gives very strange commentary and bad advice to creationists (64)
27: Is Hurricane Isaac God’s judgment on the GOP? (4)
26: The cult of Lance Armstrong (5)
25: Does Mitt Romney have the moral character to be president? (44)
25: The Swedish Atheist, The Scuba Diver and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails in the IVP Winter Catalogue (3)
24: Is apologetics a special advertising section? (18)
23: Could Nascar really be a religion? (29)
22: Why don’t religious documents make successful predictions about the natural world? (22)
21: Ambiguity and Legitimate Rape (4)
20: In Defense of Smokers (16)
18: Christians who are skeptics about moral perception (1)
18: Does the rejection of biblical atrocities constitute a violation of Sola Scriptura? (15)
18: Is rape worse than sacrifice? (27)
17: The Problem of the Faulty Moral Perception Faculty (15)
16: If God told you to sacrifice your child, would you? (76)
15: A Sermon on Paul’s Conversion (4)
15: What God could and couldn’t do: A conversation with Jerry Shepherd (28)
14: The first blurb for “God or Godless” … and the reaction of John Loftus (41)
14: Rape, moral perception, and biblicism (18)
13: Christian moral schizophrenia and psychopathy (105)
11: What does the decline of religiosity mean? (17)
09: Some things I’ve learned from atheists… (14)
08: Do the hard sayings of Jesus constitute defeaters for his moral excellence? (22)
07: What if I stumble? Arguing against Christianity from the lives of Christians (18)
06: Olympic-sized pet peeves (6)
04: Might God call Christians to participate in a future genocide? (52)
04: Why Christians shouldn’t call themselves conservatives (13)
02: Can you be expected to love somebody who might not exist? (7)
02: God’s meticulous providence and the prevention of evil (19)

July 2012

June 2012

30: The latest on God or Godless (8)
29: When is doxology theology? A response to Jerry Shepherd (10)
29: Allowing a genocide is not commanding a genocide (17)
25: Allowing is not commanding (183)
24: What is the atonement at least? Lessons from the ascension (26)
21: Things Christians say to explain away biblical moral atrocities (146)
20: Cannibalizing infants as punishment? (15)
19: Is God a perfect heavenly Father? The Lamentations discussion continues (27)
17: God as Father on Father’s Day (32)
16: Bacon: the single greatest challenge for vegans (33)
14: Judges that are complete idiots (and other hasty judgments) (17)
13: The new books are on their way (however slowly) (29)
11: Squeezing David Hume’s big toe (and other ironic ways to honor the naive skeptical tradition) (39)

May 2012

23: Going on hiatus for heaven (50)
19: Psychopaths and General Revelation: The Dialogue Continues (19)
18: General revelation and the psychopath (16)
16: Are Christian serial killers saved? (38)
14: Do animals sin? (34)
11: Loftus offers a rebuttal by making up a new argument (and this one’s even worse)! (40)
10: Three reasons agnostics shouldn’t call themselves atheists (42)
10: Torture and the Parable of the Mustard Gas (82)
08: Would Christianity die out if Christians stopped witnessing? And if it did would that mean Christianity was false? (85)
07: Do I own my body? (29)
06: Sex favors for dying children? A Response to Jag Levak (24)
05: God or Godless gets a cover (30)
04: On living in a small town, Or the fine line between community and insanity (13)
03: What makes for a good marriage? (53)
03: A heavenly book and a blog (2)
02: Are you unreasonably closed to an open marriage? (39)
01: Do not conform to the cult of celebrity but be transformed (5)
01: Why aren’t station wagons cool? (13)

April 2012

30: Should society stigmatize sluts? (79)
27: What’s an education worth? (18)
26: Do mushrooms provide the key to hell? (29)
26: Can you ever have too many war documentaries? (5)
25: Does evangelical pessimism need a makeover? (10)
24: Does universalism undermine Christian mission? (21)
23: Did Bon Scott really want to go to hell? (59)
21: C.S. Lewis’ view of hell and why it doesn’t help (much) (64)
20: When Archie got Jesus: A history of Christian Archie comics (7)
20: Does God trick people into hell? Lessons from Jack Chick (49)
20: A heavenly update (7)
18: Should we “teach the controversy”? (53)
16: In the mall but not of it (12)
12: Monkeying around with common sense: Tennessee’s anti-evolution bill (101)
11: Doubting your firm foundation (9)
10: What is it like to be Elmo? (4)
10: Paralipsis and other modes of marginalization (3)
08: My Experience with Street Witnessing Part 2: The Painful Execution (34)
07: The Yellow Cover Wins! (4)
05: One Book, Two Covers, and an Appeal for your Help (34)
04: My Experience with Street Witnessing Part 1: The Guilt-ridden Set-Up (16)
04: The Inherent Value of Human Beings: A Response to Stephen Maitzen (55)

March 2012

30: A blogging update (3)
29: Defending the Fall without a Historical Adam (47)
29: Cases where blind faith is the best kind (19)
28: Accords, Elans, and Biblical Interpretation (72)
27: From Adam to Zorg: A Dialogue on Creation and Evolution (20)
26: God Delusions? Some reflections on Dawkins vs. Lennox (29)
25: How to be spiritual in five minutes (or less): A Lenten Reflection (13)
24: Young earth creationism and really old living things (76)
24: On Bullies (2)
23: Rosie, don’t get in the elevator: A guide to moral intuition (23)
22: A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. Really? (54)
22: Should assertions be supported with evidence? (5)
21: Hellbound? A hot new documentary (44)
21: Must existence be everlasting to be meaningful? (29)
20: Life without an author: The atheist’s burden of proof (34)
19: My life is a text. Is there meaning in that text? (167)
17: John Loftus doesn’t believe Christianity is false after all! (20)
17: What’s wrong with this picture? (29)
16: Can we end atheist and Christian name-calling? (32)
16: The Pope is smarter than me. Does that mean he’s right? (51)
15: Are Christian apologists just clowning around? (62)
15: Believers and skeptics deconstructed (36)
14: Atheism isn’t a religion … but it can be part of one (30)
14: Why (most) political advertising should be illegal (7)
13: Should Christians use peyote to experience God? (9)
12: Should we give up on faith altogether? (84)
11: Bringing clarity to faith (42)
10: John Loftus challenges me to define faith (84)
10: Can you perceive God if you cannot demonstrate your perception to others? (7)
09: Perceiving the transcendent God through transcending entities (23)
08: The Nebular Incarnation Thought Experiment: Truly out of this world (46)
07: Moral debate in a pluralistic world: A meandering conversation with Jerry Rivard (22)
06: Must we know the definitions of terms before we use them? A reply to Robert Gressis (29)
06: When rationality becomes a club (in two ways) (56)
05: If a child can do it, why can’t John Loftus? (29)
05: Is religion defined by dogmatic metaphysical certainty? (6)
05: A lament over laughing John Loftus (34)
05: Faith, reason, rationality, justification, and knowledge: A Primer (34)
04: On people who retain unreasonably bad definitions (36)
02: What John Loftus needs to do to be taken seriously (44)
02: Dogmatic humility examined (5)
01: Believers and skeptics properly defined (27)
01: The most interesting pastoral job posting in America (15)
01: David MacMillan on the incredulity of atheists and theists (175)

February 2012

29: Believers and skeptics and lots of baloney (122)
27: Would intelligent aliens present a problem for Christianity? (99)
25: Should you have faith in John W. Loftus? (43)
25: From a field of dreams to a storm shelter of dread: A Review of “Take Shelter” (2)
24: One of these causes is not like the others: Getting behind the personal incredulity of ‘skeptics’ (58)
24: Why is it that when you mention God somebody always mentions leprechauns? (56)
23: God and other not so strange causes (55)
22: More on Mormons, atheism and aliens (51)
22: Why Mormons are probably atheists (105)
21: Atheists who don’t know what they don’t believe in (86)
20: Kill some wolves before you die: A review of “The Grey” (Part 2) (0)
19: Should you take the meteorite impact coverage? (14)
18: From Mormon proxy baptism to alien spaceship impact coverage … and beyond! (49)
17: Kill some wolves before you die: A review of “The Grey” (Part 1) (0)
17: The Third Face-in-Palme d’Or Award! (25)
16: What’s wrong with Mormons performing proxy Jewish baptisms? How about nothing. (33)
15: Should you call out Gouranga? One-time Christian philosopher Michael Sudduth thinks so (39)
14: Forever Velveteen: A reflection on the soul of consumerism (14)
11: Reflections on a racist Starbucks cup (7)
11: The size of just about everything (31)
10: The second Face-in-Palme d’Or Award! (11)
09: The problem of half-baked rebuttals (34)
08: Why should a Christian think the Bible is inspired? (Part 1) (147)
06: The impossible problem of transgender children (80)
03: Psychopaths in the pulpit and pew (32)
02: Why you need to know about psychopaths (29)
01: The psychopath’s condition: a truly tasteless analogy (3)
01: Can institutions be compassionate? (2)
01: The moral blindness of the psychopath (7)

January 2012

30: Can psychopaths be saved? (116)
27: The fallible Jesus? (134)
26: Must a Christian believe in the Trinity? (49)
25: Levitating teapots and other miraculous things (27)
24: Why are Christian movies so bad? (35)
23: Will the real Christian please stand up? (105)
22: Do you want to know the sins of your leaders? (1)
20: Reflections on Jewsday: A Response to Paul Manata (13)
20: What unifies Christians for Christian unity week? (41)
20: Newt Gingrich’s rhetorical brilliance (11)
19: Why Christians don’t give up God easily (and why atheists don’t accept him easily) (8)
18: Was Tim Tebow cheating? (34)
18: Did aliens seed life on earth? A modest defense of the panspermia hypothesis (56)
17: Patriotism properly defined (28)
16: If people are not offended then there’s no offense (and other terrible reasoning) (5)
16: The get your own house in order (nationalist edition) objection (22)
13: Urinating on corpses and other costs of war (61)
12: Seeking assurance that you won’t die in the fire: A tale of two buildings (23)
11: Calvinism at Madame Tussauds (51)
10: Are Arminians better off when it comes to assurance? Why I’m not so sure. (33)
09: The grounds for excluding religious voices in secular society (48)
09: Lament for the Video Store (43)
07: Jerry Shepherd on the Main stage (66)
06: The joy of hell (84)
05: Imprecations for Arminians (56)
04: Nasty Newt Gingrich and the Drumbeat for War (42)
04: Who is on a tirade against Calvinism? (28)
03: Unreasonable Reason, or where is Jag Pointing? (25)
02: Playing on emotions or reasoning from them? (8)
01: Compassion Reformed? Exploring the pastoral implications of Calvinism (112)